THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, March 10, 1995 TAG: 9503100314
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JUNE ARNEY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 60 lines
A Virginia Parole Board official attended a preliminary hearing Thursday to tell a murderer paroled after serving four years of his 27-year term why he is behind bars again.
Parole Board Chairman John Metzger said the release of James Michael Wear, 22, resulted from a computer glitch.
Wear was released last week, then paroled the next day because the parole board had not given the victim's family a chance to be heard in the case.
The hearing was held at the Virginia Beach jail.
When the family of the victim, Julie Benica, requested an appointment with the board to express opposition to Wear's parole, the computer ``showed that he wasn't up for parole,'' Metzger said.
A change in computer programming inadvertently kept the parole date from appearing on the computer screen. The programming error was corrected within two weeks, Metzger said.
``In that window of time, this one slipped through,'' he said.
Wear was 17 when he drove the getaway car for three friends after they robbed the Ocean Island Motel and murdered Benica, a 28-year-old clerk.
Wear pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and robbery in August 1990 and was sent to the Brunswick Correctional Center in Lawrenceville in 1991. He became eligible for parole this month.
Benica's family members initially requested an appointment in 1991 to discuss the impact of Wear's release, but parole board members told them to make the appointment closer to his possible parole date.
In January, they called and again requested an appointment. They were given the first available date, March 8.
The computer failed to report that Wear was up for parole. The computer is set up to post parole dates on the screen during the three months before the inmate becomes eligible for parole.
``It failed to pick up the fact that a board appointment (for family members) had been scheduled, and the board voted a decision before the board appointment,'' Metzger said.
He likened the problem to a single piece of paper falling out of a large file and being put back after someone reviews the file.
``It's an unfortunate error,'' Metzger said. ``You don't want to give someone the hope for freedom for 30 hours and then reel them back in and leave them wondering what happened.''
Civil libertarians contend that Wear's constitutional rights have been violated.
But Metzger has a different interpretation.
``Parole is a privilege and not a right, so we haven't infringed on his rights,'' Metzger said. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
A state parole board official said the case of James Michael Wear,
above, ``slipped through.''
KEYWORDS: MURDER ROBBERY PAROLE RELEASE by CNB