THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, October 12, 1994 TAG: 9410120472
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ANGELITA PLEMMER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 58 lines
The question before Circuit Judge Jerome James was a thorny one.
Should David Daugherty, a retired school bus driver from Farmville, have to spend a year in jail and pay $2,500 in fines for the crime of selling roses on the street?
A prosecutor made the judge's job simple when she walked into court Tuesday and said the city had decided not to pursue the conviction, which Daugherty had appealed from General District Court.
With that, Daugherty, 59, was a free man.
``It wasn't fair,'' Daugherty said after the hearing of the original sentence. ``I was in lockup from 9:30 in the morning to after 3 p.m.'' on the day of the arrest.
Daugherty was arrested May 22 after he set up about 10 bunches of carnations, three dozen roses, some balloons on a stick and a ``Fresh Flowers'' sign on Terminal Boulevard near the naval base.
He was helping out his brother, Levi Daugherty, who owns a florist shop, Mystic Rose, in Wards Corner.
Levi Daugherty was forced to post a bail of $5,000 to get his brother out of jail. David Daugherty, a diabetic, said he was denied access to insulin and other medicines needed to treat his medical condition.
``While my client would have preferred to have these charges dismissed, he's ready to put these charges behind him,'' said George Anderson, Daugherty's attorney. ``He never did anything to suggest that he was making a sale.'' Prosecutors left the door open to reinstating charges in the future.
Levi Daugherty said he believes his brother's stiff sentence was the result of ongoing police harassment.
``The judge gave him that heavy sentence trying to get to me,'' Levi Daugherty said.
Daugherty, who said his is the only black-owned business along Virginian Drive, also said he and several of his employees have been harassed constantly by a Norfolk police officer despite the fact that he has a peddler's license.
``Every little thing I did he kept harassing me,'' said Levi Daugherty, who, along with employees, has been charged with a variety of offenses related to his business. It could not be determined how many, if any, have resulted in convictions.
In spite of complaints he has made to the police department, Daugherty said, the harassment has continued and his numerous court appearances have cost him thousands of dollars in lost revenue and court costs.
``I'm trying to build something,'' he said, ``. . . and here are people not even trying to give you a chance.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
JOSEPH JOHN KOTLOWSKI/Staff
David Daugherty, 59, a retired school bus driver from Farmville,
faced a year in jail and a $2,500 fine. He is now free.
by CNB