THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, July 20, 1994 TAG: 9407200441
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY KAREN E. QUINONES MILLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 85 lines
When her son's murderer was sentenced to 20 years in prison in 1990, Jackie Sharp thought that would be the end of her ordeal.
She would never get her 20-year-old son back, but she wouldn't have to worry about his killer walking the streets for quite a while.
Or so she thought.
``Last week the man convicted of killing my son went up in front of a parole board, after serving only three years and seven months of his sentence,'' Sharp told Lt. Gov. Donald S. Beyer on Tuesday afternoon.
Beyer, Del. Lionel Spruill of Chesapeake, State Sen. Richard J. Holland of Isle of Wight County and Del. James F. Almand of Arlington, conducted a public hearing at Old Dominion University on violent crime.
Most of the people who testified spoke not only of the crime rate and fear of crime, but also parole reform.
``Less than four years? The man that was convicted of killing your son . .
``Yes, he was,'' replied Sharp of Norfolk. ``And I'll find out in August if they're going to let him go free on parole. People don't know that if someone gets 20 years, they can get out in less than four. That's why I support truth in sentencing - I believe when the judge says 20 years, the person should stay in prison 20 years.''
David L. Dayton, an assistant commonwealth's attorney in Norfolk, said most people - including those on juries - are unclear about how much time prisoners will actually serve.
``And we can't tell them,'' Dayton said, ``because if we do it's an automatic mistrial.''
Dayton said that during the sentencing phase of one of his first murder trials, the jury sent a note to the judge asking for clarification of sentences. The jury had to decide between capital punishment and a life sentence, but wondered how long someone sentenced to life would serve.
The note simply asked: ``What is the meaning of life?''
Some of those who spoke at the hearing cautioned that while the parole system needs to be overhauled, everyone in the prison system should be treated equally.
``The judicial system is unfair to African-Americans,'' testified Paul C. Gillis of Suffolk, chairman of the Area II conference of the National Association of Colored People, which covers Hampton Roads.
Gillis told the panel how a Norfolk judge recently sentenced an African-American street vendor to 12 months and a $2,500 fine for selling flowers without a license, and then later the same day sentenced a white man to a three-month suspended sentence and a $500 suspended fine for the same offense.
Spruill also said he wants to make sure any change in the parole system would have checks and balances to make sure fairness in sentencing would be just as important as truth in sentencing.
``Let's say that someone is supposed to get 10 years for smacking a person in the street. Well, right now, if someone can afford a high-priced lawyer they can get less time, or if they are a well-known person they can get less time, or sometimes the color of the person's skin comes into play,'' Spruill said.
``That is not just, not fair.''
Norfolk Assistant City Manager George Crawley and Police Chief Melvin High told the panel that community policing has caused a decrease in Norfolk's crime rate.
Judge Everett A. Martin Jr. of Norfolk Juvenile Domestic Relations Court also spoke at the hearing, and cautioned that the state needs to worry about the increase in teenage pregnancy since national statistics show that 70 percent of juvenile offenders come from one-parent homes.
Beyer said he will hold a series of hearings to talk to Virginians about crime. The next hearing is scheduled for Thursday of next week in Charlottesville. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
Lt. Gov. Donald S. Beyer conducts a public hearing at Old Dominion
University on violent crime.
IAN MARTIN/Staff photo
``The judicial system is unfair to African-Americans,'' said Paul C.
Gillis, chairman of the Area II conference of the National
Association of Colored People, which covers Hampton Roads.
by CNB