Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, November 4, 1994 TAG: 9411040112
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-15 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Short
As part of a plea agreement reached in Roanoke Circuit Court, Clarence E. Robertson, 24, of Rutherford Avenue Northwest was sentenced to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to malicious wounding.
A second man, David Milton Stokes, received a five-year suspended sentence Wednesday for robbery in what his attorney called a "minimal" role in the attack.
Commonwealth's Attorney Donald Caldwell said both men were involved in the beating and robbery of Johnny Lee Scott, who was knocked down and repeatedly kicked in the head as he walked in the 600 block of Salem Avenue Southwest about 1 a.m. July 7.
Scott, 48, received severe head injuries and has been comatose since the beating, Caldwell said. He is a patient at Roanoke Memorial Hospital, where his future is unclear because he apparently has no friends or family members to care for him.
Authorities maintained that Robertson was more involved in the attack on Scott, while Stokes, 47, of 11th Street Northwest, was charged with robbery for taking the man's duffel bag during the beating.
Defense attorney Tom Wray, who represented Stokes, said his client has said he was trying to save Scott's belongings from being taken by Robertson and a 13-year-old who also was involved in the attack.
Wray said there was no clear reason why Robertson and the juvenile attacked Scott. "They just seemed to be looking for a fight," he said.
Caldwell said the juvenile was not charged.
by CNB