THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, January 10, 1996 TAG: 9601100653
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY ANNE SAITA, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ELIZABETH CITY LENGTH: Medium: 74 lines
Richard Stanley ``Ricky'' Hogarth, who may face the death penalty if convicted of murdering his former girlfriend and wounding her step-grandfather, is dying of AIDS.
``He's got full-blown AIDS,'' his mother, Betty Cooper of Elizabeth City, said Tuesday afternoon at the start of Hogarth's jury trial in Pasquotank Superior Court.
Jury selection was delayed in the morning while Hogarth was reportedly taken to Albemarle Hospital's emergency room to see if he was physically able to stand trial.
Samuel B. Dixon, one of Hogarth's court-appointed attorneys, and Assistant District Attorney Michael Johnson both said they could not comment on the issue while the trial was ongoing.
Hogarth, who appeared in court wearing a black, short-sleeved T-shirt and black denim pants, had a rash clearly visible on his face, neck and arms.
A hospital spokeswoman said there was no record of Hogarth being a patient in the emergency room.
But Cooper said her son did visit the hospital and has between 8 and 10 months to live. He has had the disease for some time, but his condition has worsened in recent months, she said. She did not disclose how he contracted AIDS.
Hogarth, 31, is accused of killing 24-year-old Tracey Dawn Crafton on March 8, 1995, after she fled Hogarth's truck for her grandparents' van at a deserted Zoom-In convenience store on U.S. 17 North.
Hogarth also is charged with attempting to kill Crafton's step-grandfather, Ronald Revering of Virginia Beach. Revering was shot several times and severely wounded.
Revering and his wife, Shirley, who also was in the van on March 8 but was not injured, are among dozens of witnesses expected to be called.
Hogarth fled after the shooting, and an hour later stole an Acura Legend from a Norfolk neighborhood. He served 3 1/2 months in a Norfolk jail for grand larceny.
After being sent to North Carolina to face charges, Hogarth was held at Central Prison in Raleigh until recently.
Pasquotank County authorities say Hogarth confessed to the shootings shortly after he was arrested last March. He has, however, pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and felony assault.
The charges carry a maximum punishment of death.
As jury selection began Tuesday afternoon, at least three jurors were released from duty after saying they could not impose the death penalty.
Among other possible witnesses is S. Lee Gregory, the Camden County magistrate who came under fire last year for refusing to issue an arrest warrant for Hogarth two days before Crafton was killed.
Crafton, of Shiloh, had attempted to have Hogarth- who lived north of Elizabeth City - arrested for physically abusing her, but Gregory said during a hearing that Crafton could not tell him precisely where the beating occurred.
Crafton's mother, Florence Forbes of Shiloh, had tried to have Gregory formally removed from office, but a judge upheld the magistrate's decision.
Forbes and Crafton's sister, Crystal Burnette, were both in court Tuesday.
Forbes continually clutched a small, well-worn teddy bear in her hands during Tuesday's proceedings.
``She was a bear freak. She loved bears,'' Forbes said of her daughter. ``So that's my good luck piece.''
The trial is expected to last two to three weeks. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo by DREW C. WILSON, The Virginian-Pilot
Richard S. ``Ricky'' Hogarth, right, is led to the Pasquotank County
Courthouse on Tuesday. Hogarth faces first-degree murder charges.
KEYWORDS: MURDER TRIAL by CNB