Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, April 5, 1995 TAG: 9504050076
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: TODD JACKSON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ROCKY MOUNT LENGTH: Medium
A Franklin County judge Tuesday dismissed a felony charge against a grocer accused of selling deer meat.
Circuit Judge B.A. Davis III said he believed Tim Belcher of Martinsville violated the intent of the law but said he couldn't convict Belcher because the law isn't specific enough.
Virginia law prohibits selling or buying venison, but meat processors can charge a fee for skinning, gutting and cutting up a deer.
Belcher and his attorney, Eric Ferguson, maintained Tuesday that Belcher simply charged an undercover deputy a processing fee - not a charge for the meat he received - during a sting operation late last year.
Public complaints spurred the undercover investigation of Belcher's Rolling Meadows Grocery near the Henry County line, according to Sgt. Ron Henry of the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.
Deputy E.F. Hairston of the Henry County Sheriff's Office testified at a preliminary hearing in February that he bought $260 worth of venison from Belcher in the span of a month. One batch included a bag with the word "hungry" written on it, and investigators believe it was intended for the Hunters for the Hungry program.
The prosecution's case against Belcher was weakened when a key witness failed to appear in court Tuesday.
Cliff Hapgood, the Franklin County commonwealth's attorney, said some of the venison Hairston got belonged to the witness, who brought the deer to Belcher to be processed.
Belcher, 32, said he tried to contact the witness to pick up the venison and later gave the meat away when the witness didn't respond.
Belcher said the bag with "hungry" written on it got mixed up with a batch of meat in a cooler.
Several defense witnesses testified that Belcher did not sell the meat, but was only trying to recoup the processing fee.
Rolling Meadows Grocery charges flat fees for processing - $5 to skin a deer, $5 to gut it and $25 to cut it up. Other processors have a sliding fee based on a deer's weight.
Ferguson said the General Assembly should consider tightening the state statute barring purchase or sale of venison.
"If Tim Belcher would have been convicted today, it would have impacted every meat processor in Franklin County," he said. "But Tim Belcher is not going to do things the same way anymore. If a person brings a deer in, that person is going to have to come and get it."
Ferguson also said he has advised Belcher to charge the processing fee before he does any work.
Belcher said he will continue to work with the Hunters for the Hungry program.
by CNB