THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, August 27, 1996 TAG: 9608270319
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LARRY W. BROWN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: 59 lines
Opening statements began Monday in the capital-murder trial of Chauncey Jackson, the Norfolk teen-ager accused of gunning down Ronald G. Bonney Jr. nearly two years ago.
Jackson, who was 16 when Bonney was killed, could face the death penalty if convicted. He also has been charged with conspiracy, attempted robbery, using a firearm in a felony and possessing a stolen vehicle.
Bonney was slain Aug. 31, 1994, in the 1500 block of Vine St. in Diggs Town. Bonney was at a bar that night and left to give a man a ride home. The man got out and went into a house while Bonney waited outside. Jackson's co-defendant, Calvin Outlaw, then walked over to Bonney and asked him if he had any money he wanted to spend.
Jackson climbed into the passenger seat, produced a gun and told Bonney to ``give it up,'' according a statement Outlaw gave to police. Jackson told Outlaw to back up, and allegedly shot Bonney three times with a .25-caliber handgun. He died at a hospital.
Authorities say Jackson confessed to shooting Bonney. Outlaw has been convicted of first-degree murder and was sentenced to 68 years in prison.
Prosecutors argued Tuesday that the robbery was planned after Bonney refused to buy drugs.
``There was more to this than an attempt to rob,'' prosecutor Clark Dougherty said. Jackson and Outlaw planned the robbery and positioned themselves around Bonney's car so that he could not escape, Dougherty said.
Jackson, Dougherty said, changed his statement to police three times. He first said he was not at the scene of the shooting. He later said he gave the gun to someone else, who shot Bonney. He finally told police he shot Bonney accidentally.
``The defendant is a man of many defenses. . . and had three different stories,'' Dougherty said.
Defense attorneys argued that police forced Jackson to confess to the shooting.
Jackson was in an interrogation room or a holding cell for 25 hours ``until police were satisfied with a statement,'' James Broccoletti said.
He also argued that there is a lack of physical evidence that Jackson was the triggerman.
On the day his original capital murder trial was to begin last year, Jackson was released on a technicality.
Jackson was originally charged as a juvenile, and the case was moved to adult court in September 1994. Jackson was indicted in Circuit Court, but a Circuit Court judge never reviewed the case before charges went to the grand jury, a mandatory step.
Judge Lydia C. Taylor released Jackson on a $20,000 personal recognizance bond last October. He was reindicted on the murder charge in December but he failed to show up for his bond hearing.
He was arrested on Christmas Day after racking up 15 additional felony charges for crimes he allegedly committed after breaking into a Campostella home. ILLUSTRATION: Chauncey Jackson could face the death penalty if
convicted.
KEYWORDS: MURDER TRIAL by CNB