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

DATE: TUESDAY, November 7, 1995                   TAG: 9511070072
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: SPOTSYLVANIA                                LENGTH: Medium

WOMAN WHO FAILED TO RETURN TAPES CONVICTED

A woman fined $25 Monday for failing to return rented videotapes said she will appeal and wants a jury to decide her fate.

Denise Lawrence, 24, drew national attention after she was charged with a felony last month for not returning ``Dumb and Dumber,'' two other videos and a game. She eventually returned the tapes and paid a late charge.

Spotsylvania County Commonwealth's Attorney William Neely reduced the charge of failure to return rental property from a felony to a misdemeanor, but he wanted Lawrence to admit to intentional wrongdoing. When she refused, the planned plea bargain fell apart.

After she was convicted of the misdemeanor in General District Court on Monday, Lawrence and Richmond attorney Joseph Morrissey said they wanted the case to go to a Circuit Court jury. They said she was singled out because she contacted the media about her case.

``I feel confident when this is tried again that I will be found innocent,'' Lawrence told reporters.

She could face up to 12 months in jail and a $2,500 fine.

Lawrence rented the tapes from Video Club on July 12. Store employees said they tried to contact her by phone and sent her a registered letter asking for the tapes.

Lawrence contends she never received a call. The letter was returned to the store unopened because there was no one home.

Last month, she was arrested at her home as her four young children watched. She called reporters as a deputy waited to take her to be booked, and was interviewed on television's ``Inside Edition'' and by newspapers from Florida to California.

Lawrence said she forgot about the tapes and they were overlooked in the bustle of a busy household.

Lawrence's husband has had his own troubles with tapes.

Clayton Lawrence, 28, was charged with a misdemeanor last month for failing to return four movies and a game to a Stafford County store. Those tapes were due Aug. 2. Clayton Lawrence owes about $375 in late charges.

He will be tried Nov. 30.