THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, August 22, 1995 TAG: 9508220272
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JUNE ARNEY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 58 lines
Prosecutors and defense lawyers squared off Monday in the case of Kelly Dara, accused in the stabbing death of a Salem High School classmate, but each side failed to convince a judge that the other had acted improperly.
Circuit Judge Thomas S. Shadrick refused to dismiss the murder charge against Dara in the killing of Joseph D. Garcia III based on new claims by defense lawyers that evidence favorable to their client had been withheld.
The lawyers argued that prosecutors failed to turn over a statement in time for an earlier hearing. The statement came from a passenger who rode to North Carolina with Dara after the killing.
Shadrick also failed to find sufficient evidence that a defense lawyer had intimidated a witness, as prosecutor Albert Alberi alleged.
In a sometimes-heated exchange, prosecutors and defense lawyers argued about a two- or three-minute telephone call received by witness Arceo Vitangcol from a man who claimed to be one of Dara's defense lawyers. On the stand, Vitangcol said he thought the man's name was Shuttleworth.
Vitangcol, 20, testified that he felt threatened when the caller said he had ``heard some things that I'd said and that other people had said that would possibly put my wheel in a ditch.'' Vitangcol was to have met with the caller Monday afternoon, but decided not to do so.
Alberi said he considered the conversation improper and argued that it called the legal profession into disrespect. ``I bring this to the court's attention because I'm very troubled by it,'' Alberi said.
Thomas B. Shuttleworth, one of Dara's attorneys, said Alberi's motion for sanctions against the defense lawyer made him feel he was in a Nazi state. ``It becomes a scary place to live in Virginia Beach with a commonwealth's attorney like that,'' he said.
Dara's trial, scheduled for Aug. 30, is expected to take three days.
Dara was 17 when she and Joshua Johnson, her boyfriend at the time, were accused in the death of Garcia, 17. Charges against her traveled the usual route of juvenile proceedings, starting in juvenile court, then being transferred to adult court.
Once in Circuit Court, prosecutors announced that they would not pursue the charges of murder, attempted robbery and conspiracy. They refiled the charges in Juvenile Court, but the judge there said his court no longer had jurisdiction. Dara was freed briefly.
Prosecutors then sought and received grand jury indictments on identical charges.
In June, a jury convicted Johnson of first-degree murder, attempted robbery and conspiracy to commit robbery, and recommended that he be sentenced to life in prison. His sentencing is set for Sept. 6. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Kelly Dara
KEYWORDS: MURDER by CNB