Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, October 20, 1995 TAG: 9510200039
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: ABINGDON LENGTH: Medium
Mark D. Leonard, 29, of Bristol, Tenn., filed a handwritten complaint Monday with the U.S. District Court in Roanoke, accusing Washington County Sheriff Joe Mitchell of violating his constitutional right to religious expression.
Leonard filed the lawsuit ``because we haven't furnished him religious items that would allow him to worship Satan,'' Mitchell said Wednesday. ``Apparently, he thinks these things can get done overnight. I don't know anything about Satanism; I don't know what he wants.''
In a telephone interview with the Herald-Courier of Bristol, Va., Leonard said he worships Satan.
``I asked for a satanic bible and a candle and a 3-by-4-foot piece of cardboard to put a pentagram on,'' he said. ``They said I couldn't have it.''
Leonard said the jail's policies allow him to have a bible in his cell. ``It doesn't say what kind of bible,'' he added.
Mitchell has contacted the state attorney general's office for advice. So far, there has been no word on how to handle the situation.
Leonard is being held without bond on six charges of grand larceny, according to General District Court records. Arrest warrants show Leonard is charged with breaking into nine county churches, where he allegedly stole a microwave oven, a combination television-videocassette recorder, vacuum cleaners, a lawn mower, a weed trimmer, a computer and an electric can opener.
A deputy federal court clerk said Leonard's lawsuit arrived Monday in the mail.
The complaint states that Leonard wants ``tomato juice to simulate blood in religious ceremonies,'' the clerk said. Leonard also asked his jailers for a piece of white cardboard and a black candle, according to the lawsuit.
In his letter to the court, Leonard asked for a court-appointed attorney to represent him.
Leonard said he has been worshiping the devil for about 11/2 years. Asked why, he said: ``Because it's my desire. I feel I have a right to choose my own religion and do what I want to do.''
Leonard faces a preliminary hearing Wednesday on the grand larceny charges.
Memo: NOTE: Ran on C-4 in Metro edition.