Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, April 21, 1994 TAG: 9404210235
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Short
Christopher S. Fleming, 25, was acquitted by a jury in Roanoke Circuit Court.
Prosecutors had claimed that Fleming sold a small amount of crack cocaine to a police informant in November at Caru Apartments.
Fleming maintained the drug deal never happened, staking most of his defense on undermining the credibility of the informant.
Defense attorney Gary Lumsden reminded jurors that the informant had a history of criminal charges, including a conviction for giving false information to police.
"This case really scares me," Lumsden told the jury. Instead of conducting an investigation, Lumsden said, police simply took the word of a "convicted, professional liar."
"Basically, he's made a living out of tricking people, and this is another one of his tricks," Lumsden said.
Fleming, who twice won the state championship in the 185-pound division while a student at William Fleming High School in 1987 and 1988, had faced up to life in prison because of a prior drug conviction.
He testified that he has put his past problems behind him and is now working at a Roanoke cafeteria.
Fleming was one of about 65 people indicted in February as part of the Roanoke Police Department's latest attack on crack dealing in parts of Northwest Roanoke.
Because city juries have a reputation for being tough on crack dealers, jury trials in such cases are rare. The last acquittal before Fleming's was on April 20, 1993, exactly one year earlier.
Memo: ***CORRECTION***