THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, August 5, 1994 TAG: 9408050591
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JOE JACKSON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 77 lines
Welterweight boxing champion Pernell ``Sweetpea'' Whitaker was charged in January with misdemeanor assault, but his case has not been tried because the city attorney refused to prosecute.
Whitaker's case is one of 11 pending misdemeanor assault cases that General District Court Judge Charles R. Cloud has delayed indefinitely until a prosecutor can be found to try them.
On Monday, Cloud accused Norfolk prosecutors of discrimination for refusing to prosecute violent misdemeanor crimes against black and woman victims in his court.
Whitaker was charged Jan. 30 with assault and battery for a late-night fight he is accused of starting at a nightclubin the 5700 block of Virginia Beach Blvd.
The alleged victim, Anthony Foreman, told a magistrate soon after the incident that he and a woman were sitting at a table and talking when Whitaker approached and asked the woman if she knew Foreman.
The woman said, ``Not really, I just met him in the club.'' Whitaker ``started showing off by taking my hat off my head, pulling my nose,'' balling up some paper and throwing it in his face, Foreman claimed in an affidavit filed with the warrant.
Whitaker asked Foreman what he was going to do about it, Foreman wrote. ``I told him to just chill out. So I got up and he started to point his finger in my face, calling me a boy,'' Foreman wrote.
Foreman said he walked outside the club into the parking lot, followed by Whitaker and a man identified as Whitaker's brother, who kept asking the boxing star ``Was he drunk or was he high?''
The three allegedly started fighting. ``About 15 or 20 minutes later, the security guards came out there to stop them from jumping me,'' Foreman wrote. ``. . . (Whitaker) kept on trying to fight me, saying he was going to get me.''
Court records show the case was delayed from Feb. 24 to March 29. Cloud contacted the City Attorney's Office.
``Believing that the case would draw public attention, it seemed necessary that a judicial officer participate and investigate in behalf of the alleged victim and the defendant,'' Cloud wrote. ``The city's attorney refused to participate.''
In a letter dated April 28, City Attorney Philip Trapani said his office would not prosecute Whitaker.
``I have reviewed the warrant of arrest and supporting criminal complaint . available to me, as well as the documentation provided for my review, I respectfully decline to prosecute in General District Court.''
Foreman was left to prosecute the case alone. Whitaker hired a lawyer.
Foreman declined to comment on the case, saying he thought that could affect the trial. Whitaker's lawyer, Lionel Hancock III, did not return calls by a reporter. Whitaker is training for an Oct. 1 title fight in San Antonio and could not be reached for comment.
This is not the first time Whitaker has been charged with misdemeanor assault.
In November 1991, 15-year-old Christopher A. Smith accused Whitaker of punching him during a confrontation in Whitaker's Bellamy Woods neighborhood in Virginia Beach. Smith said he had to go to the doctor and get medication for muscle spasms because Whitaker hit him so hard.
Whitaker contended he just put his arm around a couple of boys who were being boisterous and tried to lead them out of the neighborhood. Several witnesses told a reporter that Whitaker didn't hit anyone.
In February 1992, the charge was dismissed by Judge Ronald Marks after a 52-minute closed hearing in Virginia Beach Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court. Whitaker and Smith later shook hands outside the courtroom and called the incident a misunderstanding. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
Whitaker
KEYWORDS: ASSAULT ARREST by CNB