- www.texas-justice.com
State court overturns rape-murder conviction
- www.texas-justice.com
State court overturns rape-murder conviction
RICHMOND -- The Virginia Court of Appeals on Tuesday reversed the capital murder and rape conviction of one of eight men charged in the sexual assault and slaying of a woman while her husband was at sea with the Navy.
The appeals court ruled that Norfolk Circuit Judge Charles E. Poston wrongly instructed the jury that Derek Tice could be convicted of capital murder if he acted in concert with the others, even if he did not kill the woman.
``Except in the case of murder for hire, only the actual perpetrator of the crime may be convicted of capital murder,'' the three-judge panel said in its unanimous opinion.
Tice could be retried on a first-degree-murder charge, The Associated Press reported.
In 2000, an Arlington jury convicted Tice in the July 8, 1997, rape and slaying of Michelle Moore-Bosko, 18. The woman was strangled and stabbed in her Norfolk apartment. He was sentenced to two life terms. Tice's trial was moved because of news coverage in Hampton Roads.
Tice asserted that another defendant, Omar A. Ballard, committed the rape and murder. He also claimed that Poston restricted evidence, including a written confession by Ballard, that would support his case, according to the court's ruling.
The court ruled that Tice should have been allowed to question Ballard about the written confession.
``The contents of the letter pointed directly to the guilt of a third party and was a factual question for the jury to decide,'' the appeals court wrote.
Tice's attorney, James O. Broccoletti, said Tuesday that he hadn't read the court's opinion but expects prosecutors to exhaust their appeals before retrying the case. Prosecutors can ask the appeals court to reconsider its decision or appeal to the Virginia Supreme Court, he said.
With the inclusion in the case of the written confession -- a letter from Ballard to his girlfriend -- Tice's chances for an acquittal on both charges improve, Broccoletti said.
``Our defense was that Ballard was the sole perpetrator,'' he said.
``That letter has to put reasonable doubt'' in a jury's mind, said Tice's father, Larry Tice.
Larry Tice said his 32-year-old son is being held at Sussex One State Prison in Waverly. Broccoletti said he expects Tice to remain behind bars throughout the appeals process and through a potential retrial.
Norfolk Commonwealth's Attorney John R. Doyle III declined to comment on the court's decision, citing a conflict of interest.
Doyle, who took office in 2000, represented one of the defendants, Rick Pauley. He said he would ask that a special prosecutor handle the case. Charges against Pauley were withdrawn, Doyle said.
Two of Moore-Bosko's neighbors pleaded guilty to rape and murder and were sentenced to life in prison. A third defendant was acquitted of murder but convicted of rape and was sentenced to 8 1/2 years in prison. Charges against three other defendants were dismissed.
Ballard pleaded guilty to capital murder and rape and was sentenced to two life terms. He was the only defendant linked to the crime through DNA evidence. Bill Bosko, the husband of the slain woman, could not be reached for comment.