ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, March 23, 1996 TAG: 9603250040
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
Feathers conviction challenged
RICHMOND - An American Indian couple convicted of possessing raptor feathers are appealing their case, arguing that the conviction violates their freedom of religion.
Timothy and Diane Horen of Crimora were found guilty in November in Augusta County Circuit Court and each fined $100.
The Horens' lawyer, Dean Witford of the Rutherford Institute, said the court refused to permit his clients to present any evidence about the religious significance of the owl feathers.
The Rutherford Institute, located in Charlottesville, is an international, nonprofit organization specializing in the defense of religious liberty. Witford has filed the appeal with the Virginia Court of Appeals.
Diane Horen is the medicine keeper for the Otter Band of the Southeastern Cherokee Confederacy and uses owl parts and feathers in her duties, as well as for her and her husband's personal religious practice.
Witford said that the possession and use of raptor parts were part of the Horens' religious expression, which would be protected by the First Amendment and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993.
- Associated Press
Woman sentenced in husband's death
NORFOLK - A Hampton woman suspected of having her husband killed by her brother and then collecting the dead man's pension benefits was sentenced Friday to 15 years in prison on mail fraud and obstruction-of-justice charges.
Deborah L. Morris had pled guilty to the charges in U.S. District Court in November.
According to federal investigators, Morris was 37 years old when she married Eugene B. Morris, 73, in April 1987.
Authorities believe Deborah Morris and her brother, Michael Russell, lured Eugene Morris from his rooming house in late May of that year with a false story that the woman's car had broken down. Morris reported her husband missing two days later. Police subsequently interviewed several witnesses who reported that Russell, who died in a fishing boat accident in September, told them he shot Morris, a Navy veteran and retired Newport News city employee, and buried his body. U.S. Attorney Helen Fahey said authorities still are trying to find Morris' body.
- Associated Press
Richmond toll road gets tentative nod
RICHMOND - The Commonwealth Transportation Board has approved preliminary plans to build a 9-mile connector road around Richmond as a private toll road.
Interstate 895 would connect I-95 in Chesterfield County to I-295 in Henrico County.
Board members said Thursday that letting a private company finance and build the road would mean it could be built in a timely manner without exposing the state to financial risk if toll revenues are less than expected.
The private partnership hoping to build the highway, FD-MK Ltd., says it could have the project completed by 2000 for $389 million, including construction, debt service and financing.
One-way tolls would likely be about $2, company officials said.
- Associated Press
Sitter sentenced in molestation
WILLIAMSBURG - A James City County circuit judge, citing a need to protect the community, sentenced a 19-year-old former Bruton Parish Church baby sitter to seven years in prison for sexually molesting a child.
Richard W. Weaverling pleaded guilty last spring and initially was given a 10-year suspended sentence and 15 years probation.
Additional abuse charges, however, were filed against him over the past two weeks.
After reviewing psychiatric evaluations, Judge Samuel T. Powell reinstated the 10-year sentence, suspended three years and ordered 10 years of intensively supervised probation following Weaverling's release from prison.
Weaverling has admitted molesting numerous children while he was a baby sitter at the church in 1993 and 1994.
- Associated Press
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