THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, July 29, 1995 TAG: 9507290268
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ANGELITA PLEMMER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH LENGTH: Short : 31 lines
A man convicted of malicious wounding after beating a woman's head with an ax in a grocery store parking lot was sentenced Friday to 20 years in prison.
Courtroom observers gasped as Circuit Judge Johnny Morrison sentenced Michael Coker, 37, an ex-convict and diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic, to prison despite pleas by his lawyer to send him to a mental health facility. The crime carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.
``I cannot minimize what happened to this lady,'' said defense attorney Michael Rosenberg. ``This is a sick individual. He's not just mean.''
Coker, who had pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, hit Tammie L. Wainwright five times with an ax as she walked toward a Churchland Food Lion on Jan. 13 to buy cat food. Rosenberg argued that his client assaulted Wainwright only after overdosing on a prescription drug that sometimes produces violent reactions.
``I'm sorry for (Coker's) family, and, in a way, I'm sorry for him,'' said Deputy Commonwealth's Attorney Wil Jamerson. ``But I'm not the one who put the ax in his hand that day. The law says he must be punished.''
KEYWORDS: SENTENCING MALICIOUS WOUNDING by CNB