Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, June 2, 1994 TAG: 9406020066
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Short
When a drunken driver pleaded guilty Wednesday to second-degree murder for causing a fatal traffic accident, it cleared the Roanoke Circuit Court docket of its last pending murder case.
The last time that happened was around 1986, Caldwell said.
"And it didn't last 24 hours," he said.
Usually, there are more than a half-dozen murders pending in court, enough for Caldwell to portion out among himself and eight assistant commonwealth's attorneys.
But halfway through 1994, there has yet to be a murder in a city that usually averages about 15 annually. "That's just unbelievable," Caldwell said.
The lull has given prosecutors time to close out all of the murder cases, except for two in which the defendants are not available for trial - one being in a federal penitentiary, and another one still at large.
It is a luxury that Caldwell has enjoyed only once before since 1979, when he took office with two goals: to go an entire month without seeking a grand jury indictment, and to wipe the city's murder slate clean.
"I've never been able to achieve that first goal," he said.
Authorities have offered several theories on why Roanoke's murder total has dropped in recent years and disappeared altogether in 1994 - community-oriented policing, advanced medical technology, demographic changes and just plain luck among them.
by CNB