Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, June 7, 1994 TAG: 9406080023
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
``Not a single other witness testified that they saw Allen Iverson hit anyone,'' said Lisa O'Donnell, one of Iverson's lawyers, speaking before a three-judge panel of the Virginia Court of Appeals.
She said Brandon Smith, the prosecution's main witness, told different stories about what happened Feb. 14, 1993, at a Hampton bowling alley to a police interviewer and to a judge.
O'Donnell said there was insufficient evidence to convict Iverson in August in Hampton Circuit Court on three felony counts stemming from the brawl, which left several people injured. Iverson was sentenced to five years in prison.
In December, Gov. Douglas Wilder ordered Iverson released from jail to finish high school. The furlough required Iverson to undergo counseling and observe a nightly curfew. It also prohibited participation in high school athletics. The furlough is expected to expire in August, when Iverson becomes eligible for parole.
As a point guard, Iverson led Bethel High School in Hampton to the 1993 Group AAA championship and was the Roanoke Times & World-News Mr. Basketball for Virginia. He also was named The Associated Press' Group AAA football and basketball player of the year during the 1992-93 academic year. Iverson has signed a letter of intent to play basketball for Georgetown.
``He embarks upon that future branded as a felon,'' O'Donnell said.
O'Donnell told the appeals court Judge Nelson Overton based his decision on evidence that was misrepresented by Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Colleen Killilea.
Killilea also withheld knowledge of a discrepancy in Smith's accounts of the incident, which changed between the time he talked with police after the brawl and the time he testified in court, O'Donnell said.
Killilea said in a telephone interview that Smith was sure of his identification.
``There was no doubt in his mind that it was Allen Iverson,'' she said. ``He was very clear.''
According to O'Donnell, Smith told a police officer he watched Iverson hit a woman with a chair. O'Donnell said Smith also said he couldn't see very well without his glasses, which had been knocked off before he said he saw Iverson hit the woman. Killilea said Smith was wearing his glasses at the time of the incident.
O'Donnell also argued that ``flagrant errors on the part of trial counsel'' contributed to Iverson's convictions, but Judge Russell Carneal said claims of ineffective assistance should be argued in the original trial court not in the appeals court.
``This defendant was deprived of many constitutional rights,'' including the right to a fair trial and the right to a trial by jury, O'Donnell said.
Iverson testified during his trial he was struck first by a man who called him a racist name and then left the scene, avoiding the fracas that followed. He said he didn't hit anyone.
Also Monday, attorneys argued on behalf of three co-defendants in the Iverson case. Like Iverson, Samuel Wynn and Michael Simmons contended they were convicted based on insufficient evidence provided by Smith. Melvin Stevens, who was tried and sentenced by a jury, argued that because he was a juvenile, he should have been sentenced by a judge.
The three-judge panel should rule within a month on Iverson's petition, O'Donnell said. If the petition is granted, Iverson's attorneys would return to the same panel for a second hearing, after which the judges could grant a retrial or a reversal.
by CNB