Charges lodged against CC man dismissed after lack of evidence

Without physical evidence to link a defendant to a burglary, Judge Thomas B. Hoover dismissed three charges lodged against a Charles City man.

Rodney Edward Bradby Jr., 22, of the 8700 block of Little Elam Road, breathed a sigh of relief after one charge of burglary, grand larceny, and intent to sell stolen property were thrown out during Charles City Circuit Court proceedings on Dec. 19.

On May 27, Eric Keck’s shop on Sturgeon Point Road was burglarized in the early morning hours. Keck, along with another employee, looked through the garage portion of the shop. Keck testified that more than 100 industrial size batteries, weighing between 60-100 pounds, had been taken.

After reporting the crime to the sheriff’s office, Deputy Floyd Miles Jr. called scrapyards in surrounding jurisdictions. A scrapyard in Hopewell confirmed that batteries similar to Keck’s description had just been bought. Miles proceeded to the scrapyard, where he encountered Bradby. The defendant indicated he saw the batteries located in the ditch the night before and loaded them on his truck, believing they had been discarded.

Commonwealth’s Attorney Rob Tyler said that Bradby’s route home from Williamsburg didn’t have any logical sense.

“Through phone records, you can tell he was in the area two separate times,” Tyler said. “One time it was for 30 minutes and the next time it was for two hours.”

Using a map and the deputy’s testimony, Tyler said Bradby’s path home would have added 20 minutes to his drive. However, defense attorney Robert Walker Jr. used evidence stipulated earlier to support his client’s testimony.

“We stipulated earlier that the cell phone signals pick up the closest tower or the strongest signal,” Walker said. “My client does not deny he was in the area and picked up the batteries he saw on the road, but for all we know, he could have been at his home using his cell phone.”

With the defendant forgoing his right to testify, Hoover questioned Tyler on the physical evidence of the crime scene.

“Were there any fingerprints there?” the judge questioned. “Was there any type of matching to the tires located at the crime scene with the ones on the defendant’s truck?”

With Tyler indicating that no DNA evidence obtained and the failure to obtain tire patterns, Hoover rendered his verdict.

“The details are not conclusive to convict this man,” the judge said. “The lack of evidence grants the motion to strike all charges for Mr. Walker and his client. The evidence is just too speculative and leaves doubt in my mind.”

In other circuit court proceedings:

–Christopher Wayne Constable, 38, of the 4900 block of Fishsticks Lane, Providence Forge, accepted a plea deal and entered guilty pleas to three counts of misdemeanor assault, and one count each of misdemeanor reckless handling of a firearm and misdemeanor DUI (first offense). Three counts of brandishing a firearm were dropped. In a summary of evidence, on Nov. 23, 2013, Constable was involved in a confrontation with three other people during a party, verbally attacking them and threatening them with a firearm. As the victims escaped, Constable chased them with his vehicle before he wrecked. Officers arrived and determined Constable had been drinking. Under the plea agreement, Constable received six months on each misdemeanor charge, but will serve a total of five weeks active time in jail.

–Raymond Allen Hall Jr., 37, of the 300 block of Taylorsville Road, Shacklefords, entered Alford pleas of guilty to two counts each of burglary and grand larceny as part of a plea agreement. While not admitting guilt, Hall indicated the evidence would be sufficient enough to convict him. In a summary of evidence, three homes were burglarized on April 28 and May 3. One of the victims noticed the smell of cigarettes, implicating he does not smoke. A cigarette butt was later recovered and sent off for DNA evidence, with results matching Hall whose information was on file. A warrant was served to search his house where missing items was located. Under the plea agreement, he must pay $21,140 in total restitution and may serve up to four years, 10 months in jail under the guidelines. Formal sentencing for Hall is March 20.

–Walter Linwood Miles, 30, of the 5600 block of West Run Road, Charles City, accepted a plea agreement to one amended charge each of misdemeanor bad check larceny (originally a felony), and misdemeanor obtaining money under false pretenses (originally a felony). One charge each of forgery and uttering were dropped. In a summary of evidence, on Dec. 20, 2013, Miles passed a fake check at a local business that was in his name. Miles worked with state police to find the creator of the check as part of his agreement and paid restitution. Under the agreement, the defendant will serve no active time in jail, having one year suspended on each of the two misdemeanor charges.

–Xavier Lee Wallace, 21, received formal sentencing on one count each on felony destruction of property and misdemeanor destruction on property. Wallace accepted a plea agreement in April that would have had the felony charge reduced to a misdemeanor charge if able to pay the $1,654 in restitution by September. Unable to pay the restitution, he received formal conviction on both charges. Wallace received five years in jail with all but two months suspended on the felony destruction of property, and one year of suspended time on the misdemeanor charge. He still must pay all restitution costs.