Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, October 20, 1995 TAG: 9510200072
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RON BROWN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Joel Branscom is amused by campaign rhetoric that depicts him as a slick Roanoke lawyer in search of a higher-paying government job as Botetourt County's commonwealth attorney.
``Botetourt County is not a foreign country to me,'' Branscom said. "I grew up here. People in Botetourt County and the people of Roanoke are not all that different.''
Branscom, 36, the Republican challenger, is trying to push aside Commonwealth's Attorney Rob Hagan, a Democrat, by portraying himself as the more experienced prosecutor.
Branscom says his experience has broadened in his 10 years in the office of Roanoke Commonwealth's Attorney Donald Caldwell.
For his part, Caldwell is staying out of the race.
``I'm trying to remain neutral. They're both friends of mine. Both are talented attorneys,'' he said.
As Botetourt County commonwealth's attorney, Branscom says he would:
nLobby to have the assistant's job made full time.
nInstall a telephone answering machine to let witnesses and victims know the status of cases.
nBe more aggressive in collecting court costs locally. He says the county pays an outside agency that takes a percentage off the top to collect them.
Branscom disputes Hagan's claim that he's just a career government employee who punches out of work at 5 o'clock every day.
``I put in the time that it takes to prepare the case,'' he said.
He says that sometimes means you have to work on holidays and after hours. In the recent murder case of Robbie May, Branscom was called in on New Year's Day to attend the autopsies of May's five victims. Then he had to work until midnight for three weeks in preparation for trying the case, which ended with May being sentenced to five life terms.
Branscom also disputes Hagan's assertions that prosecution is the easiest type of law to practice. Hagan said at a candidates' forum last week that investigators generally lay out a prosecutor's case for him.
``He either truly believes that or he's not preparing for court,'' Branscom said. ``You cannot expect him to push for a full-time assistant if that is the attitude he takes.''
That perspective may be a reflection of Hagan's inexperience, Branscom says.
Using state figures on selected crimes, Branscom estimates that he has handled roughly 8,500 cases in his 10 years as an assistant to Caldwell.
He says Hagan has handled a little over 3,000 such cases in his 15 years as an assistant and boss in the Botetourt prosecutor's office.
The statistics were for murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny and motor vehicle theft.
Branscom says that is the kind of issue voters should consider while deciding the first contested election for commonwealth's attorney in 16 years. It is also the first election since the state authorized the position to be compensated as a full-time job.
``Now the county will need to elect a specialist,'' Branscom said.
Branscom says he is especially attuned to the values of the county that his family adopted as a home when he was 10 years old. He still lives in the county with his wife, Ann Gardner, who also is a prosecutor in Roanoke.
Bill Branscom, his father, considered himself a gentleman farmer, who tried to hammer home the message that hard work breeds success.
``My job in the summer was to plant and raise vegetables,'' Joel Branscom said. ``If you lived in Botetourt County, you also were either picking up apples or baling hay.''
But not all was work.
``Moving from the city to the county, it became like a playground,'' Branscom said.
Much of his recreation time was spent hunting rabbits and squirrels with his father. He and the three other Branscom children also enjoyed horseback riding.
Branscom attended Troutville Elementary School, Botetourt Intermediate School and Lord Botetourt High School, where he was part of a record-setting mile-relay team and a state champion debater.
``Joel is one of the best debaters and best people I've worked with over the years," says Sam Sutherland, who coached debating at Lord Botetourt. ``He was quick on his feet. He wasn't afraid of work or giving up his weekends.''
By the way, Sutherland also coached Caldwell.
Sutherland said Branscom doesn't let his intelligence put a barrier between himself and other people.
``He's still down to earth, and he still likes to garden,'' Sutherland said.
It was at the side of his grandfather, George Branscom, that he learned one of his most valuable lessons about working to make things right.
George Branscom was a perfectionist when it came to gardening.
"He was always concerned that my rows weren't straight,'' Joel Branscom said. ``They are still not as straight as they ought to be. But what is important is what you get out of the garden in the end.''
JOEL BRANSCOM
Age: 36
Family: Married, no children
Hobbies: Hunting, gardening, volleyball and soccer.
Experience: 10 years as assistant commonwealth's attorney in Roanoke. Served as lead prosecutor in more than 25 murder cases.
Platform: Most experience as a prosecutor and will improve services for witnesses and victims.
Keywords:
POLITICS PROFILE
by CNB