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

DATE: TUESDAY, June 13, 1995                   TAG: 9506130094
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: DANVILLE                                 LENGTH: Medium

EX-TEACHER FILES SUIT OVER AD

Thomas W. Motley was fired two days after the advertisement ran last year in the Danville Register & Bee. It disclosed he had been convicted in 1981 for possession of cocaine and possession of marijuana with intent to distribute.

The suit, filed in Danville Circuit Court, alleges that Commonwealth's Attorney William H. Fuller III and Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney James C. Martin illegally used the state Central Criminal Records Exchange to obtain Motley's criminal record.

The two prosecutors bought the quarter-page ad after a Circuit Court jury acquitted Motley in April 1994 of striking a student with a ruler.

John A. Gibney Jr., a Richmond lawyer representing Fuller and Martin, said Motley's criminal record was pulled from Henrico County court files, where he was convicted, and not from the state system.

State law allows public access to criminal records at local courthouses, but limits use of the state's electronic system to law enforcement agencies.

``Everything they said is absolutely true and a matter of public record,'' Gibney said.

The suit also alleges that Fuller and Martin intentionally inflicted emotional stress, invaded Motley's privacy and put him in a false light.Motley said he quit using drugs after his arrest.

He taught emotionally disturbed children in Virginia public schools for more than 12 years before he was fired.

``When will society accept the fact that we make mistakes and that we change our lives?'' Motley asked in an interview with the Richmond Times-Dispatch.