Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, March 31, 1990 TAG: 9003310665
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Vernon E. Carrington, 19, of Roanoke maintained during a two-day trial that police mistakenly arrested him instead of another man during a drug bust last October on Hunt Avenue Northwest.
After deliberating more than two hours, the jury found Carrington not guilty of possessing 24 "rocks" of crack cocaine.
The case was unusual because Carrington's image - that of an intelligent, clean-cut youth from a middle-class family - did not fit the stereotype of a crack dealer.
In portraying Carrington as a "white collar crack dealer," prosecutor Jeff Rudd argued to the jury: "Just because Mr. Carrington comes from a nice background . . . that doesn't mean he's not a crack dealer."
But in an emotional appeal to the jury, assistant public defender Roberta Bondurant urged jurors not to be swayed by arguments to make an example of her client by sending an anti-drug message to the community.
"They want you to set an example for the community? He is an example," Bondurant said of her client - an ROTC graduate from William Fleming High School who plans to join the Air Force.
Because of stiff sentences handed down by Roanoke juries in crack cases, jury trials are rare. Acquittals are even more rare.
"You're looking at a very brave young man" who had enough trust in the criminal justice system to risk taking a chance with a jury, Bondurant said.
Carrington was arrested the night of Oct. 3 at the 700 block of Hunt Avenue, one of the city's "hot spots" where crack is often sold in an open-air market atmosphere.
Police responding to a complaint of trespassing and possible drug dealing at an apartment complex saw what is referred to as a "throw down" - a suspect who trys to rid himself of incriminating evidence by tossing crack to the ground before he is seen in possession of the drug.
Patrolman J.N. Love testified that he saw Carrington try to stuff a vinyl pouch containing drugs and cash into the pants of an unidentified man. Carrington then threw the drugs to the ground, Love testified.
But Carrington testified that another person approached him and tried to force the drugs on him. As he pushed the drugs away, Carrington said, they fell at his feet and he was arrested seconds later as the other man fled.
"Is there someone out there who would want to set you up?" Rudd asked Carrington on cross-examination.
"How would I know?" Carrington said. "If someone saw the police coming and they had the drugs, they would try to get rid of them.
"I was at the scene at the wrong time."
by CNB