THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, February 7, 1995 TAG: 9502070292
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MIKE MATHER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 68 lines
A special grand jury found probable cause Monday for authorities to charge Mr. Magic's nightclub with being a public nuisance.
The grand jury returned a presentment against Just Inns Inc., which does business as Mr. Magic's. A presentment is equal to an indictment.
The grand jury also returned a presentment against Newtown Associates, the owners of the shopping center in the 500 block of Newtown Road where Mr. Magic's is located, for allowing a nuisance to continue.
Because of the grand jury format, the accused is not given an opportunity to present a defense. That happens in the next step of the legal process, the trial.
If convicted, the club could be forced to close.
No trial date has been set, authorities said.
Last year, two club patrons were slain outside the establishment near the corner of Newtown and Baker roads, and police were dispatched to the club or nearby more than 200 times.
Police said that trouble included assaults, robberies, gun violations, drug violations, disorderly conduct and fire-code violations.
E. George Minns, spokesman for Mr. Magic's, said his club is in a high-crime area and that is the reason for the number of police calls.
``I'm not saying we don't have a problem,'' Minns said. ``Every business in the Newtown area has a problem by virtue of the location. Mr. Magic's sits in one of the most crime-infested sectors of the city. But the city doesn't want to tell the general public that.''
Crime was a problem in the area before Mr. Magic's opened in 1992, Minns said.
``The Newtown-Baker road area is one of the most violent areas in the city of Virginia Beach. That is the atmosphere here. These people don't leave their violence at home. Mr. Magic's is only a name on a building. The building hasn't committed a crime.''
The police zone where Mr. Magic's is located - 326 - ranked 13th of the city's 37 zones for the number of calls in 1993, according to the department's 1993 annual report - the most recent. There were 5,879 calls for service in Zone 326.
Most recently, 11 officers were needed to quash a fight involving Mr. Magic's patrons in the parking lot on Jan. 20. One patron was caught carrying a concealed .45-caliber handgun, police said.
The action Monday is similar to that used by Portsmouth last year to temporarily close two clubs that police and neighbors said were frequented by disorderly patrons.
After presentations by Portsmouth officials, a judge ordered the Ebony Showcase on Airline Boulevard and David's II on High Street to close.
Virginia Beach's commonwealth's attorney, Robert Humphreys, sought the presentment against Mr. Magic's after an investigation by his office, the police and fire departments, and the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Board, police said.
On May 10, Officer Dennis K. Dorshimer, arriving for a fight call, was shot at by a patron. He wasn't hurt.
On Oct. 28, a patron was killed in a neighboring parking lot after someone apparently followed him from the club and shot him in the head. Tracey L. Snead, of Chesapeake, died in a hospital. Police are still investigating.
On Dec. 17, a man was shot several times while sitting in his car in the parking lot. Larry E. Burrus, 23, died in January. Keith D. Holley, 25, is charged with first-degree murder.
KEYWORDS: GRAND JURY NIGHTCLUB PUBLIC NUISANCE by CNB