ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, April 15, 1997 TAG: 9704150087
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: HARRISONBURG
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
Prosecutor Douglas Stark urged the jurors not to buy the ``scared-little-girl routine.''
A jury began deciding Monday whether Jamie Raymond knifed to death a man she claimed coerced her and other young women into a prostitution ring.
Raymond contended during her murder trial that it was her husband, Jeremy Raymond, who stabbed Ernie James 31 times and slit his throat in a jealous rage after he learned James had forced her to work as a call girl.
``She was terrified of her husband, and Ernest James was able to use his power of persuasion over her,'' Jamie Raymond's attorney, Walter Green, told jurors in his closing statement.
But Commonwealth's Attorney Douglas Stark said Jamie Raymond went to James' house to rob him and stabbed him with the 10-inch kitchen knife while her husband watched.
``Don't buy the scared-little-girl routine,'' Stark told jurors before they began deliberations about 4 p.m. Rockingham Circuit Judge Dennis Hupp sent the jury home for the night about 9 p.m.
Raymond, 20, is charged with capital murder and robbery. Prosecutors claim she planned to use money she stole from James to buy drugs. They do not plan to seek the death penalty if she is convicted.
Jeremy Raymond, who was convicted of murder and burglary last month, was called to the witness stand Monday but refused to testify, citing a state law that says husbands cannot be forced to testify against their wives.
In a videotaped confession played at his trial, Raymond said he and his wife went to James' house near Harrisonburg intending to kill him. The tape was not played at Jamie Raymond's trial.
James had been a part-time college professor, Chamber of Commerce leader and tire company executive when he was arrested in 1986 and charged with running a call-girl ring. He was convicted of aiding and abetting prostitution and served two weeks in jail.
In the 10 years since, James had reworked his image. In 1994, he was appointed director of two Christian halfway houses for parolees finishing their prison sentences, and he used his own tale of reform to inspire others. By 1996, he had been speaker at a high school commencement.
He was killed June 25, 10 years to the day after his arrest in the prostitution sting.
Throughout the five-day trial, Green tried to call witnesses who would support Jamie Raymond's claims that James was still operating a prostitution ring and had some of the community's most prominent figures as clients. Among those Green wished to call were James Madison University President Ronald Carrier, who denied the allegation.
Hupp rejected Green's requests, ruling that whether James was involved with other women was irrelevant.
LENGTH: Medium: 59 linesby CNB