Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, February 8, 1994 TAG: 9402080244
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: Kathy Loan
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
I'm more sure of his retirement now that the local bar associations have endorsed someone to replace him.
But back in November, when I heard Devore was telling folks he was retiring, I couldn't entirely nail down the story.
Lawyers and other court officials in Floyd and Montgomery had told me they heard Devore announce he was leaving the bench, or that someone told them they heard he was.
I went with a story saying "Devore hints he'll retire" because I couldn't ever get confirmation from Devore.
The next time I went to Montgomery County Circuit Court, I wondered whether the judge would acknowledge my story. He did.
"Kathy, did you ever find out whether I was going to retire?" Devore asked, shortly after taking the bench for the day.
Face reddening, I replied that I believed he was, but had yet to hear it from the horse's mouth.
"The horse's what??" Devore said.
"MOUTH, your honor," I said.
I'm going to miss exchanges like that with Devore. He kept me and other folks in his courtroom on their toes.
Devore ruled his courtrooms with both an imposing presence - demanding respect from lawyers, defendants and spectators - and a sense of humor.
Spectators were hard-pressed to balance the two, sometimes muffling their laughter when he would interrupt proceedings with an anecdote. Sometimes, they simply pealed with laughter.
He was a judge who would chastise a probationer who came before the court with his shirt-tail hanging out. He was a judge who would give a man time to find someone to take care of his dog before reporting to jail.
He was the judge that talked Elwood Gallimore, the Henry County preacher that faced seduction charges, into hiring a lawyer after the preacher had maintained for months that he would defend his "marriage" only with God's word. The lawyer he hired, Jimmy Turk of Radford, was successful in getting Devore to throw out the charges that were based on an archaic state law.
College students who came before him facing possible felony convictions that could ruin career plans sometimes received a second chance, with the charge taken under advisement.
``Don't let me down,'' he would tell them.
Those who were placed on probation received an earnest warning that if they didn't follow orders, they faced incarceration.
``You've got the keys to the penitentiary in your pocket, son,'' he would often say.
He was known to stop a police officer who referred to a defendant as ``the suspect'' and insist that the person be called by their name.
Many seasoned courtroom observers learned to judge the judge's mood after a few minutes of court. You could sometimes tell if it was OK to leave the courtroom in between cases or if you had better stay put.
Lawyers and defendants alike checked with each other to get a reading of the judge's mood - hopeful they could benefit from what we called ``good deed of the day'' when he gave someone a second chance.
Print and television journalists felt his ire when they tried to race - on deadline - from the courtroom moments after a jury returned a verdict. Have a seat, he would order, making sure court was adjourned and the jury safely to the elevators before others could leave.
The media also fought a long battle with Devore about camera coverage. For years, television cameras had to be left in the first floor lobby because Devore didn't allow them on his courtroom floor.
But when the General Assembly recently approved cameras in the courtroom, Devore welcomed print and broadcast photographers in and cooperated in allowing photo coverage of the murder trials of Katina Lynn Zelenak, Paul William Morehead and William Ray Smith.
I've written here about the two sides of Judge Devore - the serious and the light-hearted. He knew exactly which side he was revealing when, and for what reason.
It could be said that most folks also saw two sides to Devore. Either they liked him or they didn't.
I liked the man. From a rookie reporter to seasoned veteran, one of the highlights of my job has been not knowing what to expect when I walked into the fourth floor courtroom in Christiansburg.
Devore will still hear a few more cases in Christiansburg as he wraps up his tenure. If he does, and I'm there, I'll be nervously waiting to see what he'll have to say about my latest story. I'll cringe if he makes a comment, and be upset if he doesn't.
by CNB