THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, December 22, 1995 TAG: 9512220405
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LYNN WALTZ, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Long : 120 lines
A federal magistrate took a first step Thursday toward reversing what critics see as a revolving door of justice in Portsmouth by ordering six alleged members of a drug ring held without bond.
Federal authorities have long complained that the Portsmouth court system returns hard-core criminals to the streets by granting them bond even when they have a history of failing to appear for court dates.
Court records show that Robert Lee Winfield, 22, alleged to be the leader of the Portsmouth drug gang, was free on bond when federal indictments charge that he:
Murdered a drug customer on July 24.
Murdered a drug-dealer competitor on May 20, 1994.
Assaulted, robbed and beat a drug purchaser who owed money on March 27, 1994.
Shot and robbed a man who owed drug money on May 16, 1994.
Even after Winfield was finally held without bond in July, he ordered the execution of a witness from his Portsmouth jail cell, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Laura Tayman.
As the witness, Darwin Eady, was fleeing for his life July 30, accused gang enforcer John Lee Cobbs, 20, shot him several times, Tayman said.
``The last shot hit him in the head,'' Tayman said. ``He fell to all fours. Cobbs put his foot on the back of Eady and pushed him to the ground, muttered obscenities and told him to die.''
Tayman asked the judge to deny bond to the defendants because they are charged with violent crimes and have repeatedly failed to appear for court dates.
``I can't overemphasize the importance of detention because of the witness intimidation and safety of community,'' Tayman told the magistrate Thursday.
The gang is charged with two murders, two attempted murders, shootings, beatings and witness intimidation and conspiracy to distribute crack cocaine in the River Edge Apartments complex, Taymon said.
By Thursday, six of the seven indicted gang members - Robert Winfield; Cobbs; Taubari Olanyan Latson, 21; Lorenzo Lee Winfield, 19; Lemuel Demonte Britt, 22; and Demetrius Marcus Williams, 22 - had been arraigned and ordered held without bond. A seventh, Andre Lamont ``Dre'' Branche, remains at large. The trial is set for March 4.
Judges consider two factors when deciding whether to set bond:
Does the defendant pose a risk to the community?
Does the defendant pose a risk of flight?
Nearly all the indicted defendants had numerous charges of failing to appear at court hearings. In all, 46 charges of failing to appear have been filed against four of the defendants in the past two years.
One, Cobbs, had 10 charges of failure to appear. His attorney pointed out that Cobbs has only been convicted of the charge four times.
``Only four?'' asked Judge William T. Prince before ordering detention. ``That's enough for me.''
Federal authorities say Portsmouth magistrates and judges have been at the core of a revolving-door syndrome in Portsmouth that fuels witness intimidation and makes it more difficult to prosecute violent gang members. They point to the numbers of failure-to-appear charges, and question why defendants with such histories are repeatedly released.
The problem goes beyond a pattern of low bonds or allowing bond for suspects with histories of violence or failure to appear, federal authorities say. It also includes the difficulty of getting charges to stick in the Circuit Court system.
For example, the number of charges levied against the six defendants in General District Court since 1993 approaches 200. While most of those are for traffic violations, all six defendants have histories of arrest on suspicion of violent crimes or cocaine charges.
Yet, often the charges have been dismissed or the prosecutions have been deferred, court records show. Again, Robert Winfield is a case in point.
His criminal history is four pages long, Tayman told the judge.
A review of records in Portsmouth General District Court shows 41 charges against Winfield in the past two years. Most of the charges have been dropped, and Winfield has spent little time in jail.
The federal indictment charges that each time Winfield was released on bond, he was involved in new acts of violence.
On March 21, 1994, he was released on bond after being charged with malicious wounding, failure to appear and violation of a suspended sentence.
Six days later, he and three other alleged gang members ``assaulted, beat and robbed a drug purchaser because of monies owed for crack cocaine,'' the indictment said.
One month later, on April 19, Winfield was arrested again on a malicious-wounding charge. He was released again on $15,000 bond. One month later, on May 14, Winfield allegedly mooned and exposed himself to women of the Forest Park neighborhood watch who were keeping track of drug activity.
Two days later, on May 16, the indictment said, Winfield shot and robbed an individual who owed money for crack. The next day, Winfield was arrested on an indecent-exposure charge. Winfield was again released on bond.
Three days later, on May 20, he is suspected of shooting and killing competing drug dealer Reginald Cannon and wounding Harold Franklin, who was with Cannon.
In March of this year, Winfield was released on bond after he was charged with malicious wounding and a firearms violation. In April, he was arrested on charges of selling marijuana and was released again. On April 11, two cases of malicious wounding were certified to the grand jury. And on June 29, a firearms charge was certified to the grand jury.
Yet Winfield was still out and able to run his gang - and to commit murder again, the federal indictment says.
Winfield is suspected of shooting two men on July 24, killing one, in the River Edge Apartments near Wallace Circle.
Later that month, Winfield was finally ordered held without bond in Portsmouth jail. ILLUSTRATION: Color drawing by Alba Bragoli
KEYWORDS: PORTSMOUTH CIRCUIT COURT BOND DRUG ARRESTS CRIME by CNB