THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, August 16, 1996 TAG: 9608160542
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JUNE ARNEY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: 85 lines
William L. Griffin admitted that he planned to escape when he held a knife smuggled from prison to the throat of a Chesapeake sheriff's deputy in October 1995.
But Griffin told jurors that he never intended to kill him, and accidentally injured the deputy's neck only when the deputy moved suddenly during the struggle.
The jury didn't buy Griffin's story, and took about 2 1/2 hours to convict him of attempted capital murder, malicious wounding and attempted escape in Chesapeake Circuit Court on Thursday.
In a separate sentencing hearing, jurors recommended that he receive life in prison for malicious wounding, 20 years in prison for attempted capital murder and five years for escape for his attack on Sheriff's Deputy Roger Rosenberry. Visiting Circuit Court Judge G. Duane Holloway then imposed the sentence.
Because Griffin, 23, has two or more previous convictions for acts of violence, he is not eligible for parole.
He was already serving 20 years for a long list of crimes including grand larceny, robberyand firearms violations at the time of the offense. He also has a lengthy juvenile record, authorities have said.
Griffin hung his head as he left the courtroom after the clerk read the verdict and later took the stand during the sentencing to tell the jurors he was sorry.
His mother, an aunt and other relatives attended both days of trial.
On Wednesday, Rosenberry, 33, recounted for jurors the minutes leading up to the attack at the courthouse on Halloween 1995 and the seconds in which he was stabbed in the neck and then shot Griffin in the chest.
Griffin was in the group of inmates, handcuffed in pairs, that Rosenberry and another deputy escorted to court the morning of Oct. 31, 1995.
What the deputies didn't know was that Griffin had concealed a homemade knife and handcuff key in his boot when he left Greensville Correctional Center the day before. They also didn't know that Griffin had unlocked his handcuffs during the van ride from the jail to court.
Rosenberry entered the court building ahead of a group of six inmates. When he reached a holding cell, he unlocked the door, and then held it open with the heel of his foot to allow the inmates to go in.
``Griffin stepped into the threshold of the doorway,'' he said. ``At that moment, it looked like the other inmate took off. Mr. Griffin spun around, and it was at that point I realized he wasn't handcuffed.''
Rosenberry called out for the other deputy as Griffin reached toward him.
``His arms were up, and he jammed me straight in the neck,'' Rosenberry said. ``Instinctively, I grabbed his right wrist. I could feel the object, whatever it was, penetrate my neck.''
Rosenberry said he fell on his back and saw Griffin standing at his feet.
``He looked like he was lunging at me again,'' he testified. ``I was in fear for my life. I drew my weapon, and I fired one shot.''
An emergency room doctor testified that the knife wound was about 1 1/2 inches wide and about 3/4 of an inch deep.
Testifying in his own defense, Griffin told jurors Wednesday that he had only meant to take Rosenberry's gun and his keys, and lock him in the holding cell. He had not planned to harm him, he said.
``I felt kind of bad after I heard him screaming,'' Griffin testified. ``I stood there and let him shoot me. If I wanted to, I could have killed Deputy Rosenberry.''
Another deputy, Sgt. B.W. Wendell, testified that while he was being treated in the hospital, Griffin told him he should have killed Rosenberry while he had the chance.
Later, in a statement to a police detective, Griffin said: ``I liked the little guy. I don't even know why I done it to him . . . When I started to hit him again, I could not do it.''
During argument, Griffin's defense lawyer, Reginald B. Frazier, tried to convince jurors that although his client's actions were unwise, the evidence amounted to only a simple assault.
``I don't think in all the testimony you've heard that there is any evidence of attempt to kill,'' he said.
Commonwealth's Attorney David Williams asked jurors to consider the credibility of those who testified.
``In order not to believe Deputy Rosenberry, you've got to believe a seven-time convicted felon,'' Williams said. ``There can't be any serious question as to what was on the defendant's mind . . . This defendant has spun a yarn the likes of which just boggle the mind.'' ILLUSTRATION: William L. Griffin injured a guard during an attemped
jail break in 1995.
KEYWORDS: SENTENCING ATTEMPTED CAPITAL MURDER MALICIOUS
WOUNDING by CNB