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

DATE: TUESDAY, July 11, 1995                   TAG: 9507110086
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITER NOTE: Above
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

PROSECUTOR QUESTIONS MAY'S PLEA

A Roanoke man charged with killing five people at a New Year's Eve party has indicated that he will plead guilty to capital murder, prosecutors say.

But in a motion filed Monday in Roanoke Circuit Court, Commonwealth's Attorney Donald Caldwell raised concerns that Robert Michael May might change his mind before the case goes to trial July 31.

Caldwell backed his concerns by citing a television interview in which May gave an account of the shootings that "if believed, amounts to a claim of self-defense and, arguably, a defense of duress," the motion stated.

In an unusual move, Caldwell is asking a judge to arraign May before his trial begins, forcing him to enter pleas to charges of capital and first-degree murder at least seven days prior to July 31.

The motion contends that if May decides to tell a jury what he told WDBJ (Channel 7) - that he shot in self-defense after a gun and a knife were drawn on him during a drunken party in Old Southwest - instead of pleading guilty, prosecutors need to know in order to prepare for trial.

"An indication of an intent to plead guilty and public proclamations of innocence are mutually inconsistent," the motion stated.

Thus, "the necessity exists to determine the nature of the defendant's plea so the Commonwealth may have a reasonable opportunity to prepare for a contested trial if the defendant continues to deny, mitigate or 'hedge' his criminal culpability."

A hearing on the motion has tentatively been scheduled for this week before Circuit Judge Clifford Weckstein.

May's attorney, Assistant Public Defender Roger Dalton, said that while a possible guilty plea has been discussed, "It's not a done deal."

As for what might happen July 31, he said, "We've got our own intentions, but it's not our obligation to reveal them to the prosecution or the public."

Dalton also indicated that he and Public Defender Ray Leven may oppose an early arraignment. "I don't really understand how they can force him to enter a plea before the day his trial is scheduled to begin," Dalton said.

No plea agreements have been made in the case, meaning that if May were to plead guilty to capital murder, Weckstein would decide his sentence - either life in prison or execution.

May, 27, is accused of killing three men and two women after a dispute about which branch of the military - the Navy or the Marines - was tougher.

He has told police that a gun was pulled on him during the argument, forcing him to fatally shoot Susan Hutchinson, 44; her boyfriend, Dale Arnold, 36; and three of their party guests - Cynthia LaPrade, 43; Carl Stroop, 42; and Daniel Mason, 47.

The shooting happened about three hours into the new year in a small upstairs apartment of a 41/2 Street carriage house that Arnold and Hutchinson shared.

In a telephone interview last month with a WDBJ reporter, May essentially repeated his claims of self-defense but changed some of the details in his account. Prosecutors have since subpoenaed the tape of the interview for possible use at the trial.

Keywords:
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