THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, February 15, 1997 TAG: 9702150234
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B6 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JON FRANK, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: 68 lines
When former city employee David L. Baldwin stands trial Tuesday on rape and sodomy charges, only a part of what's at issue will be decided in the courtroom.
Also at stake is a possible judgeship for Baldwin's wife and a federal discrimination lawsuit by his wife against the city's top prosecutor.
Baldwin is married to former Virginia Beach prosecutor Ramona D. Baldwin, now a prosecutor in Suffolk and a candidate for a lower-court judgeship in Virginia Beach.
Ramona Baldwin, 40, was fired in November from her Virginia Beach job by Commonwealth's Attorney Robert J. Humphreys after she wrote a Nov. 12 memo concerning her husband's criminal charges.
In that memo, Baldwin called the charges against her husband a lie and asked that another case that she had been assigned to prosecute be assigned to a different prosecutor.
Humphreys fired Baldwin, saying that her memo showed she could no longer effectively do her job. After the firing, Baldwin sued Humphreys, alleging racial discrimination. That case is pending in federal court in Norfolk.
In the lawsuit, filed Nov. 22, Baldwin claimed that her memo was a statement of ethical conflict. She asked in the memo that she be removed from prosecuting a rape case similar to her husband's. In both cases, the defendant is black and the alleged rape victim is white.
Adding another level to the case is the fact that Baldwin is a candidate for a judgeship in Virginia Beach General District Court. The vacancy was created when Judge John B. Preston retired Jan. 31.
If her husband is convicted Tuesday, Baldwin's chances of winning the judgeship could be hurt.
Baldwin was one of nine candidates considered for endorsement Friday by the Virginia Beach Bar Association. The others were Pamela Hutchens Albert, John B. Dinsmore, Bobby Wayne Davis, Henry E. Howell III, Carole Terri Frantz-McKenzie, Kenneth A. Phillips, Winston G. Snider and Randall M. Blow.
The association endorsed Davis. The new judge will be appointed in the next two weeks by the General Assembly in Richmond.
The criminal case against David Baldwin arose when he was working as an athletic instructor in the city's Department of Parks and Recreation. He was arrested Nov. 4 at the home he shares with his wife in Virginia Beach. Baldwin was charged with rape, adultery and sodomy Aug. 5. The alleged victim was a co-worker in the parks department. She said it was rape; he said it was consensual sex.
Because of possible conflicts of interest, the case is being prosecuted by the Norfolk Commonwealth's Attorney's Office. A Circuit Court judge from Newport News, J.W. Stephens, will be brought in to hear the case in Virginia Beach.
Tuesday's trial should last one day, said Baldwin's attorney, Moody E. ``Sonny'' Stallings Jr.
Stallings said the adultery charge probably will be dropped. He has asked that the sodomy charge be dropped, too, because the state sodomy law is unconstitutional, violating Baldwin's right to privacy, and is overly broad.
Meanwhile, in federal court, Ramona Baldwin's lawsuit alleges that Humphreys, by firing her, engaged in ``blatant violations of state and federal law, and utterly vindictive, cruel, and racist behavior.''
The lawsuit alleges that Humphreys created an atmosphere of racism in the prosecutor's office by treating some white attorneys preferentially.
``It is apparent that Humphreys has enacted a policy of racism in his office which has deprived the plaintiff of constitutional rights, and which has violated federal and state laws,'' the lawsuit says. It seeks $1 million in compensatory damages and $350,000 in punitive damages.
Humphreys has denied the accusation in a legal reply. No trial date has been set.
KEYWORDS: LAWSUIT JUDGESHIP SEX CRIME