Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, October 18, 1995 TAG: 9510180031
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RICHARD FOSTER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BEDFORD LENGTH: Long
- It wasn't in a courtroom where Bedford County Commonwealth's Attorney Randy Krantz faced his toughest task.
It was in the back of the ambulance where he delivered his son, Spencer, now 8, after his wife, Dina, went into early labor.
"Randy did a super job, although he was very scared to say the least," says Bedford County Life Saving Crew President Jerry Fielder, who was also in the ambulance that day. "That's one I'll remember."
A breech birth, Krantz' son was in respiratory arrest during his first minutes of life. "I'm really only 19. I just look 35 from that. That's where the extra years came from," Krantz joked recently.
Krantz isn't just a lawyer. He's a registered nurse and certified paramedic with years of experience working as a volunteer and training Roanoke Valley rescuers.
He joined the Bedford Life Saving Crew at the age of 16 and became the county's first volunteer paramedic. He was the founding president of the county rescue squad association, and he taught emergency medicine at the College of Health Sciences.
He's also on the board of directors of the Blue Ridge Emergency Medical Services council, a state-funded group that provides training and resources to rescue squads in Bedford, Bedford County and Lynchburg.
Krantz's medical background is so extensive that when he got his first job offer from a law firm, he had to turn down an offer to become a hospital administrator.
He says he thinks he made the right choice. "I think I'm doing right now exactly what I was meant to do," Krantz says. "I get to draw on my medical expertise, and I get to serve the community I grew up in ... it's certainly a help in prosecuting cases ... interpreting forensic reports, blood reports and autopsy reports."
As an example, Krantz points to the recent conviction of a Bedford County man for felony child abuse. The man, who was found guilty of biting and beating his infant daughter, told police the child was knocked unconscious in a fall and was injured in his attempts to revive her.
"By being familiar with cardiopulmonary resuscitation, I could look at the photographs and tell that's not an injury pattern associated with CPR," Krantz says.
Since joining the commonwealth's attorney's office as an assistant in 1992, Krantz has developed a reputation as a strong advocate for abused children and the elderly.
He was appointed commonwealth's attorney earlier this year, succeeding the legendary prosecutor Jim Updike, who became the judge of Bedford County's General District Court. He is seeking his first full term.
Since his appointment, Krantz has gotten a few high-profile convictions of his own.
A hunter convicted of involuntary manslaughter received five years - one of the longest prison sentences for a hunting offense in Virginia history.
In another recent case, a church-camp counselor who denied accusations that he had molested two children testified that he had no history of lying. Under cross examination, Krantz produced military records that showed the counselor had admitted lying during his court-martial.
That could be because Krantz, a military prosecutor in the National Guard, has experience with military records. Or it could be Krantz' natural attention to detail, his colleagues say.
"Randy consistently thinks on his feet," says Bedford defense lawyer Louis Harrison, a former prosecutor. "He doesn't try to use showboating. ... You will often be in court and confident of your position, and if you're not very careful, Randy will put it in a different light and turn it back around on you.
"When Jim Updike was there, he would do it with brute force. He was really good. ... Randy is equally good, only subtly. He's also very human about what he does."
Bedford County Sheriff Carl Wells is endorsing Krantz, also. "I've known Randy basically all of his life," he says. "His multiprofessional background, both medical and legal, I feel, enables him to be a very effective prosecutor.
"Observing him in the cases he's had since he's been in the commonwealth's attorney's office, I've found him to be very thorough, dedicated and conscientious."
Krantz has gained lots of support across the county from other leading figures as well, including former Commonwealth's Attorney Harry Garrett Jr.
"It's a new experience for me," Krantz says. "I don't like to call myself a politician. I'm a person who's involved in the political process, and I don't mind that at all.
"I don't mind being held accountable for the same things I've been doing all my life in Bedford County, helping people in the community. That's very important to me."
RANDY KRANTZ
Age: 35
Occupation: Bedford County commonwealth's attorney
Family: Married, two children
Hobbies: Reading, hiking
Party: Independent
Education: Law degree from University of Richmond, 1990; bachelor's degree in public management from Lynchburg College, 1986; and associate's degree in nursing from Virginia Western Community College, 1981.
Military: Active-duty captain in the Virginia National Guard, U.S. Army Reserve
Experience: Appointed commonwealth's attorney in summer 1995, Krantz had been the county's senior assistant commonwealth attorney since 1992. Before that, he was a defense attorney for two years with the Roanoke firm of Bird, Kinder and Huffman.
Krantz also serves as a military prosecutor in the Virginia National Guard.
Platform: Hiring full-time victim-witness coordinator, increased participation with neighborhood watch and school groups. Krantz also cites his extensive background as a volunteer paramedic and emergency medical instructor.
Keywords:
POLITICS PROFILE
by CNB