ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, November 2, 1996 TAG: 9611040053
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LAURENCE HAMMACK
After convicting Jose A. Delacerda of brutally beating his girlfriend outside a Southeast Roanoke bar, a jury on Friday recommended that he serve 15 years in prison.
The verdict was unusual, Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Wanda DeWease said, because domestic abuse cases that do not involve a weapon rarely result in a felony conviction - or such a harsh sentence. Delacerda had faced a maximum sentence of 20 years for malicious wounding.
"This is an extremely unusual verdict, and I think it's a statement of how the community feels about domestic violence," DeWease said.
Testimony during the two-day trial in Roanoke Circuit Court showed that Delacerda, 37, became angry with his girlfriend, 39-year-old Sharon Craighead, at Mike's Bar and Grill on Campbell Avenue the evening of April 27.
Delacerda hit Craighead in the head repeatedly, continuing to beat her as she lay helpless on the sidewalk outside the bar, according to testimony. Craighead might have died, DeWease said, had a nurse not happened by and turned her on her side to clear the blood from her mouth and nose.
Craighead, who was in a coma for a day and remained hospitalized for a month, suffered a severe head injury and multiple facial fractures. Since the incident, she has had problems with memory loss. Her speech and balance also were affected.
Delacerda denied hitting Craighead, saying that she ran from the bar as they argued, tripped and fell on the sidewalk and hurt herself, according to his attorney, James Cargill.
Witnesses testified that Delacerda fled after the beating. Police arrested him the next day, after finding him hiding in the closet of an apartment in a Southeast Roanoke public housing development.
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