THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, November 15, 1995 TAG: 9511150211
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LYNN WALTZ, STAFF WRITERS
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 98 lines
In August, Fred Blount III escaped punishment in Portsmouth Circuit Court after prosecutors violated his right to a speedy trial on charges that he tried to kill an off-duty police officer during a robbery.
Blount was not as lucky Tuesday in federal court.
A jury convicted him, but not of trying to gun down a police officer. They found him guilty of breaking a federal law prohibiting the disruption of a business that uses products that have crossed state lines - in this case, cheese, spices and dough. The Pizza Hut where the shootout took place was forced to shut down for the night.
Because the feds did not have jurisdiction to charge Blount in the shooting, they asked a jury to convict him of disrupting commerce. The conviction on that charge, plus a federal weapons violation, could net Blount 45 years in prison without parole.
``He escaped justice'' the first time around, said William Muhr, special assistant U.S. attorney who prosecuted the case in federal court. ``And now justice has prevailed.''
Blount might have been off the hook were it not for a new federal task force targeting violent criminals in Portsmouth, in particular those who have slipped through the state court system.
The conviction is the first for the task force, a cooperative effort between the FBI and Portsmouth police that began in August. One other indictment has come out of the task force, and more are expected.
The task force was formed after local police and prosecutors asked for federal help to battle the high crime rate and low clearance and conviction rates in Portsmouth.
Blount faced a possible life sentence under the state case.
Because the charges against him were different in state and federal court, the issue of double jeopardy was never raised. Muhr said a person can be tried by both the state and federal government for the same crime because the two governments are ``separate sovereigns.''
The Rodney King case was such an example: police officers charged with the beating were acquitted in state court and later convicted in federal court on the same evidence.
In Blount's case, three co-defendants were convicted in state court. One got the death penalty for kidnapping a brother and sister and killing the brother in North Carolina.
Blount was released in August after a judge dismissed charges of attempted capital murder, abduction, robbery and firearms use.
Prosecutor Muhr said they did not re-charge him with murder because the federal statutes did not apply and Blount was not part of the murder.
The original charges in state court were dropped after prosecutors missed the five-month deadline for bringing a case to court after a preliminary hearing. Portsmouth Commonwealth's Attorney Martin Bullock blamed the defense for making numerous requests for delays. Muhr said the delays were not documented as required in state court and the judge had to release Blount on a technicality.
Blount was one of four gunmen who drove to Portsmouth from North Carolina and tried to rob a Pizza Hut on Airline Boulevard on March 24, 1994. An off-duty police officer caught them in the act.
As Blount raised his arms, one of his accomplices pointed a shotgun at the officer and fired through a window, Muhr said. The officer ducked behind his car as glass sprayed. Blount then fired his .380 semi-automatic, hitting the officer in the arm.
Blount and one of the other men took off in the robbers' car, leaving two fellow gunmen behind. The two - 16-year-old Theola A. Saunders and 45-year-old Charles P. Bond - kidnapped Leslie Dawn Thomas and her brother Wayne and used their car to return to North Carolina, Muhr said.
Saunders shot and killed Wayne Thomas when he struggled to escape at a convenience store outside Edenton. Leslie Thomas escaped unharmed.
Bond and Saunders were tried and convicted in North Carolina. Saunders was sentenced to life plus 92 years in prison, and Bond was sentenced to death.
The third gunman, 20-year-old Anthony Hathaway, was tried and convicted in Portsmouth. He was sentenced to 29 years in prison. ILLUSTRATION: NEW TASK FORCE
Tuesday's conviction is the first for a new federal task force of
the FBI and Portsmouth police that began in August.
The force was formed after local police and prosecutors asked for
federal help to battle the high crime rate and low clearance and
conviction rates in Portsmouth.
KEYWORDS: CONVICTION by CNB