Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, January 27, 1995 TAG: 9501270075
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
After a daylong trial, a jury in Roanoke Circuit Court set the sentence after convicting Charles H. Sanderson of cocaine possession and firearm charges Wednesday night.
Sanderson, 29, first attracted the law's attention when he was driving through Northwest Roanoke with his headlights off about 2 a.m. Jan. 14, 1994. He was stopped after a brief chase, and authorities found two revolvers in the car - one under the driver's side floor mat and the second in the trunk.
Also in the trunk were 19 rocks, weighing about 1.5 grams, tucked in a fanny pack, according to testimony.
Had he been convicted of possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, Sanderson would have faced up to 50 years in prison. "If you look at the danger he presented to the community ... 50 years doesn't seem to be so much," Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Dennis Nagel told the jury.
But the jury convicted Sanderson of simple possession and sentenced him to 10 years, the maximum. Sanderson, who has been convicted of robbery and burglary, received another 10 years for possessing a firearm as a convicted felon and having the gun in the vicinity of the drugs.
Sanderson did not testify, but Defense Attorney David Damico argued there was no evidence to show that the drugs found in the car's trunk belonged to his client.
To illustrate his point, Damico earlier in the day had placed an envelope from the commonwealth's attorney's office under a tray on the prosecutor's table, without Nagel's knowledge.
During his closing argument, Damico walked over to Nagel's table and pulled out the envelope.
Even though the envelope had been within two feet of Nagel all day, it was not his, Damico told the jury. "I put it there," he said.
by CNB