Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, April 19, 1995 TAG: 9504190059
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: TODD JACKSON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ROCKY MOUNT LENGTH: Medium
The three-judge panel ruled in October that a Franklin County judge erred in refusing to strike a potential juror for DeHart's 1992 trial.
During jury selection, the woman expressed some doubt when asked by defense attorneys if she could base her decision on the evidence presented rather than what she had read about the case in the newspapers.
The woman was accepted into the required pool of 20 possible jurors, but was struck from that pool by prosecutors using the first of four disqualifications given to each side in a jury trial.
The October court decision said DeHart's rights were violated because there was not a pool of 20 impartial jurors.
DeHart's attorney, Tom Blaylock of Roanoke, said the rehearing that preceded Tuesday's ruling was granted on one issue only: whether the strike used by prosecutors to eliminate the woman from consideration rendered the error harmless.
Blaylock said the state attorney general's office, which appealed the October decision, asked for the rehearing in front of the full nine-judge Appeals Court, but that request was denied.
New arguments were heard by the original three-judge panel via conference call on Feb. 23.
In upholding its decision, the panel said the strike used to eliminate the woman in question from the jury pool could have been used to strike someone who sat on the jury - a move that would have changed the jury's makeup and possibly its verdict.
Blaylock, told of the court's latest decision Tuesday night, said: "That's good news. It's time to get to work and get this thing retried."
He said he plans to file several motions in upcoming weeks, including one to move the new trial out of Franklin County.
"This case has received way too much publicity," he said.
DeHart was convicted of the murder of 81-year-old Effie Rakes.
The widow was found shot to death on the floor of her remote Shooting Creek home in June 1991. She had raised nine children and still was taking care of an invalid daughter when she was murdered.
The jury that convicted DeHart heard prosecutors recount that Rakes had caught her killer trying to sexually molest her daughter, then 55 years old and unable to talk.
DeHart, of Endicott, was sentenced to 27 years in prison for second-degree murder and two related charges.
Franklin County Commonwealth's Attorney Cliff Hapgood, who prosecuted DeHart in 1992, could not be reached for comment Tuesday. Neither could Michael T. Judge, an assistant attorney general who argued the state's case at the rehearing.
by CNB