KEY TESTIMONY ON LAWLER DEATH EXPECTED IN TRIAL

Document Type: 
Collection: 
Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 
CIA-RDP90-00552R000303520007-3
Release Decision: 
RIPPUB
Original Classification: 
K
Document Page Count: 
1
Document Creation Date: 
December 22, 2016
Document Release Date: 
July 23, 2010
Sequence Number: 
7
Case Number: 
Publication Date: 
May 19, 1983
Content Type: 
OPEN SOURCE
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PDF icon CIA-RDP90-00552R000303520007-3.pdf77.44 KB
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STAT Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/07/23: CIA-RDP90-00552R000303520007-3 R I CHM?fOND NEWS LEADER (VA) 19 May 1983 e testimony on Lawler death expected in trial By Jim Mason N.ws l...d.r ala" rv$ Two weeks ago, lawyers defending 17-year.old John Robert Ballard called Carl G. Simons, 26, to the wit- ness stand for questioning about the beating death of former Richmond City Councilman J. Edward Lawler, Simons declined to testify. He told jurors be was taking his Fifth Amend- ment right on the advice of his law- yer. ? Today, be went on trial in the South Richmond courtroom of Circuit Judge William E. Spain and,'from all pretrial maneuvering, he will offer some crucial testimony in his defense against a first-degree murder charge in.the killing of Lawler. Pleaded Innocent As his trial began, Simons, who is from Powhatan County, pleaded inno- cent to the murder charge and to charges of robbery and breaking and entering Lawler's home at 5011 Riv- erside Drive the night-of Dec..30. Lawler, 74, was beaten repeatedly with bolt-cutters and robbed, and his body was found the next day in his kitchen, according to testimony in Ballard's trial. After making his pleas, Simons tried to stop his trial from proceed- ing. He told Spain a witness be want- ed was not available to testify. How- ever, Simons' lawyers told the judge they had learned of the potential wit- ness three days ago and decided not to call the person. After questioning Simons further, Spain refused to delay the trial and screening of the first of 68 prospec- tive jurors began. Jury selection was expected to take at least three hours. In a related development, Ballard, convicted of first-degree murder in Lawler's killing, was brought to the -courthouse. This indicated that the prosecution intends to call him as a -witness. The teen-ager, who faces sentenc- ing June 16, testified that be acted in December in duress and fear of Si inns. Ballard also said Simons kept telling"him to hit 'Lawler again and again with the bolt-cutters. In contrast:, another co-defendant. Timothy N. Dickenson, 20, testified it appeared to him that Ballard acted on his own. However, Dickenson ac- knowledged that it was Simons who was "calling the shots" the night of Lawler's killing. Simons probably will offer testimony along the lines of Dickenson's, Simons' testimony in a pretrial hearing has indicated Dickenson, of the 200 block Jeffer- son Village Drive, and Juanita Bal- lard, 18, of the 400 block LaSalle Ave., also entered the courthouse today. about an hour after deputy sheriff! escorted Simons inside. The jury in Simons' trial will have to decide whom to believe in weigh- ing the conflicts in the expected testi? mony. Testimony in the pretrial hearing also has pointed to the credibility of a state police informer pitted against that of Simons. The informer, William T. Kirby, has told of Simons boasting to him as early as Jan. 3 of having killed Lawler. Kirby also secretly recorded Simons bragging about being the kill- er, according to the pretrial testimo- my. Simons denied in the bearing that be killed Lawler or told Kirby be did the killing. He also disavowed the earlier accounts attributed to him when questioned by Detective James S. Gaudet Jan. 11. Shots said given Simons also said Kirby gave him shots of amphetamine and heroin be- fore getting him to talk about Lawler's killing. Kirby testified be did not give Simons any drugs. Arguing that use of the taped con- versation was proper, Assistant Com- monwealth's Attorney Warren Von Schuch said the statements by Simons contained "elements of truth." - Spain ruled Monday that a tran-' script of the taped conversation could be used as evidence in the prosecu- tion's case. Two days have been set aside for Simons' trial. Trial dates for Miss Ballard and Dickenson are to be set June 13. Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/07/23: CIA-RDP90-00552R000303520007-3