DATE: Thursday, November 6, 1997            TAG: 9711060490

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY JANIE BRYANT and ELIZABETH SIMPSON, STAFF WRITERS 

DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH                        LENGTH:   36 lines

CHARGES WITHDRAWN IN WILSON HIGH MELEE WITNESSES REFUSED TO TESTIFY AGAINST THE TEEN-AGER, A PROSECUTOR SAYS.

Charges against a 16-year-old boy in connection with an Oct. 14 melee at Woodrow Wilson High School were withdrawn Wednesday, mainly because witnesses refused to testify.

``I think it had a lot to do with with being a teen-ager and the pressures,'' prosecutor Robin Holley said of the witnesses' decision. The boy, who attends another school, was charged with inciting a riot, possession of a weapon on school property and unlawful trespassing.

The case was not directly related to the initial melee that forced officials to close the school the next day but to a separate incident reported after things had quieted down, Holley said.

The charges, which were withdrawn in a hearing in Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court, could be renewed later, however.

``We are disappointed,'' schools Superintendent Richard D. Trumble said, ``but it's something that happens all too often. The fear of retaliation and retribution is very real in this society. It exemplifies why people are free to run around and repeat these violations.''

Trumble said parents of witnesses might feel powerless to protect their children against possible retaliation but that such fear also works against improving the school. ``It shows the difficulty that schools and even the police have in making schools and communities safe.''

Police said at least three other teens have pending cases related to the incident.

One was charged with three counts of robbery and possession of a weapon on school property. Two were charged with activating the fire alarm after the fight. KEYWORDS: WILSON HIGH SCHOOL RIOT

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