Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, August 2, 1995 TAG: 9508020049
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: WYTHEVILLE LENGTH: Medium
Round two for Christopher Shawn Wheeler will start at 9:30 a.m. Aug. 29 in Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court. Both sides asked to continue Tuesday's hearing until then to gather additional evidence.
If Judge William Thomas eventually were to rule that there was probable cause to hold Wheeler in the Dec. 6 shooting death of Deputy Cliff Dicker, round three would decide whether to try the boy as a juvenile or an adult.
Jonathan Venzie, one of Wheeler's defense attorneys, argued that authorities violated their own procedures for handling juveniles in getting a confession from Wheeler on the day of the shooting. He moved that the confession be suppressed; Thomas granted the motion without comment.
The prosecution can try again to introduce Wheeler's statement if the case advances to a different court and judge. If Wheeler is tried as an adult, the case would move to Wythe County Circuit Court.
Thomas Wade Whisman, an investigator with the Wytheville Police Department, admitted to some unease when he and another investigator were asked by state police to question Wheeler shortly after the shooting.
"Matter of fact, it was a complete surprise," Whisman said. "I had no idea, to be honest with you, that Mr. Wheeler had done anything ... At that time, I didn't know if it was an accident."
Whisman said he was asked to get a statement from Wheeler because the boy knew him and might talk to him.
"I would say I was just a pawn," he said. State police were handling the investigation. "I did what I was asked to do."
He said he told Wheeler it was important to tell the truth, and that the boy's first response was to continue crying.
"He was more concerned about going to jail ... than anything really about the officer," Whisman said.
"A brother was down ... But I had never, ever, treated a person better than I treated Mr. Wheeler that day. Never," he said. "Your honor, I knew at that time that I must keep all of my feelings suppressed and keep my mind about me."
He said Wheeler understood his rights and gave his statement voluntarily, not asking for an attorney until he completed it.
But Venzie said no effort was made to find the boy's parent or guardian - in this case, his grandmother - before quizzing him. He said state law and police procedures require such notification when juveniles are arrested.
"There's a police officer down, and they're going to solve this case; they're going to get a confession from this boy right now," Venzie said. "It's an insult to this court."
Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Edwin Shaffer said the procedures did not apply because no charges had been placed against Wheeler and he was not under arrest at that point. Venzie countered that Wheeler was being detained, and urged the judge to consider the boy's age, experience, education and capacity to understand what was going on.
Dispatcher Mary Jo Vass testified that Dicker had gone to the house where Wheeler lived with his grandmother to serve a detention order and court petition on the boy charging him with stealing a car. She talked to Dicker by radio at 9:15 a.m., but he failed to answer another call shortly after 10 a.m.
Kathleen Wheeler, the boy's grandmother, testified that she had left home about 6:30 a.m. to eat breakfast and go shopping. She said the boy found her at a Main Street store between 9:30 and 10 a.m. He was crying and told her, "I've done it ... I've shot someone," she testified.
She said he was incoherent and it took her a while to learn that he had shot a police officer. "I had to pick it out of him," she said. Wheeler also showed her a pistol that she never had seen before. She put it on the ground outside the house after they drove there and found Dicker's body inside.
"I've had him about since he was born ... This is as upset as I've ever seen him," she said. She had a neighbor call police, and said she was so distraught that she had to be taken to a mental health facility for medication.
"I noticed a handgun on the ground," Deputy Daniel Murphy testified. "I approached Mr. Wheeler. I asked him where my partner was and why his gun was on the ground. His response was, `I shot him.'''
Authorities have said Dicker was wounded by a .22-caliber rifle belonging to Wheeler, and the fatal shot was inflicted by his own pistol.
Wheeler has been charged with capital murder in the shooting.
by CNB