THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, February 21, 1997 TAG: 9702210809
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B7 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY SUSIE STOUGHTON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SUFFOLK LENGTH: 53 lines
For the second time, Antonio L. Jefferson asked Thursday for a new trial, claiming he shot and killed Vernon Lee Jones with an AK-47 assault rifle in self-defense in 1994.
For the second time, Circuit Judge E. Everett Bagnell said, ``No.''
Jefferson's new attorney, Andrew M. Sacks of Norfolk, argued that his client should be allowed to withdraw the no contest plea that led to his conviction because the prosecutors had failed to disclose contradictory statements by a witness.
The prosecutors - F. Jefferson James and Marilyn A. Sallee - were required to give the defense attorney, Timothy E. Miller, the earlier statements at the time of the trial, Bagnell said.
The witness, Latisha King, testified during the first day of a jury trial in July 1996 that Jefferson had jumped out of the back of a hatchback and opened fire on Jones.
She originally told police a different story.
Just after the shooting, King told investigators she had poor eyesight and could not identify the shooter, who was taller than Jefferson, she said.
King was sitting in a car with a 6-month-old baby when Jones, standing beside the car, was killed.
Sallee said the omission of King's statements was an oversight.
Even so, Bagnell said, the outcome would have been the same if the defense had had an opportunity to impeach King's testimony. Two other witnesses had identified Jefferson as the gunman.
``If her testimony was suspect, her friends' testimony might be suspect,'' Sacks said.
Jefferson had fired, closing his eyes and aiming low, because he thought Jones was reaching for a gun, Sacks said.
Jones, who was hit at least six times, ``had a very, very, very bad reputation as a person of violence and turbulence,'' he said.
Numerous witnesses could be called to testify that Jones was well-known in the Suffolk area as an armed robber and had intimidated many people, Sacks said.
``Everyone used to be scared of him in Suffolk,'' he said.
Bagnell said the court could not speculate on what might have happened.
``Based on the facts presented by the commonwealth, it would be difficult for him to make a realistic plea of self-defense,'' he said.
But the prosecutors must be extremely careful to disclose any evidence that might be contradictory, Bagnell said.
Last fall, Jefferson had also asked to withdraw his plea just before Bagnell sentenced him to life in prison. On Thursday the judge reminded Jefferson that he had waived his right to appeal when he pleaded no contest. He had changed his plea from not guilty after the first day of the jury trial.
KEYWORDS: MURDER ASSAULT WEAPON