ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, June 27, 1996 TAG: 9606270045
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
SENTENCING FOR the once highly regarded basketball recruit will come Sept. 12. He'll likely get four years in jail.
One-time Virginia basketball recruit Melvin Whitaker arrived in court Wedneday with a new set of lawyers and a new defense strategy.
However, his future was in no sharper focus after he pleaded guilty to a charge of malicious wounding, a felony
Sentencing has been set for Sept.12, at which time attorney Ron Leffler hopes to make a case that would enable Whitaker to serve less than the recommended prison term of five to 20 years.
``We certainly are going to ask the court to work with that,'' Leffler said.
``Why the decision to plead guilty? I guess that's Melvin's decision, [but] the heat-of-passion argument is better made at sentencing than at the guilt-or-innocence stage.''
Lloyd Snook, relieved of his duties as Whitaker's court-appointed attorney, said at a preliminary hearing in March that he would seek to have the charge reduced to unlawful wounding, a misdemeanor.
``That was always a consideration,'' Leffler said. ``We argued strongly with the prosecutor. When I say arguments, I mean plea discussions. We talked to him a fair amount about it. He held his position.''
James Camblos, commonwealth's attorney for Albemarle County, repeated the circumstances that led to a March 5 attack on UVa football player Maurice Anderson at the school's Slaughter Recreation Center.
Whitaker, not yet enrolled at UVa, had left the facility after an altercation with Anderson in a pick-up basketball game. When he returned, Camblos said, Whitaker extended his left hand to Anderson and then raised his right hand and slashed Anderson across the face.
Anderson was in court Wednesday, but did not speak. Camblos presented a picture of the wound, which required 73 stitches to close, and pointed out a scar on Anderson's left cheek.
``I'm not sure what I'm going to ask for,'' Camblos said. ``I want to hear the story. It's a sad case. The young man [Whitaker] had a brilliant future, I guess, and a malicious, nonsensical act might well have ruined that.''
Camblos said police determined that Whitaker left the pick-up game and entered a nearby dormitory, where he asked a female student for ``something that was sharp.'' She gave him a box-cutter and watched him rub his hand across the blade.
``How do you mitigate leaving a basketball arena for 20 minutes and coming back with a box-cutter?'' Camblos, explaining his reluctance to bargain, said. ``I've seen nothing that would want me want to knock it down to unlawful wounding or assault and battery. Absolutely not.''
He did not find the heat-of-passion argument convincing.
``I find that very hard to swallow,'' Camblos said. ``He left. He was gone 20 minutes. He went to ask somebody for a razor blade. No! I have a hard time with that.''
Camblos said he was notified by letter Monday that Whitaker would plead guilty. That left the sentencing to Albemarle County Circuit Judge Paul Peatross and not a grand jury.
``The judge can certainly suspend time,'' Camblos said, ``but a jury cannot. The jury's options [if Whitaker was guilty] would have been five to 20. Usually, if the jury gives time, the judge imposes what the jury did.
``If somebody takes the choice of a jury, they live with the result. They didn't want to run that risk. They didn't want the jury to look at Mr. Anderson or see that photograph or make that decision that starts at five years.''
Camblos said the average prison term for an offender like Whitaker, with no prior criminal record, would be in the area of four years.
Whitaker did not speak to the media before meeting with parole officers. Whitaker remains free on $10,000 bond as long as he lives with his father in Raleigh, N.C.
Whitaker's intention is to move to Gettysburg, Pa., where he will undergo testing by a psychologist while living with the family of one of his classmates at Oak Hill Academy. Peatross said he will accept that arrangement if the family agrees to provide surety on Whitaker's $10,000 bond.
``He has no cash,'' said Leffler, who was joined by Mark Henshaw, one of his partners in the Fairfax-based firm of Leffler, Highland, Henshaw and Thompson. ``We have been retained by friends of the family who do not live in Virginia.''
Leffler said it was his impression that Whitaker would like to play for Virginia, although UVa officials have indicated that is unlikely. There has been some interest in Whitaker, a 6-foot-10 post player, from other schools.
``While Melvin Whitaker will not be a student at the University of Virginia this fall, I will continue to provide whatever support I can as he works through this difficult period,'' Cavaliers coach Jeff Jones said in a statement released by the school.
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