Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, July 28, 1993 TAG: 9307280225
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RON BROWN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Judge Duncan M. Byrd dismissed the jury shortly after noon after a prosecution witness presented evidence of a prior criminal conviction of Madison.
Evidence of prior criminal convictions is admissible in criminal cases only if the information is used to refute the credibility of a witness' testimony, Byrd warned prosecutors just before witnesses were called to testify.
Highland County Commonwealth's Attorney John M. Lohr said he had no time before the trial started to alert Sheriff Herb Lightner, who was the first prosecution witness in the case. Lightner testified that Madison had told him that he had a moonshining conviction during the Depression.
After Lightner testified about Madison's prior conviction, defense attorney Bill Wilson asked that the jury be sent out of the courtroom. Wilson then made his motion for a mistrial.
Byrd declared the mistrial and set Nov. 3 as the new trial date.
According to authorities, Madison admitted killing Mike Sweeney of Boones Mill, but said the shooting was in self-defense. He told police that Sweeney had threatened to give him a whipping.
The case against Madison is expected to hinge on his age: Was a then-80-year-old man justified in shooting a much younger and bigger man who came to his house and threatened him?
After the shooting, Madison called Lightner to the scene of the county's first murder case in eight years.
"There's a man lying out in the yard," Madison told police. "I shot him."
by CNB