ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, February 4, 1997 TAG: 9702040097
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: CHATHAM
SOURCE: DAVID REED ASSOCIATED PRESS
An 8-year-old boy charged with murdering his stepfather should be released from a juvenile detention center but should not be allowed to return home, a prosecutor said Monday.
"There are family members who may have interests that are different than what the child's interests are," said William Jarvis, the assistant commonwealth's attorney in Pittsylvania County.
The boy, who is not being identified because of his age, was arrested on Jan. 14, nearly a month after Bernard Rosser, a 55-year-old probation officer, was found dead from a blow to his head at his home in Gretna.
As of Monday, the child was at the W.W. Moore Detention Home in Danville, where other juveniles range in age from 11 to 17, said Superintendent Jim Rosenbaum.
State law requires that juveniles be tried within 21 days of their detention, unless a judge agrees to extend the deadline. Juvenile and Domestic Relations Judge Calvin Fowler agreed to postpone the trial Monday because the boy has a new attorney, Jarvis said.
Jarvis said he and the boy's attorney, Glenn Berger, agree that he should be released from the detention home because of his age and because it will be months before the case goes to trial.
"We have some difficulty leaving an 8-year-old child in detention home for much longer than 21 days," Jarvis said.
Berger was hired as the child's attorney just days ago. The boy was first represented by J.P. Rogers of Danville, who was appointed by the court.
Berger, a former Pittsylvania County prosecutor who now has a private law practice in Altavista, confirmed that he is the child's attorney, but said he cannot discuss anything else at this time.
"It's a fascinating case," he said.
Ray Ferris, a Roanoke attorney representing Frances Rosser, the boy's mother, said he has not been involved in the discussion about the boy's placement.
Frances Rosser has not been charged in the case, but Ferris said she hired him because county investigators made it clear they don't believe her statements. After her son was arrested, Rosser had continued to work as a family counselor for the Franklin County Office on Youth, but she's since resigned, Ferris said.
She contends her son is innocent, he said.
Jarvis, however, does not want the boy sent home.
It would be possible, he said, to send the boy to relatives who live outside the region or to a mental hospital.
Jarvis said the boy must be placed somewhere safe and with people who can "exercise a fair amount of control over him" and handle any emotional difficulties he may experience.
"He must be with people who do not have an interest in the outcome of the case," Jarvis said. "The relatives I don't have much of a problem with don't live here."
Because of his age and the extraordinary details of the case, little information has been made public.
And for good reason, Rogers said.
"What if it was a child in your family?" he said. "At this point everyone is trying to play by all the rules."
Staff Writer Todd Jackson contributed information to this story.
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