THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, August 6, 1994 TAG: 9408060207
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY CHARLISE LYLES, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 89 lines
Blacks and women familiar with the criminal justice system say staff shortages, not racial and gender bias, are the reason some violent misdemeanors aren't prosecuted.
``From what I know, none of the cities in the area are able to prosecute serious misdemeanor assaults,'' said Cheryl Bonneville, acting director of Norfolk's YWCA and coordinator of its Women in Crisis program.
``If other cities prosecuted and Norfolk didn't, I would be up in arms,'' Bonneville said. ``But they hardly have the staff to prosecute some felonies.''
Bonneville and others responded Friday to allegations by General District Judge Charles R. Cloud that Norfolk prosecutors have refused to prosecute in his court assaults in which women, jail inmates and African-Americans are victims.
In a 200-page report sent to state Attorney General James S. Gilmore III earlier this week, Cloud charged that Norfolk City Attorney Philip Trapani and Commonwealth's Attorney Charles D. Griffith Jr. have a hands-off policy on misdemeanors that, in effect, discriminates against black victims in poor neighborhoods and battered women.
In a reply to the allegations, Griffith denied discriminating against blacks and women, saying his office simply cannot spare the staff to prosecute all misdemeanors.
Paul C. Gillis, NAACP chairman for the region that includes Hampton Roads, said his group would seek more information from Cloud, including hard evidence of racial discrimination, before considering any action in the matter.
``Judge Cloud is insinuating that there's some type of discrimination against blacks and women going on,'' said Gillis, who works as a counselor at Southampton Correctional Center in Capron. ``Those are pretty brazen charges. But the commonwealth's attorney probably doesn't have the resources to prosecute all violent misdemeanor cases.
``I'm concerned that the resources be made available, so all criminal acts that need to can be prosecuted to the letter of the law,'' he said.
In his report, Cloud concluded that a lack of action in the criminal justice system can cause crime victims to take the law into their own hands, leading to more serious crimes.
``He may be overstating that,'' Gillis said.
One anti-violence activist said she was disheartened by Cloud's allegations.
``We're asking everybody to get involved in the fight against black-on-black crime, but we're in deep trouble if we're not getting enough help from the judicial system, and the higher authorities are turning their backs on us,'' said Jacqueline McDonald, president of Mothers Against Violence and a member of the Hampton Roads Coalition Against Violence.
``There are going to be more mothers just like I am, sitting here crying and mourning over our dead children,'' said McDonald, whose 17-year-old son was shot to death six years ago in a dispute over a car.
But blacks who work in the justice system were more cautious in evaluating Cloud's charges of racism.
``I want to talk to Chuck Griffith,'' said Norfolk police Cpl. Trevior A. Spivey, president of the Tidewater Law Officers Association, a predominantly black group with 70 members. ``There are always two sides to a story.''
Spivey said he has not heard black officers complain about serious misdemeanor cases being ignored.
``Our organization has been a supporter of Chuck Griffith,'' Spivey said. ``That's why we don't want to judge him until we talk to him. And we will be talking to him.''
Griffith maintained Friday that his office made no decisions based on race or gender.
``I'm not discriminating against anybody,'' he said. ``Certainly the newspaper was out of line in reporting that story under a headline alleging bias. It gives the false impression to the public that there is something wrong in the justice system. In printing that headline, they did a disservice to the community.''
Dot Soule, a member of Justice for Victims of Crime - a Virginia Beach-based advocacy group - said local prosecutors do the best they can with the staffing they have. ``They are way understaffed,'' she said. ``As a society, we've got to be willing to pay for safety, and that means a few more prosecutors.'' ILLUSTRATION: THE CHARGES
General District Judge Charles R. Cloud has alleged in a 200-page
report to state Attorney General James S. Gilmore III that Norfolk
prosecutors have refused to prosecute assaults in which women, jail
inmates and African-Americans are victims.
by CNB