ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times

DATE: Tuesday, January 14, 1997              TAG: 9701140061
SECTION: SPORTS                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: METRO 
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE 
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER


DEANE WINS COURT CASE ON APPEAL

It certainly was longer than a basketball game and, to Harold Deane, no less important.

Less than 48 hours after leading Virginia to an upset of ACC archrival North Carolina on the basketball court, Deane enjoyed victory in another court Monday with the reversal of an August conviction for resisting arrest.

``When you've got a criminal record, you can't erase it,'' an emotional Deane said following a 4 1/2-hour trial in Charlottesville Circuit Court. ``It's why I wanted to fight this till the end.

``I've been trying to put this behind me. And now I can.''

Deane hugged his attorneys and family before embracing four old friends who spoke in his defense: Fork Union Military Academy coach Fletcher Arritt; Matoaca High School coach James Williams; Matoaca teacher Jenny Pulley; and Rev. Andrew Jackson White, Deane's pastor.

``I was impressed by the character witnesses,'' Judge John Cullen said. ``Technically, there was enough evidence to support a conviction.''

Two police officers hurried from the courtroom after hearing the verdict, although it was inconsistencies in police testimony that had the defense calling for a dimissal relatively early in Monday's proceedings.

``I think there was conflict in the commonwealth's case as to what happened and the sequence in which it happened,'' Cullen said.

The defense also argued that Deane was improperly sentenced Aug.6, when he was found guilty of trespassing and resisting arrest and received a 30-day jail term that was suspended on condition of two years' good behavior.

Cullen did not disagree with defense attorney Tom Shuttleworth, who argued that the offense represented a Class 3 misdemeanor, instead of the more serious Class 2 misdemeanor for which Deane was tried. However, the judge allowed the case to continue.

Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Claude Worrell II called a succession of Charlottesville police officers to the stand in an effort to reconstruct the events of April 13.

Deane had attended a party at the Fry's Spring Beach Club in Charlottesville and was attempting to return when he was approached either from behind or the side - accounts differ - and placed under arrest.

The party had been closed minutes earlier and the crowd told to disperse, but organizers had issued Deane a personal invitation and he was told he could return to the party momentarily.

As a result, the trespassing charge was dropped in December, when the rest of the case was continued until Monday.

One officer, Faron Ocheltree, said Deane was cursing and ``hostile'' and kicked the back of a police van. However, arresting officer James Hope said Deane was not physically or verbally aggressive.

``In our system, you're supposed to apply reasonable doubt,'' said Larry Woodward, who was Deane's co-defense counsel with Shuttleworth. ``And, in this case, there was reasonable doubt.''

Shuttleworth and Woodward, whose Virginia Beach firm handled current NBA star Allen Iverson's successful appeal of a felony conviction, decided late last week that they would waive their right to a trial by jury.

``We just felt it was the kind of case that would involve a lot of legal and factual disputes,'' said Woodward, who felt a jury might be confused by the multiple objections that might ensue.

``When Harold appealed, technically he was running the risk of a judge sending him to jail,'' Shuttleworth said, ``but what this was all about was clearing his name.''

Deane has been a stabilizing force for a Virginia team that is 11-4 after winning its past two games. He said he has been able to block out his legal troubles while playing, but thoughts of the conviction had occupied his idle moments.

``It's been the main thing on my mind,'' he said. ``I wanted it off my record. I felt that way and my parents felt that way, and that's why we wanted another trial. I didn't think I committed a crime.''


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