Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, September 16, 1995 TAG: 9509170011
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JAN VERTEFEUILLE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
But Assistant U.S. Attorney Tony Giorno said he thought there were options other than prison that would help Ann Kennedy Dickens. Dickens was in court Friday for a preliminary hearing.
"Right now, it doesn't appear prison is appropriate," Giorno said after the hearing. "I think we can come up with a solution that helps her solve her problems and protects the community."
This is the third time since 1990 that the 62-year-old has been arrested on charges of stealing mail from the neighborhoods she has lived in. She was found to be mentally ill when she was charged in 1990 and 1993. Another mental health evaluation was done this month, but is sealed by the court.
Dickens currently can leave her Briskwood Apartments home only on Sundays, when there is no mail delivery. The stolen mail was found in boxes in Dickens' back bedroom last month after postal inspectors staked out her apartment complex's mailboxes, Postal Inspector Kevin Boyle said. None of it had been opened.
By way of explanation, Dickens told postal inspectors "there was a real story behind these thefts and she wanted to tell me the story at a later date," Boyle testified Friday.
Her attorney, Sharon Chickering, asked U.S. Magistrate Glen Conrad to alter Dickens' bond conditions so she could leave her apartment to take brief walks in the evening, after most people have returned home and picked up their mail.
Her probation officer, Lisa Shaffer, said she was concerned with making sure Dickens stays on her medication. Neither her attorney nor Shaffer would say what kind of medication she is on.
"My concern is the medication," Shaffer said. "If we could have a way of monitoring that, then maybe we could try her out three times a week."
Conrad suggested that maybe someone in Dickens' apartment complex would be willing to monitor that.
In 1990, postal inspectors found more than 5,000 pieces of mail taken from around Dickens' Pebble Creek apartment in Southwest Roanoke County. The prosecutor dropped the charge after she was found to be insane when the thefts occurred.
In 1993, Dickens was arrested again with 400 pieces of mail from Walnut Avenue Southeast. She agreed to get help, and was put into a pretrial diversion program. The court found then that she had a history of psychiatric disorders and unspecified mental health problems that cannot be treated on an outpatient basis.
Dickens moved to Baltimore but came back to Roanoke last year. The thefts started in April.
by CNB