ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, April 4, 1996 TAG: 9604040083
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-5 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: RICHMOND
SOURCE: DAVID M. POOLE STAFF WRITER
When he goes on trial next week on charges of indecent exposure, Suffolk Del. Robert Nelms will be prosecuted by the wife of another General Assembly member.
Colette McEachin - wife of Richmond Del. Don McEachin, a Democrat - is an assistant Richmond commonwealth's attorney who handles the criminal docket in the General District courtroom where Nelms, a Republican, is scheduled to be tried Wednesday.
Colette McEachin said Monday that she had no intention of withdrawing from the case to avoid any possible appearance of bias.
Nelms was arrested in February by an undercover vice officer in a Richmond park known for illicit sexual activity. Nelms later said he was taking a stroll along the James River during a break in his hectic Assembly session, when he stepped off the trail to relieve himself.
Legal experts agree that a lawyer has no automatic obligation to withdraw if his or her spouse's interests intersect with a case. But some experts say the Nelms prosecution veers into the murky area where politics and perceptions collide.
Colette McEachin said she is used to dealing with perceptions. "Some white people think I have a bias against them because I'm black," she said. "Some men think I have a bias against them because I'm a woman. I don't take a poll before I prosecute a case."
James Roberts, a Richmond lawyer hired by Nelms, said he would not make an issue of McEachin's involvement. "I expect her to do her job," Roberts said.
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