Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, May 11, 1990 TAG: 9005110277
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DAVID M. POOLE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ROCKY MOUNT LENGTH: Medium
Davis sent Simmons to drug-treatment programs instead of the state penitentiary so he could keep his job. He forgave Simmons after he missed meetings with his probation officer and tested positive for marijuana and cocaine.
After more than 10 years, however, Davis has given up trying to help the 31-year-old.
Davis called Simmons into court Thursday to inform him that he was free - no more jail, no more probation, no more urine screening.
Simmons, who has been in and out of Davis' courtroom for most of his adult life, got some stern parting advice.
Davis told Simmons there would be no one looking over his shoulder the next time he gives into his craving for marijuana and cocaine.
"Just feel free to do so if you want," Davis said. "But it's going to kill you just as sure as shooting."
Simmons appeared stunned as he left the courtroom. He had come into court expecting to be sent to prison because a recent urine test turned up positive for cocaine. Instead, he was freed from court supervision for the first time since age 19, when he got into trouble for stealing from a Rocky Mount tire distributor.
Simmons said he wanted nothing more than to show Davis and probation officer Chuck Rigney that their efforts on his behalf had not been in vain.
"I'm going to straighten up," he said in an interview on the front steps of the Court House. "I'm going to prove them wrong."
Simmons has not gotten into serious trouble since his conviction on grand larceny charges in 1979 and 1980. Throughout his probation, he held the same job at a local dry cleaner. Authorities did not arrest him for any new crimes.
But he occasionally failed to meet the terms of his probation by missing appointments with Rigney and for recreational drug use.
"I did it to myself every time," Simmons said. "I'm young and hard-headed."
Still, Davis saw something in Simmons that convinced him that the young man would be a good candidate for rehabilitation. Davis said he had been impressed by the testimony of the late Wade Phelps, who called Simmons his most hard-working and reliable employee.
Simmons served one year in prison after his second grand larceny conviction in 1980. When he returned, Davis kept Simmons on a short leash in hopes that a highly structured probation would help him go straight. Davis arranged for Simmons to attend out-patient and residential drug-treatment programs. When he strayed, Davis ordered Simmons to serve jail time on the weekends to keep him out of trouble.
"We tried everything," Rigney said.
Rigney had a personal stake in Simmons, who was one of the first people that Rigney was assigned to supervise when he began his career as a probation officer in 1978.
"He's been like a father to me," Simmons said.
Simmons said he is prepared to deal with his drug problem on his own - without the court system's daily supervision and demands.
"I'm a good man," he said. "I've maintained a job ever since I came out of high school."
His plans are to keep his job, marry his girlfriend and raise a family. "If I prove them wrong, I'll feel good about myself. And I'll do it."
by CNB