Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!americast-post Newsgroups: americast.twt.news From: americast-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: americast-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: Acquitted ex-millionaire sues prosecutor Date: Sun, 22 Nov 92 17:26:45 EST Message-ID: \SE A;METROPOLITAN \SS (WS) \HD Acquitted ex-millionaire sues prosecutor \BY Jonathan Moore \CR ASSOCIATED PRESS William Douglas Carter, a former millionaire who was acquitted last July of shooting his ex-wife after serving four years in jail for the crime, alleges the Loudoun County prosecutor and sheriff's office conspired to deny him a fair trial. The $20 million civil suit filed in U.S. District Court in Alexandria accuses Commonwealth's Attorney William T. Burch, Loudoun County Sheriff John R. Isom and two sheriff's deputies, Vernon Beamer and Jeffrey Brown, of deliberately withholding evidence and tampering with witnesses in Mr. Carter's first trial in March 1988. The suit, which seeks $10 million in punitive damages and $10 million in compensatory damages, alleges the defendants' actions "were motivated by . . . personal animosity towards Mr. Carter and by their desire to advance their own careers by achieving a conviction at all costs." Mr. Carter's suit, filed Wednesday, also alleges a pattern by Loudoun County law enforcement authorities of withholding evidence to help win guilty verdicts. "I'm concerned that this is not an isolated incident," Mr. Carter said yesterday. "The people of Loudoun County are not being treated with the kind of justice that the constitution guarantees." Sheriff Isom called the charges "a blatant, frivolous suit without any basis in fact." Mr. Burch said all of the allegations are "absolutely untrue." "The idea that anybody is going to conspire against this defendant or any others in this jurisdiction is absurd," the prosecutor said. Mr. Carter was convicted in 1988 of malicious wounding and weapons charges in the shooting of his ex-wife, Carole Vandergrift. He served four years of a 14-year prison sentence before the conviction was overturned in February this year when a judge ruled law enforcement officers had withheld evidence. Ms. Vandergrift claimed Mr. Carter shot her in the head on July 31, 1987, and then tried to make the crime look like a suicide. Mr. Carter claimed she shot herself in an effort to frame him because she was angry over their bitter divorce. The sensational retrial mesmerized Loudoun County and the Washington region last July with testimony about a battle over an estate and an adulterous relationship. This article is copyright 1992 The Washington Times. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM