THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, March 9, 1995 TAG: 9503090426
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: STAFF AND WIRE REPORT
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 52 lines
A murderer who had served only four years of his 27-year sentence was returned to jail one day after being paroled last week, because the Virginia Parole Board didn't give the victim's family a chance to oppose his release, the chairman said.
The board is required by law to listen if a crime victim or a victim's relatives ask to be heard when parole is considered, John Metzger told The Associated Press on Wednesday. Metzger has declined to be interviewed by The Virginian-Pilot.
``In this case, the victim's family requested input and a meeting was scheduled for 10:30 this (Wednesday) morning,'' Metzger said. But because of a staff blunder, the board was unaware of the request.
According to Metzger, the board learned of its mistake last week and immediately issued a warrant for the arrest of James Michael Wear. Local police arrested Wear at his mother's home in Virginia Beach, using a warrant that said he had violated his parole.
Wear is now in the city jail awaiting a parole suitability hearing.
Wear was 17 when he drove the getaway car for three friends after they robbed the Ocean Island Motel and murdered the 28-year-old night clerk, Julie Benica. Wear pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and robbery in August 1990 and was sent to the Brunswick Correctional Center in Lawrenceville in 1991. He became eligible for parole this month.
Wes Benica, the husband of the murdered woman, met with the board's victim input coordinator and with Metzger on Wednesday morning. Benica said he had no comment about the meeting, but Metzger told The Associated Press that ``the family'' had objected to Wear's release. Metzger said the board clearly has authority to return a parolee to jail as long as a hearing is expedited.
Parole experts and civil libertarians dispute Metzger's interpretation of the law.
``Virginia law contains no requirement to hear victims. There is only a requirement to notify them,'' said Kent Willis, director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia. ``This whole situation is an absolute outrage. Mr. Wear's constitutional rights have been disregarded. His parole can only be revoked if he's violated parole, and he hasn't done that.''
Harrison Hubard, a Richmond lawyer who specializes in representing inmates before the parole board, said he had never heard of a case like Wear's.
``I've heard of a preliminary decision to grant parole being made but then rescinded after further investigation. But that's always been before the inmate leaves the gate.'' by CNB