THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, November 5, 1994 TAG: 9411050653
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JOE JACKSON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 65 lines
A man charged last year with the 1991 killing of 34-year-old pizza driver Dwayne Damon was acquitted Friday when a Circuit Court judge struck all charges against him for lack of evidence.
Judge Alfred W. Whitehurst said that, based on the state's lack of concrete evidence, the jury would only be speculating on the guilt or innocence of Joseph S. Harris.
Harris, 40, was arrested in November 1993 in connection with the Dec. 16, 1991, shooting of Damon during an attempted robbery at Cal'Z Pizza, Subs and Wings in the 700 block of E. Bay View Blvd. He was charged with first-degree murder, attempted robbery, conspiracy to commit murder and two counts of use of a firearm.
There were no leads in the case for nearly two years. Then, in September 1993, Harris' 17-year-old nephew, Stephen Bristow, was arrested on charges of robbing the Whaleyville branch of the Bank of Suffolk.
After his arrest, police allege, Bristow confessed to killing Damon in 1991.. During this confession, he implicated his uncle, Joseph Harris.
The only strong evidence against Harris was a statement that homicide investigator Shaun Squyres said Harris gave during an interrogation in November, Friday's testimony revealed.
In that statement, Harris said that on the night of the murder, he gave Bristow a ride and dropped him off near Chesapeake Boulevard.
During the ride, according to the statement, Bristow told his uncle that he needed money and that he was going to commit a robbery. ``I said, `Don't do that, get a job,' '' Harris said in his statement, but the teen said again that he meant to rob ``some place.''
Harris dropped off Bristow, then went to visit a friend in the Oceanair Apartments. He couldn't find the friend and drove back south along Old Ocean View Road, where he saw Bristow about a block from the pizza store.
At this point in the interrogation, Harris gave two conflicting statements, Squyres said. Harris first said he didn't see Bristow carrying a gun or mask. Later, he gave detailed descriptions of the gun and the mask. He also said that Bristow mentioned shooting someone.
The state theorized that Harris' changing statements and his knowledge of the crime constituted evidence that he was part of the robbery plot - in fact, that he drove the ``getaway car.'' Thus, charges were brought.
But Harris' lawyer, Rodolfo Cejas, argued that there was never any evidence of Harris' complicity besides the state's interpretation of his statement. Cejas made the motion to strike the charges before the jury went out Friday, and Judge Whitehurst granted the motion.
Bristow was charged with being the trigger man in the 1991 murder and robbery. Norfolk police said then that Damon was shot once in the chest while walking through the door after returning from a delivery. It was revealed during Friday's trial, however, that Damon was shot while trying to leave the store, not while inadvertently stumbling into the robbery.
Bristow's charges were deferred a few months after his arrest because of a lack of evidence, testimony revealed.
In May, Bristow was sentenced to two consecutive life terms in prison for the armed robbery of the Whaleyville bank. His co-defendant in that robbery, Alvesta Wiggins, got the same sentence.
KEYWORDS: MURDER TRIAL ACQUITTAL by CNB