Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, November 27, 1993 TAG: 9311270202
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
RICHMOND - A Richmond woman has been jailed on charges of threatening to kill Gov. Douglas Wilder, Richmond City Jail officials said Friday.
Two jail employees who refused to give their names said Valerie W. Brooks, 35, has been in custody at the City Jail since Wednesday.
Brooks also was being held on charges of assault and battery and property damage, a jail employee said. The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported Friday that the charges - both unrelated to the threat on the governor - are an assault charge from a June incident and a property damage charge stemming from an incident last year in which property belonging to Brooks' mother was damaged.
- Associated Press
Sheriffs' group opposes plan to reassign troopers
RICHMOND - The Virginia Sheriffs Association is working to block a state police plan that would take some troopers off road patrol and reassign them to violent crime investigations.
"We don't disagree with fighting violent crime," said John Jones, executive director of the association. "But we think that there ought to be proper planning before there's a shift in resources."
The executive board of the state Fraternal Order of Police this month approved a resolution backing the state police plan.
Some sheriffs say the state police personnel shift would force deputies to take over road patrol duties normally done by troopers in their jurisdictions. According to the sheriffs, that would decrease local manpower to investigate crimes.
Despite assurance that the troopers were not trying to establish themselves as the primary police force in the state's counties, the new plans stirred fears among some sheriffs that their authority was being usurped.
- Associated Press z
Man sentenced despite look-alike possibility
VIRGINIA BEACH - A man convicted last summer of abducting a woman jogger has been sentenced to the maximum 10 years in prison, despite evidence that his identification may have been mistaken.
Circuit Judge Thomas Shadrick refused a request by the attorney for John Tingle for a delay to investigate whether the victim confused Tingle with a serial rapist still at large.
"I don't believe this. I don't believe this," Tingle's father, John Tingle Sr., said after the sentencing Wednesday. "Where is justice?"
Janet Rinaldi, the convicted man's attorney, cited a letter from prosecutors admitting that a woman who was raped while Tingle was in jail gave a description of her attacker that was nearly identical to the description given by the victim in Tingle's case.
She also said Tingle, a student at a local culinary school, "wouldn't hurt a flea. The victim begged and begged, and her attacker kept hitting her. That was a violent attack, and Tingle just doesn't fit the bill."
Shadrick said a jury decided that Tingle was guilty. "I appreciate the efforts of defense counsel and the cooperation of the prosecution in this matter, but the court believes we have to conclude this and be fair to the victim," the judge said.
Rinaldi has petitioned the court to set aside the jury's verdict based on evidence surrounding the October rape. A hearing on the request is set for Dec. 6.
If a new trial is granted, the defense attorney said, Tingle's resemblance to the rapist being sought could raise a reasonable doubt in the minds of jurors.
- Associated Press
by CNB