ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, March 12, 1997 TAG: 9703120058
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LAURENCE HAMMACK
Several witnesses testified that the accused was at home at the time of the incident.
A Roanoke man was acquitted Wednesday of five charges that stemmed from a streetside shooting and attempted robbery the day after Christmas.
After deliberating about two hours, a Roanoke Circuit Court jury found Thaddeus Lee Ross not guilty of malicious wounding, attempted robbery, two counts of using a firearm during those crimes and possessing a gun as a convicted felon.
Ross, 22, was charged Dec. 26 with shooting Clarence Patterson in the hip in the 800 block of Hunt Avenue Northwest. Patterson was visiting relatives in the area when he heard a voice from behind him demanding money.
After turning his pockets inside out to show he had no money, Patterson was shot from behind as he fled, Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Mary Blaney told the jury.
Although the assailant was wearing a ski mask, Patterson identified Ross as the person who shot him.
But defense attorney David Damico called five eyewitnesses, all of whom testified that Ross was not the gunman. Several other witnesses testified that Ross was at his Mountain View Terrace Southwest home at the time of the shooting.
Damico contended that Patterson, a convicted drug dealer, was shot during a botched drug robbery and then mistakenly implicated his client.
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