
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, February 28, 1995                   TAG: 9502280108
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

SLAYING SUSPECT IN COURT

A Roanoke man accused of killing five people during a drunken New Year's party was in court Monday for a brief hearing, but returned to jail without learning whether prosecutors will ask that he be executed.

The sentencing issue surfaced only briefly Monday during a hearing on pretrial motions for Robert M. May, who is charged with capital murder.

Shortly before the hearing, Public Defenders Ray Leven and Roger Dalton filed court papers asking that the commonwealth "identify the aggravating factors, if any, upon which it intends to rely on in seeking the death penalty, should the defendant be convicted of capital murder."

Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Joel Branscom countered that he was not aware of any case law that requires prosecutors to state, at this stage of a case, how they plan to proceed in the sentencing phase of a capital murder case.

If May, 27, is convicted of capital murder, he faces two possible sentences - life in prison; or death by either lethal injection or electrocution. Prosecutors have declined to say which option they will pursue, saying only that a final decision will rest with either a judge or a jury.

After Leven acknowledged that the sentencing question may be premature, Roanoke Circuit Judge Clifford Weckstein delayed a ruling on the matter.

May, 27, is accused of capital and first-degree murder in the deaths of five people who were shot as they partied together in an Old Southwest carriage house apartment.

Three hours into the New Year, police responded to reports of gunfire on 4 1/2 Street and found, in an upstairs apartment, the bodies of Dale Arnold, 36; Susan Hutchinson, 44; Cynthia LaPrade, 43; Carl Stroop, 42; and Daniel Mason, 47.

In a statement to police, May said he shot all five people after someone pulled a gun on him during a drunken argument about which branch of the military - the Navy or the Marines - was better.

In other issues, Weckstein:

Set May's trial for the week of April 24, with a backup date in June.

Denied a request to send Leven and Dalton to a seminar on death penalty cases in Kansas City, at a cost of about $1,200 in state money.

Delayed ruling on a motion in which May's attorneys asked for money to hire an investigator to help with the case. Weckstein said he will revisit the issue after Leven and Dalton demonstrate a more specific need for the investigator, as well as a cost estimate.

Keywords:
ROMUR

by CNB