
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, February 11, 1994                   TAG: 9402110149
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Adrienne Petty Staff Writer
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

WRESTLERS' RAPE TRIAL DATE SET

Two former championship wrestlers from Franklin County High School charged with sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl during last year's state wrestling tournament will stand trial March 21.

Derrick Poindexter and Thomas Simmons, who no longer attend the school, have been free on bond since they were indicted last April on rape and sodomy charges by a Richmond grand jury.

The delay in bringing the case to trial resulted from lengthy tests that had to be run to produce physical evidence.

"There were some forensic tests being done, evidentiary matters," said Bill Coleman, assistant commonwealth's attorney in Richmond.

The young woman, also from Franklin County, said the two wrestlers attacked her at the Richmond motel where the team stayed during the tournament in February 1993.

Simmons was the Roanoke Valley District and Northwest Region champion last year at 145 pounds. Poindexter was the Roanoke Valley District's top 160-pound wrestler.

by CNB