THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, June 11, 1994 TAG: 9406110317
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: D4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: JON FRANK, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: 940611 LENGTH: HAMPTON
Attorneys for Iverson, who has signed to play basketball at Georgetown University next year, and the three others received news on Friday that their appeal petitions were granted. They argued the petitions on Monday in Richmond.
{REST} Iverson, a 6-foot point guard, averaged 31.6 points a game as a junior in leading Bethel High School to the 1993 state championship. He also played quarterback on the football team and was named The Associated Press' state football and basketball player of the year for the 1992-93 school year.
``We are really delighted they decided so quickly to hear the appeal,'' said Thomas B. Shuttleworth of Virginia Beach, Iverson's attorney. ``This is first time I've had it happen so quickly.''
The court granted Iverson's appeal based on whether there was sufficient evidence to convict him. The petitions of Michael Simmons and Samuel Wynn Jr. were granted for the same reason. They were charged with maiming by mob, a felony.
``We are happy that the court felt that the petition was meritorious and that the judges have granted us the opportunity to file briefs,'' said Newport News attorney Lyn Simmons, the lawyer for Wynn and Simmons.
Melvin Stephens, who was convicted by a jury of a misdemeanor - assault and battery - had his petition granted on the basis that Judge Nelson T. Overton allowed the jury to sentence Stephens. A state statute apparently requires that the trial judge sentence defendants after a jury recommendation.
The bowling-alley brawl occurred between a group of blacks, several of whom slung chairs, and a group of whites on Feb. 14, 1993. Three whites were injured, one man suffering a broken arm and a woman suffering a head wound that required stitches.
Iverson's arrest, trial and sentencing created a firestorm of protest within the black community on the Peninsula and attracted the attention of media representatives from around the country, including Sports Illustrated and NBC News.
The initial outcry came when Iverson and his three companions were charged. The protests increased when Iverson, who was 17 at the time, was tried as an adult and convicted, along with Wynn and Simmons. All three were sent to jail after Overton sentenced them on Sept. 8.
After almost four months behind bars, Iverson was granted conditional clemency, on Dec. 30, 1993, by then-Gov. L. Douglas Wilder and was released from the Newport News City Farm. Wynn and Simmons were released two weeks later under a similar clemency agreement.
Iverson's lawyers told the appeals court Monday that his conviction was based largely on testimony from an unreliable witness who gave conflicting accounts of the brawl.
The three-judge panel rejected two other parts of Iverson's petition. The judges refused to consider overturning Iverson's conviction because the commonwealth's attorney allegedly did not turn evidence over to defense attorneys. The judges also refused to consider the constitutionality of the maiming-by-mob statute.
Shuttleworth said if Iverson's appeal fails, he will seek a new trial for his client based on a claim that Iverson received ineffective counsel during his trial.
{KEYWORDS} APPEAL VIRGINIA COURT OF APPEALS ALLEN IVERSON
by CNB