THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, January 5, 1995 TAG: 9501050425
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JUNE ARNEY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SUFFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 67 lines
A man convicted of drunken driving and manslaughter in the deaths of three friends says Western Tidewater Regional Jail officials kept him from telling his story on a radio talk show.
Timothy White, 24, said he had arranged to be on WNIS (850 AM) to talk about drinking and driving and the accident that killed his girlfriend, best friend and his best friend's girlfriend in 1993. But twice, White said, he found himself locked down at show time, without access to a phone.
``They waited just long enough to mess me up on that talk show, then they brought me back to the cell,'' he said in an interview at the jail. ``They violated my rights. They stopped me from trying to help others.''
Jail officials said they learned of White's talk-show plans by reading about them in a newspaper story. When White asked the jailers for a private phone to do the show, jail authorities refused, saying they could not grant any prisoner special privileges.
``If we wanted to cut him off from the media, you wouldn't even know about this,'' said Jack Dewan, jail superintendent. ``He's got access to the phones all day long. Frankly, there's not much we can do about it.''
But White says he was locked in a small cell without a phone from just before 3 p.m. to just after 6 p.m. Dec. 26 - during the hours he was supposed to be on the talk show.
White said he was told that a sheriff's captain wanted to talk to him, but he was returned to his cell without talking to the captain.
White wrote a letter Dec. 28 asking the jailers for the private phone, mentioning the new show date of Dec. 30. Just before the 5 p.m. show, White said, he again was locked in a holding cell. This time he was not told why he was being held and was not returned to his cell until 6:30 p.m., he said.
Dewan said jail records show that White was returned to his cellblock at 5:40 p.m.
Dewan also said White was held in an office in the booking area, not in a holding cell, both times.
The first time, Dewan said, the captain called White to discuss the radio show but became busy and couldn't see White.
The second time, the same captain wanted to see whether White had questions about the denial of a private phone for the interview. Again, the captain got busy and could not meet with White, Dewan said.
``What Tim White is trying to do is make himself out to be a hero,'' Dewan said.
``He asked for special permission to be on (a private) phone. We said no, and he doesn't like that. So he's going to stir up a little dust.''
Jack Howard, a talk show host on WNIS, said White was supposed to be on an hourlong show beginning at 5 p.m. Dec. 30.
``All I know is he didn't call in as he was supposed to do,'' Howard said. ``I thought he would be the perfect guest to have on the last Friday before New Year's. I was really disappointed.''
White was sentenced to seven years in prison for the deaths of his girlfriend, Susan D. Moore, 21, his best friend, Robert E. King, 29, and King's girlfriend, Jo Ann Bradshaw, 33, who was three months pregnant.
White pleaded guilty to drunken driving and involuntary manslaughter in the accident Nov. 30, 1993, on Virginia Route 10 south of Chuckatuck.
``I have full intentions of following through with this,'' White said. ``My rights were violated, and someone must answer to it.''
KEYWORDS: ACCIDENT TRAFFIC DRUNKEN DRIVING FATALITIES
ARREST by CNB