ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, April 20, 1996 TAG: 9604220024
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITER
A man who was convicted of his first robbery when he was 12 was sentenced Friday to 25 years in prison for his most recent one, which left Randall E. Carter lying dead in his Southwest Roanoke home.
Michael J. Houser, 25, received the sentence from Circuit Judge Clifford Weckstein for murder and robbery.
Even though he apparently did not fire the shot that killed Carter - and in fact was shot himself - Houser pleaded guilty earlier this year to participating in a robbery last June at Carter's Memorial Avenue home.
Defense attorney Richard Lawrence asked Weckstein to consider the fact that Houser testified against Thomas A. Burton, the man who prosecutors believe fired the shots that killed Carter and wounded Houser. Burton was sentenced earlier this year to life plus 20 years in prison.
Houser testified that murder was never on his mind when he accompanied Burton to Carter's home in the hope of finding drugs or money there for the taking. He said he was shocked when Burton pulled a gun and began shooting during the robbery.
Carter, 48, was shot in the wrist, abdomen and forehead. Houser, who was shot in the stomach, became a suspect as soon as he arrived at Community Hospital with marijuana from Carter's home tucked in his shoe.
"I hope some day that you may be able to forgive me," Houser said, turning to face members of Carter's family seated in the courtroom. "But I'll never be able to forgive myself."
Arguing that it was Houser's cooperation that led to Burton's conviction, Lawrence also asked Weckstein to consider Houser's troubled childhood.
"I'm not one of those lawyers that gets up and talks about how society has failed Michael Houser and this, that and the other, " Lawrence said. But considering Houser's two-page rap sheet that began with a robbery conviction when he was 12, he added, "we all have to think that maybe something else could have been done."
Commonwealth's Attorney Donald Caldwell, who had asked for two life sentences for Burton, did not make a specific recommendation in Houser's case, asking only that Weckstein's sentence reflect the weight he gave Houser's cooperation.
Weckstein sentenced Houser to five years for robbery and life for murder, with all but 20 years suspended, for a total sentence of 25 years. He will be eligible for release after he serves 85 percent of his sentence, or about 21 years.
Asked by Weckstein if he had anything to say before the sentence was imposed, Houser did not plead for any breaks.
"I realize that I haven't had the greatest of backgrounds," he said. "But that's no excuse for what I've done."
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