A jury in Halifax County Circuit Court is expected to decide the fate of 24-year-old Kevin Chase Newman today, after two days of testimony in a seven-year-old murder case.
Newman entered a plea of "absolutely not guilty" Monday to the first degree murder of Anthony Scott Whitlock on February 13, 1995, at Westside Trailer Park in what the prosecution described as a drive by shooting.
The defendant also entered "absolutely not guilty" pleas to six other charges, including the attempted murders of Kenneth Alvester Brooks and Virgil Lamont Talley, three related firearm charges and a charge of discharging a firearm from a vehicle.
A Halifax County jury had previously convicted Newman of the second degree murder of Whitlock and the six additional charges after a trial in December 1995, but his convictions were vacated due to a Virginia Court of Appeals ruling last year.
That ruling, which was later amended, led to Newman's convictions being vacated because Newman's father was not notified that his son's charges were certified to circuit court for trial as an adult.
Newman was a juvenile at the time of the February 13, 1995 shooting.
Newman was tried again on the same charges in December, but a mistrial was declared after a juror, later found to have a prior felony conviction, admitted to having known a member of Newman's family.
Commonwealth's Attorney John Greenbacker called the prosecution's key witness Monday, Kenneth A. Brooks, who was with Whitlock at the time of the shooting.
Brooks testified that he was standing with Whitlock near a street intersection at the trailer park that night when he observed Talley stop and get out of his car near a dumpster.
In a matter of seconds, a blue VW Jetta approached from a different direction and several (3-4) shots were fired, Brooks continued.
Both men ran to the side of a trailer for cover, where Whitlock collapsed from a gunshot wound through the heart.
Brooks testified that he gave a description of the suspect vehicle to police, but didn't know Newman's name that night.
He did testify that he saw the shooter's face and an arm with a gun extended out the window.
Brooks later identified Newman from a group of pictures presented to him by police within three days of the shooting.
Further prosecution testimony indicated a possible motive for the shooting.
The jury heard testimony yesterday from prosecution witness Eugene Craig, who was in Halifax Regional Jail with the defendant in 1995.
Craig testified that Newman talked about his case with him, saying he'd shot the wrong person and he would "get the right people next time."
The prosecution is theorizing that Whitlock was in the wrong place at the wrong time and took a bullet meant for Talley.
Craig also testified that Newman told him somebody "came by his house and caused him trouble," possibly indicating the shooting was in retaliation for shots fired at Newman's house in June 1994, an incident reported to and investigated by South Boston Police.
No arrests were made in that incident.
In his cross examination of Brooks, defense attorney J.P. Rogers III asked why Brooks didn't identify Newman until later or how he could make a positive identification in the dark.
Under continued questioning by Rogers, Brooks denied telling an ex-girlfriend he couldn't identify the suspects at the time of the shooting and telling someone else that it was too dark for him to make a positive identification.
The shooting took place between 8 and 9 p.m.
Rogers also questioned Craig's memory of what Newman told him in jail seven years ago, while citing Craig's prior forgery convictions as proof his testimony could not be trusted.
The jury also heard defense testimony from two former cellmates of Newman and Craig in 1995 who said that Craig was someone not to be trusted, calling him "two faced," and probably a "snitch."
Both are currently serving prison terms for felony convictions.
Trial proceedings got off to a rocky start Monday after a member of the jury panel testified that other potential jurors had discussed particulars of the case during the jury selection process.
After the jury had been selected Monday afternoon, a woman who was one of the original panel but not selected, told the court she overheard comments from two potential jurors that "he [Newman] has seven felonies, one of them murder, he must be guilty," and "hurry up and find him guilty and let's go home."
Presiding Judge William L. Wellons and Newman's attorney, J.P. Rogers III questioned jurors individually.
Some jurors said they had heard other jurors jokingly say they wish they had read the newspapers or know someone in Newman's family so they would be excused from jury duty.
All denied hearing any discussion that would predispose Newman's guilt, and all of the jurors told Judge Wellons nothing they heard would affect their ability to remain impartial.
Wellons denied a motion by Rogers for a mistrial after the jurors were questioned and another motion for a change of venue, as requested by Newman, due to publicity surrounding the case.

A Halifax official's question about the location and height of a communications tower for the developing consolidated E-911 Center at Mary Bethune's campus changed course yesterday.
Town of Halifax officials raised the question during a joint meeting of the towns and board of supervisors Monday night.
However, Robert Greene, town manager, said yesterday that the Mary Bethune Complex area is zoned R-2, which carries no restriction on radio antenna.
The E-911 Center will be located at the Bethune Complex campus in Halifax.
During the Monday night meeting, Greene said that he believed there was a 60-foot tower restriction in the town's zoning at the site.
Councilman Jack Dunavant first raised the tower question during a presentation by Allen Bober, director of planning for the E-911 Center.
Dunavant asked if there was a communications tower associated with the center.
Bober said a 180-ft. tower with no guy wires had been discussed.
During the discussion, the E-911 director's primary concern was keeping communication lines open at all times.
The town councilman suggested that the center try to tie into a tower someplace else, noting that the tower would be very visible in the town.
"There may be other existing elevations that could be revisited," suggested Joe Morgan, county administrator.
Bober described the existing tower proposal as one of the best options, but said that he thought something could be worked out.
"There are enough options there it would not slow the process down," Bober said of the center's construction.
The public hearing was part of the process as federal money from the . Rural Development Administration is sought for the Center. No action was required by supervisors.
The Monday night session also endorsed February as Black History Month. The resolution noted the importance of black heritage as brought to the forefront by the work of a Southside Virginia native, the late Dr. Carter G. Woodson.
Supervisor David Martin, chairman of the board, also urged citizens to visit the South Boston/Halifax Museum's exhibits during February to learn more about local Black history.
In other business, supervisors approved resolutions of opposition concerning the Comprehensive Services Act, which involves Medicaid funding changes that could cost the county $239,826, and also concern regarding any proposal for use of Virginia Retirement System funds, check-off funds from agriculture and Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement funds to balance the state budget.
South Boston Mayor Glen Abernathy also urged support - and supervisors agreed - of the Southern Virginia Higher Education Center in its bid for state funding for operations. The funding was not included in former Gov. Gilmore's budget or in Gov. Warner's budgets.
Abernathy said that he thought the Secretary of Commerce should be made aware of the Higher Education Center's role in work force retraining.
Supervisors and South Boston Town Council also passed resolutions of support for Transportation Enhancement Funding of the Prizery project and a resolution of endorsement for the Virginia Recreational Trails grant for the Paul C. Edmunds Jr. Memorial Park.
The county agreed to pay 20 percent of the total project cost, not to exceed $150,000 in the Virginia Recreational Trails Fund grant award.
The project includes trail development in the northern section of the park, to allow access to the water impoundment and wooded area of the park through an estimated 2,500 feet of handicapped accessible trails and 7,000 feet of additional trails.
Supervisors and South Boston Council also approve a resolution of opposition to inclusion of high speed steel imported by Bohler Uddeholm in proposed tool steel category subject to high tariff. The case is pending presidential approval.
The steel, used by Bohler Uddeholm Speciality Metals in South Boston, is manufactured by its parent company in Austria.
A high tariff "could put them out of business," noted county administrator Morgan.
Bohler Uddeholm Speciality Metals in South Boston employs 70.
However, responding to concern expressed by South Boston Councilman Coleman Speece, the proposed resolution wording was changed to tool steel manufactured in Austria in an effort to specify its application.
"You have to be careful how it is worded," Speece said of tariff regulations, noting that a tariff loophole had hurt Burlington Industries.
South Boston Council and supervisors unanimously passed the resolution in support of the South Boston business. The resolution will be forwarded to the Federal Trade Commission.

By Robert Benning
The News-Progress
CLARKSVILLE - The owner of the plane that crashed Sunday and claimed the life of its pilot watched from the ground as the aircraft approached Marks Municipal Airport to land, turn abruptly and disappear into a nearby wooded section. Killed instantly was Winfred "Fred" S. McLeod of Southern Pines, N.C., a highly-experienced pilot and a certified flight instructor at Moore County (N.C.) Airport.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Air Safety Investigator Jill Andrews confirmed that McLeod died while attempting to land the aircraft at the airport.
The Jodel F-12 single-engine, experimental airplane was owned and partially assembled by Gary Wilburn of Clarksville.
Wilburn, a former South Boston resident who was chief engineer at Westinghouse (ABB) from 1968 to 1980, said McLeod had agreed to test fly the airplane that was built and flight-certified in the early 1980s.
McLeod and a student pilot flew another airplane to Clarksville on Sunday and met Wilburn at the airport. Wilburn and McLeod had met about four months ago.
Wilburn said that he briefed McLeod on the plane's equipment as they discussed how the test flight would be conducted.
"He made several circuits (circled the airport) getting increasingly larger distances each time," said Wilburn. After about seven or eight circuits at what Wilburn estimated to have been an altitude of between 2,000 and 3,000 feet, the plane headed west towards South Boston and disappeared briefly from Wilburn's view.
Minutes later, Wilburn said that he saw the plane approaching the east runway "pretty low" before making an "abrupt turn to the north" and disappearing from his sight.
The aircraft, said Wilburn, took off and appeared to be handling well. When he last heard the engine, he said that it seemed to be running normally.
After loosing sight of the aircraft again, Wilburn said that he saw emergency responders approach the scene and speed to the end of the runway where the wreckage was soon discovered about three-fourths of a mile from the airport.
The plane was powered by a 160 h.p. engine and was capable of flying at speeds up to 120 mph.
Andrews said that a new engine had been installed in 1993 and that prior to the plane's test flight, it had undergone numerous ground tests.
Clarksville pilot Joe Noah said that the plane had recently had an "engine overhaul," and a new propeller had been installed.
"This was just an initial test flight. They wanted to get a total of 10 test flight hours on the plane."
The plane was flying over the Clarksville airport.

Wilburn claims to have flown the plane himself over 80 hours. "I had been maintaining it and it had undergone all the annual inspections required by the FAA."
Wilburn said that the aircraft had been built in 1965 by an aeronautical engineer in Pennsylvania from a revised set of drawings of a French-designed Jodel.
Wilburn said that he flew the aircraft from Pennsylvania to Clarksville in the early 1980s.
Both Wilburn and McLeod trained to fly in the 1940s during WWII. "He was a very experienced pilot, he was a chief maintenance officer - we just don't know what happened."
Although considered an experimental plane, the Jodel was equipped with standard flight gear and a radio.
NTSB officials say they hope to be able to determine the exact cause of the crash and if the plane had any mechanical problems.
A graduate of Virginia Tech, with a masters degree from Clemson University, McLeod recently retired as a vocational-agriculture teacher from the Moore County, N.C., school system.
McLeod was also a member of the North Carolina Wing of the Commemorative Air Force based at the Moore County Airport.
The last recorded plane crash in the Clarksville area occurred in September 1995 not far from where McLeod's plane went down.
Killed in that crash was 31-year-old Carl Henning of Santa Cruz, Calif., who was flying a bi-wing aerobatic stunt plane home after participating in an air show in Virginia Beach.
Henning was flying in tandem with another plane over Mecklenburg County, when he "became lost in a cloud bank," reports said at the time.
Henning radioed his companion stating that he was bailing out, but the plane crashed in a wooded area near Merifield Acres subdivision in Clarksville with Henning still at the controls.

A new board of directors and a new director will be elected this afternoon when the Flue-Cured Tobacco Cooperative Stabilization Corporation holds its 44th Annual District Meeting for District 10 tobacco farmers in South Boston.
Andrew Shepherd, Stabilization's director representing the district, announced Tuesday that the meeting will be held at the American Legion Building, 1710 Jeffress Blvd., South Boston today at 2 p.m.
District 10 includes all flue-cured producing counties in the state of Virginia.
Stabilization is a farmer-owned organization administering the price support program for flue-cured tobacco.
"Stabilization's flue-cured marketing centers and the future of an auction marketing system will be the key topics at the annual district meeting this year," Shepherd said.
"Significant data from the 2001 tobacco season will also be presented by representatives from Stabilization, Tobacco Associates, and USDA's Tobacco Division Agricultural Marketing Service."
Shepherd said that ample time will be provided for comments and discussion at the meeting.
A brief business session will be held immediately following the regular meeting to elect the director to represent the district on Stabilization's Board of Directors for the ensuing three-year term.
The selection of Advisory Committee members from each of the flue-cured producing counties in District 10 will be held during the business meeting.
"I encourage flue-cured farmers to make every effort to attend and participate in this important meeting.
"Critical issues regarding our tobacco program will be discussed and we would appreciate insight and input on these issues from our farmer members," Shepherd said.
Among the issues discussed at the meeting is the question of using UDSA graders in all flue-cured tobacco sales.
The referendum is set for vote in June, according to Shepherd.
"I see the vote as a very important issue within the price support system," he said.
Sheperd said that although many farmers have been raising tobacco for years, they often don't know what they are selling.
"Since farmers can't grade their own tobacco under current policy," he said, "if you don't have graders, the farmer has no way of knowing what price their product is bringing."
Shepherd said that the importance of the vote cannot be stressed enough.
"If we let the historic gains that growers have fought for get away from us, we won't be able to get these benefits back," he said.
Shepherd said that the meeting is important to all growers.
"This is an election meeting for Virginia. The farmers will have a chance to elect a new director as well as a new board of directors," Shepherd said.

It's official.
Halifax County's new semi-professional football team, the Southside Virginia Gators, is now a member of the Mason-Dixon Football League.
The team's organizers, Jeff Davis, Wayne Sutphin and Derrick Fountain, made their pitch for admittance to the league at the league meeting last weekend and were accepted into the fold by league officials.
Halifax County's semi-professional football team will play in the nine-team Southern Conference of the Mason-Dixon Football League. There are 17 teams in the Mason-Dixon Football League.
Team alignments in the league's two divisions will be announced following the next league meeting on March 16.
The league opens play on July 13. Tuck Dillard Stadium will serve as the home field for the Southside Virginia Gators' which expect to have five or six home games.
"We were very pleased," said Davis.
"It (the team's admittance) was a unanimous decision. I feel like the league officials were excited about having a team from this area, a team from Southside Virginia, in the league. "There are teams from different areas of the state in the league," added Sutphin.
"Southside Virginia was the only piece that was missing."
While Davis, Sutphin and Fountain felt good about their chances of getting the Halifax County-based team into the league, it wasn't a sure thing.
"We were nervous for awhile because after we made our presentation we had to wait for the officials to vote," said Davis.
"While we were waiting to hear, we saw one group that had a team in the league not re-admitted."
One of the things Davis, Sutphin and Fountain had to have at last weekend's league meeting along with the league registration fee and the required paperwork was a head coach.
Johnny Williams, a former football coach at Halifax County High School and Halifax County Middle School who is now head football coach at Park View Middle School in South Hill, has accepted the job as the team's head coach.
"He has 23 years of experience as a coach," Davis said.
"We feel very comfortable with him as our head coach and think he will do a very good job."
Clarence Stevenson, a Halifax County resident and a player on the Halifax County High School varsity football team in the early 1980's, will be team's defensive coach. Former Halifax County Middle School head football coach Sid Young will be assisting the team some during the preseason.
Not only has the team had early success in getting some of its coaching staff on board, it had success in terms of player interest.
Davis said approximately 40 individuals attended a recent meeting held by the organizers to gauge the amount of interest among perspective players.
"Since then we've had some people contact us and tell us they missed that meeting because they had to work or forgot the date or whatever and express an interest in possibly playing," he said.
"We shouldn't have any trouble getting enough players to fill the roster."
Now that the Southside Gators have been made official members of the Mason-Dixon Football league, the next job at hand for the team organizers is to kick their search for sponsors in the South Boston-Halifax County area into high gear.
It is important to secure enough sponsorships to make the team a self-supporting entity, the organizers said.
"Since we are now officially in the league we can really get down to serious work to secure sponsorships," Fountain said.
"We need the support of the community. We very much appreciate the support we have received from everyone thus far. We want this team and this program to be something that is good for our community. We need this to be a self-funding organization. We want very much to be successful and get ourselves into a position where we can give something back to the community."
Davis said that businesses and industries that support the team through sponsorships will receive advertisement from the team.
"We will note in our media guide those businesses and industries who are supporting us and will receive advertisement for their sponsorship," Davis noted.
"Among the things we can do is to recommend to our players and fans as well as the players and fans of visiting teams to visit and patronize the businesses that support our team and our program."
The team's organizers have already compiled a packet of available sponsorship opportunities. A sponsorship packet may be obtained by contacting Davis, Sutphin or Fountain.
Along with attempting to secure sponsorships from the local community, Davis said attempts will be made to secure sponsorships from Danville, Mecklenburg County, Farmville, Brookneal, Roxboro, N.C. and other surrounding localities, especially those areas from which its players reside.
Securing the level of funding that will be needed to make the team a self-sustaining entity is one of the hurdles that the organizers are facing in their team's inaugural season.
"We know that the first year is probably going to be hardest," said Sutphin.
"This is when we feel we will encounter the most problems. That's not to say there won't be some obstacles down the road. But, if we can gain enough financial support and enough fan support to make it through this first year, we feel semi-professional football will be here to stay."

Nancy Elizabeth Anthony

Nancy Elizabeth Anthony, 88, of Bassett, died January 22 at Blue Ridge Rehabilitation Center.
Ms. Anthony was born January 1, 1914, daughter of the late John Virgil Anthony Jr. and Hallie Ethel Foster Anthony of the Stella community in Patrick County.
She attended Anthony Grammar School, Ferrum High School and graduated from Hardin Reynolds Memorial High School. Ms. Anthony graduated from Averett College and Radford College, and received a Masters degree in Education from the University of Virginia, where she was a member of Phi Beta Kappa Honorary Society. She taught school in Patrick and Henry counties, Martinsville city and Roanoke city.
Ms. Anthony was a member of Blackberry Baptist Church, a former member of the Colonel Abram Penn Chapter of the DAR, where she served in a number of capacities. She served as a member of the Patrick County Bicentennial Commission and was also a founding member of the Patrick Henry Volunteer Fire Department.
Survivors include a sister, Hallie A. Slagle (Mrs. Jack) of South Boston; five brothers, Maxwell and Charles Anthony, both of Bassett, Douglas and Penn Anthony, both of Collinsville and Richard Anthony of Martinsville. She was preceded in death by three brothers, John Virgil Anthony III, Clarence Edmund Anthony and Thomas Arthur Anthony, all Veterans of WWII.
Services were held January 25 at 2 p.m. at Blackberry Baptist Church of Bassett with the Rev. Oscar Adams, a former student, officiating. Burial followed at the Anthony Family Cemetery, Patrick County.

Nathaniel Austin Mosley

Nathaniel Austin Mosley, 68, of 7007 River Road, South Boston, formerly of Saxe, died January 27 at the home of his daughter.
Mr. Mosley was born in Charlotte County on December 15, 1933, the son of the late Austin Mosley and Susie Fowlkes Mosley. He was a member of Mossingford Baptist Church and was an Army Veteran.
Survivors include two daughters, Karen McCargo and Lisa Walton, both of South Boston; two sisters, Annie Vaughters of Saxe and Betty Smith of Richmond; three brothers, Oscar Mosley of Saxe, John Ed Mosley of S.C. and Junior Mosley of Randolph; three grandchildren; and one step-grandson.
Funeral services for Mr. Mosley will be held February 1 at 2 p.m. at Pentecostal Holiness Church in Saxe with the Rev. James Scott officiating. Burial will follow in the church cemetery.
The family is receiving friends at the home of Karen McCargo, 7007 River Road, South Boston.