THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, January 20, 1995 TAG: 9501200512
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LYNN WALTZ, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Long : 104 lines
John Tingle slipped quietly into the back row of the courtroom Thursday morning, having broken a vow he made to himself a year ago: To never set foot in Virginia again.
Now he was seated in the same Virginia Beach courthouse where he had been convicted and sentenced for a crime he did not commit. The same courthouse where, one year ago to the day, he had tearfully embraced family and friends after being cleared of the crime and released from jail.
Tingle returned, he said Thursday, partly to see justice done for Kerri Charity, the look-alike defendant in the serial rape case in which Tingle had been the lead suspect. Partly, he came to satisfy his curiosity about the case so closely linked to his own, and to help in his healing process from the trauma of spending 149 days in jail.
The saddest day in his life, Tingle said, was when a judge sentenced him to 10 years in prison.
Thursday, he looked on from the gallery as Charity sat where Tingle once sat - at the defense table - watching jury selection as he once did, pleading not guilty as he once did, watching the same two prosecutors try the case.
``It's been very weird,'' Tingle said after court on Thursday. ``Today was the day I was exonerated. Man, this is weird, going back to the same courtroom where it all started.''
Tingle, now 27, was convicted for the abduction of a woman jogger at the Oceanfront, a case originally linked to the serial rape case. That conviction was overturned after the victim saw Charity in a courtroom last January and recanted her identification of Tingle.
The two men looked so much alike, she told a judge, that she could no longer be sure of her earlier testimony. As a result, Tingle was freed. Tingle was also originally charged with one of the serial rapes, but those charges were dropped after DNA evidence linked the crime to Charity and excluded Tingle.
Charity now faces 11 charges in four sexual assaults - three rapes and one sodomy. Under a new law, all four cases will be heard by the same jury in a single trial. With more than 50 witnesses expected, the trial could last two weeks. Charity also faces charges in a fifth attack that will be tried separately.
Families of Tingle and Charity say they see distinct similarities in appearance, especially facial structure and body build. Their high cheekbones and square jaws give them strikingly similar profiles. Both are tall and slender.
At one point Thursday, the two men stared at each other. Charity's attorney, David Baugh, said the possibility of another misidentification will be part of his defense. However, Charity has a hurdle Tingle did not: In two of the four assaults, prosecutors say the DNA from evidence matches Charity.
Tingle, who now lives near Ocean City, Md., said he plans to return next week to sit through the trial. He said he feels for Charity's parents and brother, who, like his own, have attended every hearing.
Still, Tingle said, if Charity is guilty, he hopes to be able answer questions about his own case. ``I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt, but if he's found guilty, I do want to ask him if he's the one who did it.''
Tingle's unexpected appearance Thursday caused some commotion inside and outside the courtroom. Members of Charity's family whisked Tingle out of the courtroom to find out if he had been called as a witness for the prosecution.
``I laughed at that,'' Tingle said. He still feels ``anger and hatred'' toward the prosecutors. They have never apologized, he said.
When Deputy Commonwealth's Attorney Albert Alberi saw Tingle in the courtroom, he ``looked like he'd seen a ghost,'' Tingle said. Alberi was one of two prosecutors who handled Tingle's case last year.
Though Tingle's brother Steven said Thursday that Tingle is more centered and mature as a result of his ordeal, Tingle said he is still recovering.
Two years ago he came to Virginia Beach to pursue his dream of becoming a chef. He started culinary school at Johnson & Wales University. He was in his first year there when he was arrested after the victim identified him as the man who attacked her.
So far, he said, he has not been able to recapture the momentum that brought him to Virginia Beach. He worked in a restaurant during the tourist season at Ocean City, trying to repay his parents the thousands of dollars of debt they incurred from his trial.
Now, he said, he is not working and feels like he's drifting.
``My life is right back where it was before I left home in 1992,'' Tingle said. ``I have to start all over again.''
Still, Tingle said, he has stopped keeping logs of his whereabouts and no longer makes sure he always has an alibi, which he lacked after the 1993 attack.
And he appreciates things he took for granted before, like his parents, two sisters and brother, who stuck with him through it all.
``It makes you realize that at any point something you care about can be taken from you,'' he said. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
PAUL AIKEN/Staff
John Tingle gets his jacket back Thursday after going through a
metal detector in the Virginia Beach Courthouse. He attended jury
selection for the trial of Kerri Charity, a defendant in a series of
rapes in which Tingle had once been a suspect.
Drawing
ALBA BRAGOLI
Tingle, left, watches the proceedings behind Charity. Families of
the two say they see distinct similarities in appearance.
KEYWORDS: RAPE SEX CRIME ASSAULT TRIAL by CNB