THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, March 15, 1995 TAG: 9503150450
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B6 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MATTHEW BOWERS AND LYNN WALTZ, STAFF WRITERS
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 67 lines
Martin Herrera Jr., serving a 106-day jail sentence for starving his infant son last year, was granted work-release status Tuesday by a Circuit Court judge despite the objections of jail officials and a prosecutor.
But it's unclear whether Herrera will have work to which he can be released: He was expected to be served with papers Tuesday starting the legal process of kicking him out of the Navy because of his felony conviction.
The process of ``administrative separation'' from the Navy is automatic after such a conviction. But nothing is decided until a review board holds a hearing.
Herrera, 21, a petty officer third class who worked as a quartermaster, was called an exemplary worker by his Navy superiors. They supported him at his January trial and February sentencing.
A jury convicted Herrera and his wife, Karen E. Herrera, 20, of felony child neglect for not adequately feeding their son, Christopher, for 106 days in 1994. Passers-by in May noticed the emaciated boy, then 5 months old but weighing less than 9 1/2 pounds, and called authorities. Christopher was hospitalized and placed in foster care, and recovered within months.
He was returned to his parents before their trial, igniting a storm of protest against Social Services from prosecutors, the boy's court-appointed guardian and his foster parents, who quit the city program in disgust.
Christopher and his two sisters are staying with their maternal grandmother in Texas while their parents are in jail, although Social Services retains legal custody of the boy.
A Navy spokesman said sailors facing administrative-separation proceedings are placed on ``administrative hold'' - they're still paid, but either restricted to their ship or, if on shore duty, usually given noncritical, menial tasks. After his arrest, Herrera was placed in an office at Little Creek Naval Amphibious Base, working with computers.
``If you're on legal hold, you can still work at your station. That's my understanding,'' said Lynndolyn T. Mitchell, Herrera's public defender. ``He's still on active duty.''
Herrera told Judge Kenneth N. Whitehurst Jr. that he wanted to start repaying the $3,802 in fines and court costs levied against him and his wife.
Work-release prisoners are allowed to work during the day and return to jail to be locked up at night and on weekends.
The policy at Virginia Beach City Jail is to deny work-release to prisoners convicted of violent crimes.
``Felony child neglect is a violent crime because the child is innocent and helpless and could have died as a result of this action,'' testified Deputy Tony Rybarczyk, a work-release coordinator. ``He is not suitable for work-release. We never allow violent criminals, across the board. The Navy command wrote the sheriff, and he denied it.''
The prosecutor, Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Janee D. Joslin, also objected.
``This calls for a reality check,'' Joslin said. ``When one is convicted of a felony, it's detrimental to one's life.''
Judge Whitehurst noted Herrera's sentence.
``He'll be in jail for 106 days,'' the judge said.
``Let him go to work. It seems to me he should be able to pay for that. I don't believe he is a threat to society. We're better off with him paying off his debt.''
KEYWORDS: CHILD ABUSE by CNB