County Judge, Jury Go Above And Beyond
22½-Year Sentence Upheld In Shoplifting That Just Got Worse
Posted: February 13, 2013
HARRISONBURG — While it was three times what the sentencing guidelines called for, a Rockingham County Circuit Court judge upheld a jury’s recommendation that a city man spend more than two decades behind bars for a bizarre shoplifting incident that led to a police standoff in the Barrington subdivision.
On Dec. 11, a jury convicted Mark Wright, 51, of felony malicious bodily injury by use of a caustic substance, felony robbery, felony assault and battery of a police officer and three misdemeanor charges. The jury recommended he spend the next 22½ years in prison.
Sentencing guidelines called for roughly eight years in prison. But, if he had pleaded guilty, a deal with prosecutors would have let him go with the time already served in jail.
Instead, he elected to go to trial.
On Tuesday, Judge James Lane upheld the jury’s sentence. In Virginia, juries aren’t told what the recommended sentences are when deliberating punishment. They can sentence a defendant to up to the statutory maximum on each charge.
“You made bad decisions and you’re going to spend a great deal of your life in prison because of them,” Lane told Wright.
At trial, Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Adam Evans said Wright, along with his co-defendant and brother, Robert Wright, 54, of Harrisonburg, turned what was initially a shoplifting case into a huge ordeal.
Police say the crime spree began about 6 p.m. March 25, when employees of the Martin’s grocery store on East Market Street in Harrisonburg reported that two suspects, later identified as the Wrights, had taken beer and sandwiches and threatened an employee.
The brothers fled and headed for a home at 1732 Boyers Road, just southeast of Harrisonburg.
Police say the Wrights deployed tear gas toward officers who arrived on the scene as the brothers barricaded themselves in the house.
The standoff ended two hours later when SWAT members entered the residence and took the men into custody.
During Tuesday’s hearing, Evans asked the judge to uphold the sentence, saying the jury “carefully weighed” the evidence and determined an appropriate sentence.
Wright’s defense attorney, Andrew Graves, asked Lane to lower the sentence because his client didn’t play a major role in the crime spree.
Before sentencing, Wright addressed the judge, saying he was guilty of the shoplifting charge and nothing else.
“I feel my day in court was not my day in court,” he said. “I believe the jury made a rash decision … and a travesty of the judicial system.”
On Aug. 7, Robert Wright pleaded guilty to three felonies: larceny, assault and distribution of marijuana. He also pleaded to misdemeanor obstruction of justice and petit larceny.
As part of a plea deal, Lane sentenced him to 22 years in prison with all but six months suspended, equivalent to the time he served in jail while waiting a decision.
Contact Pete DeLea at 574-6278 or pdelea@dnronline.com
On Dec. 11, a jury convicted Mark Wright, 51, of felony malicious bodily injury by use of a caustic substance, felony robbery, felony assault and battery of a police officer and three misdemeanor charges. The jury recommended he spend the next 22½ years in prison.
Sentencing guidelines called for roughly eight years in prison. But, if he had pleaded guilty, a deal with prosecutors would have let him go with the time already served in jail.
Instead, he elected to go to trial.
On Tuesday, Judge James Lane upheld the jury’s sentence. In Virginia, juries aren’t told what the recommended sentences are when deliberating punishment. They can sentence a defendant to up to the statutory maximum on each charge.
“You made bad decisions and you’re going to spend a great deal of your life in prison because of them,” Lane told Wright.
At trial, Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Adam Evans said Wright, along with his co-defendant and brother, Robert Wright, 54, of Harrisonburg, turned what was initially a shoplifting case into a huge ordeal.
Police say the crime spree began about 6 p.m. March 25, when employees of the Martin’s grocery store on East Market Street in Harrisonburg reported that two suspects, later identified as the Wrights, had taken beer and sandwiches and threatened an employee.
The brothers fled and headed for a home at 1732 Boyers Road, just southeast of Harrisonburg.
Police say the Wrights deployed tear gas toward officers who arrived on the scene as the brothers barricaded themselves in the house.
The standoff ended two hours later when SWAT members entered the residence and took the men into custody.
During Tuesday’s hearing, Evans asked the judge to uphold the sentence, saying the jury “carefully weighed” the evidence and determined an appropriate sentence.
Wright’s defense attorney, Andrew Graves, asked Lane to lower the sentence because his client didn’t play a major role in the crime spree.
Before sentencing, Wright addressed the judge, saying he was guilty of the shoplifting charge and nothing else.
“I feel my day in court was not my day in court,” he said. “I believe the jury made a rash decision … and a travesty of the judicial system.”
On Aug. 7, Robert Wright pleaded guilty to three felonies: larceny, assault and distribution of marijuana. He also pleaded to misdemeanor obstruction of justice and petit larceny.
As part of a plea deal, Lane sentenced him to 22 years in prison with all but six months suspended, equivalent to the time he served in jail while waiting a decision.
Contact Pete DeLea at 574-6278 or pdelea@dnronline.com