THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, June 4, 1995 TAG: 9506020238
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Short : 47 lines
On May 12, Kelly Anne Dara, the Salem High School student who has admitted complicity in the senseless and brutal murder of classmate Joey Garcia, was released from custody ``as the result of a prosecutor's error.'' After her release, Ms. Dara was quoted as saying, ``I'm going home.'' Joey Garcia, however, is never going home.
The prosecutor, Deputy Commonwealth's Attorney Albert Alberi, being the consummate professional that he has always been, assumed full responsibility for the ``error'' that resulted in Ms. Dara's release from custody. The responsibility, however, does not lie with Mr. Alberi. It lies with a system of criminal justice that goes to great lengths to protect the rights of criminals yet, for the most part, ignores the rights of their victims.
The error Mr. Alberi is alleged to have committed was his unintentional, and unwitting, failure to turn over potentially exculpatory evidence to Ms. Dara's attorneys. The evidence, however, is now available to her attorneys; therefore, they have all the information they need to provide her a full and adequate defense. In other words, her right to a fair trial has not, in any way, been compromised.
As a citizen, as an attorney and as a friend of the Garcia family, I find my faith in the American system of criminal justice has once again been shaken. It will be partially restored if and when Ms. Dara is held fully accountable for her actions. It will be further restored when the legislatures and courts act swiftly and decisively to close the myriad technical ``loopholes'' which allow criminals to walk the streets with impunity, while victims and their families continue to suffer the consequences of criminal acts.
God bless Joey Garcia. And God bless the members of his family who will spend the rest of their lives struggling to cope with, and understand, their tragic loss.
Randall M. Blow
Virginia Beach
Mr. Blow is a deputy city attorney for Virginia Beach. The opinions expressed here are his own. by CNB