THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, July 2, 1994 TAG: 9407020615
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: By JOE JACKSON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 60 lines
The Virginia State Bar has dismissed a complaint against former prosecutor Troy Spencer, who was accused of violating the constitutional rights of a man on trial for murder by suppressing evidence favorable to his defense.
An investigation continues of complaints against Spencer's former superiors, Norfolk Commonwealth's Attorney Charles D. Griffith Jr. and his chief deputy Norman A. Thomas.
Spencer, a veteran prosecutor, resigned from Griffith's office in December after Circuit Judge Alfred Whitehurst ordered a mistrial and ruled that prosecutors or police withheld key evidence from Brian McCray's original trial in August 1993, in which a jury convicted him of first-degree murder and sentenced him to 43 years in prison.
This May, another jury - armed with evidence withheld during the first trial - acquitted McCray of all charges.
``There is not a single witness who will testify that Spencer was ever informed, prior to the McCray trial, of any exculpatory evidence that should have been turned over to the defense,'' Assistant Bar Counsel James M. McCauley wrote in a letter dated July 29.
``The Bar must prove by `clear and convincing evidence' that Troy Spencer knew of the existence of exculpatory material,'' McCauley continued.
``The Bar cannot meet this burden of proof and, therefore, this complaint must be dismissed.''
The state bar investigation resulted from a Jan. 8 complaint from a Chesapeake resident asking that the law licenses of Griffith, Thomas and Spencer be revoked.
During the December mistrial hearing, two former Norfolk detectives - David Browning and Paul Galligan - testified that they repeatedly warned Thomas and Griffith about the waffling testimony of a 13-year-old boy. The boy was the state's main witness who identified McCray as the murderer of convenience store clerk James Harris, killed during a robbery on Oct. 31, 1992. Browning later resigned in protest over the way the case was handled.
``Former Detective Browning testified, under oath, that when he spoke with Norman Thomas about the McCray case. . . Thomas told Browning that Chuck Griffith wanted Troy Spencer to try the McCray case without any knowledge of the alleged problems. . . ,'' McCauley said in his letter. ``In short, for political reasons, Mr. Griffith allegedly wanted the McCray case to publicly embarass Mr. Spencer, and thereby eliminate Mr. Spencer as a political threat to Chuck Griffith'' during last year's Commonwealth's Attorney's election.
Griffith, a Republican, was re-elected in November. Although he never ran, Spencer, a Democrat, was once considered a possible opponent.
Spencer would not comment Friday.
It is against the law for attorneys to publicly discuss state bar investigations, officials have said.
No hearing dates have been scheduled for Griffith's and Thomas's cases.
KEYWORDS: VIRGINIA STATE BAR INVESTIGATION by CNB