ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, March 2, 1996 TAG: 9603040020
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: RICHMOND
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DEL. CLIFTON "CHIP" WOODRUM of Roanoke leads a little-noticed General Assembly panel that decides how much to pay residents who believe they've been wronged by the state. This year, the panel is busier than usual.
The General Assembly is best known for making Virginia's laws, but it also quietly serves as the state's court of last resort.
Every year, about a dozen claim bills are brought before the Senate and House of Delegates on behalf of people who contend that they were irrevocably wronged by the state. Lawmakers concede they don't publicize the claims process, fearing an onslaught of frivolous requests. But neither do they shirk from awarding financial help to those who prove the state's wrongs.
``We are what's called a court of equity, where you take the principles of fairness over the code of Virginia,'' said Del. Robert Marshall, R-Manassas. ``You have to strike a balance between procedural fairness and what you think is morally right or wrong.''
For such a weighty task, surprisingly few parameters guide legislators in their claims work. About the only concrete rule is that claimants must show they've exhausted all other avenues of appeal, said Del. Clifton "Chip" Woodrum, D-Roanoke, who heads the House Claims Committee.
Claimants also generally must show that an official act of government - not anyone else's actions - prompted their plight.
Already this session, the House has voted to award $500,000 to Edward Honaker, a Roanoke man imprisoned for 10 years for a rape that DNA testing and other evidence later proved he did not commit.
In another false-imprisonment case, Walter Snyder is seeking $230,000 from the state. The Senate already has slashed the amount to $11,000.
Snyder was a 20-year-old heating equipment repairman with no criminal record when an Alexandria jury sentenced him to 45 years in prison for a rape he didn't commit.
After seven years behind bars, Snyder was released after DNA testing proved his innocence. He received a full gubernatorial pardon in 1993 but says he still suffers physical and emotional scars of a youth spent in prison, instead of college as he'd planned.
The Honaker and Snyder claims concern some legislators, who fear they may set a precedent for future cases. Just as DNA testing came about after these two men's convictions, future scientific discoveries could similarly affect cases now working through the courts.
``I view bills of this nature like a personal-injury claim. I look for negligence and damages,'' Del. Kenneth Melvin, D-Portsmouth, said in a recent hearing on Snyder's relief bill. ``Certainly there was damage. But I don't see negligence.''
Woodrum countered that the issue involves equity. ``If a person serves seven years in prison and is innocent, doesn't the system owe them something?''
Snyder's case has troubled some legislators because he has received an unspecified, six-figure settlement from the city of Alexandria.
But Sen. Patsy Ticer, D-Alexandria, who is sponsoring his claim, contends that money merely covered what was spent proving his innocence, not helping Snyder get on with his life.
Overall, this year's claims total about $1.3 million, a higher-than-usual amount attributable to several extraordinary relief requests.
Nearly $330,000 alone is sought for four Floyd County cattle farmers who destroyed their herds in April 1994 on a plea from state agriculture officers. By agreeing to slaughter the cattle, which were believed to be carrying bovine tuberculosis, the farmers protected Virginia's cattle industry.
LENGTH: Medium: 73 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: headshot of Woodrum color KEYWORDS: GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1996by CNB