
                         THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
                 Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, June 22, 1994                    TAG: 9406220503 
SECTION: LOCAL                     PAGE: B4    EDITION: FINAL  
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS 
DATELINE: 940622                                 LENGTH: RICHMOND

COURT REINSTATES CONVICTION, SENTENCE IN GIRL'S ABDUCTION \

{LEAD} A closely divided Virginia Court of Appeals on Tuesday reinstated the conviction and 50-year prison term given to a man in the abduction of a 5-year-old Fairfax County girl who has never been found.

The court, in a 5-4 decision, overturned a ruling by a three-judge panel that threw out Caleb D. Hughes' conviction for abduction with intent to defile. The deciding vote was cast by Judge Samuel W. Coleman III, who as a member of the three-judge panel had voted to overturn the conviction.

{REST} ``I was wrong,'' Coleman wrote in a concurring opinion. He accepted the majority's reasoning that the evidence was sufficient to prove that Hughes abducted Melissa Brannen from a Christmas party in 1989 with the intent of sexually molesting her.

``The circumstances surrounding the child's disappearance, the fact that she has not been found, and the conduct of the appellant both before and after the child's disappearance support the conclusion that he abducted the child with the intent to defile her,'' Chief Judge Norman K. Moon wrote for the majority.

Hughes has remained in prison pending the outcome of the hearing before the full court.

Evidence against him included a bloodstain on his sneaker and human hair and clothing fibers found in his car and matched to the girl. Witnesses said Hughes talked to the girl several times the evening she disappeared and told others that he wanted to have sex with women at the party.

When police questioned him, Hughes challenged them to prove that he had abducted the girl.

The appeals court said any other reason for the abduction other than sexual assault was not believable.

``The jury's finding that he abducted the child with the intent to defile her is amply supported by credible evidence,'' Moon wrote.

The dissenting judges said there was insufficient evidence of Hughes' intent to molest the girl.

``The evidence provokes speculation but does not provide a reasonable basis for inferring what the defendant specifically intended to do, or in fact did, with the child,'' wrote Judge Bernard G. Barrow.

by CNB