THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, March 23, 1995 TAG: 9503230554
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LYNN WALTZ, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 86 lines
In August 1990, Philip Ostrander took the advice of his lawyers and pleaded guilty to a crime he says he didn't commit. He did so, he said, because his attorneys said he had a good shot at work release and could run his business while serving time.
But because he had pleaded guilty to a sexual assault, he in fact was not even eligible for work release. Instead of being back at work in 48 hours as he expected, Ostrander was sent to prison, where he began serving a 12-year sentence.
On Wednesday, after 4 1/2 years of appeals filed from his prison cell, Ostrander walked out of court a free man. A federal appeals court last month reversed his conviction, ruling that he had been denied justice because of his lawyers' mishandling of the case.
The first thing he did was hug and kiss his wife. Then he asked to get a breath of fresh air.
``Let's go outside,'' he said. ``I don't know what I feel right now. I can't believe it.''
Looking slightly stunned, Ostrander gripped the hand of his wife, Bonnie, who married him in a prison ceremony two years ago. The two have a 2 1/2-year-old son.
``I'm overjoyed,'' Ostrander said. ``I'm disgusted with having lost five years for no reason. But now, it's time to move on. I have a child to raise. It's time to start over.''
The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found that Ostrander's attorneys - Louis Napoleon ``Mike'' Joynes II and Gene A. Woolard - gave Ostrander ``misadvice that falls well below the range of competence we must expect from defense lawyers.''
The court determined that the attorneys had told Ostrander he was ``eligible for work release and had a very good prospect of quickly receiving it.'' The court said that had Ostrander known he could not get work release, he probably would not have pleaded guilty.
The federal appeals court returned the case to Virginia Beach, where a judge released Ostrander Wednesday after prosecutors told him they did not plan to retry the case or pursue the charges again.
``I think prison has changed him,'' said Ostrander's current attorney, Moody E. ``Sonny'' Stallings Jr. ``He's much more subdued and mellow than the man I knew five years ago. Then he was adamant he'd been done wrong and was angry with the system. He was almost docile today. I don't know if he was in shock or what. For a guy who really didn't know he would be freed until it happened, he was very calm.''
Ostrander has sued Joynes for $2 million, alleging that Joynes misled him into pleading guilty. The suit also seeks $350,000 in punitive damages.
Ostrander's lawsuit, filed in Norfolk Circuit Court, charges that Joynes ``failed to even contact the appropriate authorities at the Virginia Beach Sheriff's office to determine whether or not (Ostrander) was eligible for work release even though the most cursory investigation would have revealed that .
Ostrander was accused of sexual assault by a member of his ex-wife's family. He pleaded guilty to four charges of child sexual abuse on Aug. 29, 1990.
At the time, Joynes and Woolard denied they made promises to Ostrander and said they advised him to plead guilty because he faced a possible 75-year sentence. Under the plea agreement proposed by prosecutors, he faced only 20.
Wednesday, Joynes' attorney said Joynes based his encouragement about work release on assurances from the Sheriff's Department that his client would be eligible for work release.
``If what the Sheriff's Department told him was mistaken or wrong, that does not mean Mr. Joynes did wrong to pass that information on to Mr. Ostrander,'' said Alexandria attorney Marvin D. Miller.
``(Joynes) discussed it with high-ranking officials in the Sheriff's Department and had the understanding that work-release was not forbidden. He told Ostrander there were no guarantees and no promises.''
In 1990, Sheriff Frank Drew testified that regulations prohibited work release to those convicted of violent or sexual offenses.
Drew said Wednesday that those regulations, still in force today, are well-known to his employees and throughout the system.
``Any criminal lawyers should know that people convicted of sexually related or violent crimes do not qualify for work release in Virginia. It's not just in Virginia Beach, it's the whole state.'' ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photo]
Philip Ostrander
KEYWORDS: LAWSUIT APPEAL by CNB