THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, August 15, 1996 TAG: 9608150329
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TOM HOLDEN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: 112 lines
A seven-member jury Wednesday found School Board member Tim Jackson and former board member Ferdinand V. Tolentino not guilty of malfeasance in office.
In the moment the verdict came, the men paused quietly to savor the decision before Jackson smiled broadly, shook his attorney's hand, and then let out a heartfelt ``Hallelujah!''
The three-day trial ended sooner than expected when the defense rested its case without calling a single witness to refute prosecutors' claims that Jackson and Tolentino had knowingly voted to spend more money than the school district was allowed.
Defense attorneys had lined up several witnesses, including past and present School Board and City Council members, but chose not to call them, believing that the commonwealth had failed to make its case.
It is against Virginia law for a school district to run a deficit. That fact was central to a case with roots in the 1994-95 fiscal year, when the district ran up a $12.1 million deficit.
The full financial mess, made public last November after an audit from KPMG Peat Marwick, led to a rare special grand jury investigation that in February called upon seven board members to resign or face prosecution, citing their incompetence in handling fiscal matters.
Commonwealth's Attorney Robert J. Humphreys, who had served as counsel to the jury, then called upon board members to step aside, an assertion that angered Jackson and figured greatly in his decision to fight the charge.
With vindication his, Jackson was quick to stand behind the dismissed School Board members who chose not to fight and quietly faded from public office.
``The jury told me what I knew all along - that I was not guilty,'' said Jackson, a former police sergeant. ``My fellow board members did not commit a crime. I did not commit a crime. I hope this allows them to go on with their lives as innocent people, as I am today.''
The case all but ends a difficult period for the commonwealth's second-largest school district, which appears to be back on sound fiscal footing, although one case remains unresolved.
In that one, Tolentino and Jackson are charged under a conflict-of-interest statute because they voted with other board members to have the first $25,000 of their legal fees paid for by the school division.
Their attorneys have asked Circuit Judge Glenn Tyler to dismiss the charge. No ruling has been made yet, and Humphreys suggested Wednesday that the case may not come to trial.
``We'll have to see what the judge says,'' Humphreys said. ``If he rules in favor of the defense, then it's a closed matter. But if he rules that we should proceed, then I think we'll have to rethink our position.''
Humphreys said he was relieved that the malfeasance-in-office case was over, even though he lead the charge and came under scrutiny for applying the full weight of his office to prosecute School Board members for a Class 4 misdemeanor, a charge equal to littering.
``Hopefully, this brings to a close a very sad chapter in our school district's history,'' Humphreys said. ``I'm glad we had a chance to have this case heard by a jury. Its members have spoken. It was a tough case.
``This entire episode has been harmful to our community but I thought it was a case that needed to be heard by a jury.''
At times, Humphreys showed his discomfort with his case, saying on several occasions in court that Jackson and Tolentino were ``good people'' who despite their qualities had done wrong and must be punished.
From the beginning, Jackson and Tolentino, who had both pleaded not guilty, said they had been misled by the district's former administration, whose members repeatedly had told the School Board that finances were sound, even as the district's budget was being overspent.
The trial focused on several issues. For the prosecution, the matter was a simple case of presenting the facts and applying the law: The defendants were board members. The board overspent its budget by $6.4 million. A $5.7 million shortfall in estimated revenues accounted for the rest of the deficit. Even as the deficit piled up, prosecutors said, the board members learned they were in trouble and ignored the facts.
The defense offered a more practical approach: While the deficit was real, the reasons why it happened had their roots in an administration that never fully informed the board of the fiscal problems it faced. In one dramatic moment, defense attorney James O. Broccoletti, who represented Tolentino, showed the jury that throughout the fiscal year the former chief financial officer, Mordecai L. Smith, reassured the board its budget was sound, at one point telling the board it would end the year with a $1 million surplus.
The names of Smith and former Schools Superintendent Sidney L. Faucette haunted the case, and defense attorney Moody ``Sonny'' Stallings Jr. invoked them several times in his closing argument, asking the jury why they were not on trial instead of his clients.
``The entire School Board has been exonerated,'' Stallings said. ``They should never have resigned and should not have fallen to the pressure of Bob Humphreys. It was not fair.''
For Tolentino, the first Filipino-American to serve on the School Board, the verdict carried an importance that went beyond the modest fine he faced had he been convicted.
``As a Filipino-American, opportunities to show our credibility as productive, responsible and accountable American citizens are rare,'' he said. ``As a member of the School Board, I took offense when charges of being `incompetent' and `unfit' were levied by the special grand jury. It is a rude awakening that I had to go to court to clear my name and to restore credibility to the people I represent.
``I believe the jury's verdict is a time for celebration, confirming the doors of opportunity to serve the city remain open to young people like me, in their 20s, and for people who look like me, specifically Filipino-Americans.'' ILLUSTRATION: VICKI CRONIS color photos/The Virginian-Pilot
Former Virginia Beach School Board member Ferdinand V. Tolentino is
congratulated after the verdict Wednesday. He said he ``took
offense'' at accusations leveled at him by the special grand jury.
Tim Jackson, whose term on the Beach School Board expires in 1998,
closed his eyes for a moment when the verdict was read in court.
Afterward, he let out a heartfelt ``Hallelujah!''
KEYWORDS: VIRGINIA BEACH SCHOOL BOARD BUDGET
TRIAL VERDICT by CNB