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

DATE: WEDNESDAY, October 4, 1995                   TAG: 9510040058
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C4   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: RICHMOND                                LENGTH: Medium

DELEGATE PUSHES FOR STUDY OF VICTIM NOTIFICATION PLAN

The commission also heard from Virginia State Police Superintendent M. Wayne Huggins, who said investigators are still stumped by how a gun got inside a death row inmate's typewriter in May.

State police closed their investigation of the death row gun this summer, and no significant new information has turned up, Huggins said.

Del. Howard Copeland, D-Norfolk, said he would recommend the General Assembly pass a bill allowing Virginia to implement the computerized system if the commission deems the program worthwhile and cost-effective.

The system was pioneered in Louisville, Ky., and put into use there in December 1994 after a woman was killed by her boyfriend after he posted bail on a charge of raping her. Police had promised to notify her of his release but didn't, said Betsy Carter Helm, system manager of the Jefferson County, Ky., corrections department.

Before someone can be released, Louisville authorities log court orders into a computer. The computer keeps calling the victim's number until somebody answers, then a taped message says the attacker is about to be freed.

Virginia, as does most states, requires some kind of notice to victims of inmates' release, said Susan Howley, assistant director of legislative services for the National Victim Center in Arlington.

The automated system would be another tool to help victims, but would not replace the written or oral notice already given by authorities, Copeland said.

``Assailants, especially domestic ones, too often go right back and attack their victims again,'' he said. ``Victims need to know a prisoner is out, so they can take protective action.''

Howley said the center has no statistics about how many criminals attack their victims again. But notification is necessary at the very least for victims' peace of mind, she said.

Howley said she worries that the computer system could malfunction, and it is too soon to determine its effectiveness.

``It certainly is adapting new technology to better serve victims,'' she said. But ``we haven't yet seen any definitive information about how well it's working.''

Kentucky Gov. Brereton Jones recently announced plans to expand the system statewide. Other cities and states around the country are following the Louisville experiment, Copeland said.