THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, July 16, 1994 TAG: 9407160283
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JODY R. SNIDER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ISLE OF WIGHT LENGTH: Medium: 82 lines
Smithfield High School valedictorian Darrell H. Norton, voted ``most likely to succeed'' by his class, was led to jail Friday after a jury convicted him of burglary and grand larceny.
The jury recommended a sentence of one year in prison on each of the two charges. Each carries a maximum penalty of 20 years.
Circuit Judge E. Everett Bagnell set Norton's bond at $30,000 and sent him to jail pending sentencing Sept. 21.
The jury took less than two hours to convict Norton, 18, of taking $5,500 worth of electronics, jewelry, a video camera and a gun from the Morgart's Beach home of Bennie W. Lippard on Feb. 3.
When the verdict was announced, Norton turned to embrace his older brother, John, and the two men broke into tears.
Norton's mother and other family members who were sitting behind him also began to cry.
The most damaging testimony in the three-day trial came from Norton's co-defendant, Michael T. Barfield, 19, and Barfield's mother.
Barfield, a former Smithfield High School student, has been indicted but not yet tried on charges stemming from the burglary.
He testified Thursday that Norton was with him and carrying a gun when he broke into the home.
Barfield's mother, Phyllis, told jurors that Norton showed up in court on the morning of Feb. 3 and waited for her son to finish testifying in a case involving the burglary of their own home.
Phyllis Barfield said she had told Norton not to come to court, but he came anyway. Afterward, Phyllis Barfield said, her son and Norton left together in Norton's car.
Suspicious of why Norton came to court, Phyllis Barfield said she followed them until they turned left onto the Route 10 bypass toward Morgart's Beach. Then she lost sight of the car.
School records introduced at the trial showed that Norton cut classes on Feb. 3.
And police testified they found a red box in the glove compartment of Norton's 1971 blue Chevrolet during a March 23 search. The box contained several pieces of gold jewelry later identified as having been stolen from the Lippard home.
On Thursday, however, two students from Menchville High School in Newport News testified that they saw Norton visiting their school Feb. 3 at about the same time he is accused of breaking into the Lippard home, located an hour away.
Norton was originally charged with grand larceny and burglary while armed with a deadly weapon, a crime carrying a sentence of 20 years to life in prison. But jurors chose to convict him on the lesser burglary charge.
After he was convicted but before the jury met to recommend a sentence, a tearful Norton took the stand, saying he began hanging out with Barfield and some of his friends because Norton had no friends of his own.
When defense attorney Robert Jones asked Norton what he had learned from this experience, Norton said: ``I've learned that it doesn't matter what you do. You're known for the company you keep. And your family is always there for you.''
But Norton also told jurors he had committed another home burglary Jan. 14, less than two weeks before his 18th birthday.
He pleaded guilty last month in juvenile court to charges stemming from the Jan. 14 break-in and received a one-year suspended sentence on each of two counts.
As a student, Norton won a string of prestigious honors and awards. He had planned to attend the University of Virginia, earn a master's degree in mathematics or statistics and become an actuary.
``It's not the end of the world for him,'' another of Norton's attorneys, Al Jones, said of the conviction. ``But it's a hell of a bump.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo by JOHN H. SHEALLY II, Staff
Darrell H. Norton
Photo by JOHN H. SHEALLY II, Staff
Darrell H. Norton is escorted from the Circuit Court building to the
Isle of Wight County jail Friday after a jury convicted the
Smithfield High School valedictorian of burglary and grand larceny.
KEYWORDS: ROBBERY CONVICTION TRIAL by CNB