CHARLES CITY, Va. -- Abduction suspect Delvin Barnes was escorted into the Charles City County Sheriff’s Office late last week, but should he have already been locked up in a Virginia prison?
A CBS 6 investigation found a flaw in the system that could mean criminals who have been released from prison on a suspended sentence, but who break the rules again, never have to serve that time.
In 2002, Barnes was convicted of using a gun to rob two women of their engagement rings in the West End. He was sentenced to 40 years in prison, but more than 39 years of that were suspended, meaning he only had to serve nine months behind bars.
Still, CBS legal expert and defense attorney Todd Stone said in felony robbery cases that suspended part of a sentence is held over a convicted criminal’s head for years.
“It`s probably going to be for at least 20 years and probably for life,” Stone said.
Just three years later, Barnes was charged with violently assaulting his estranged wife in Philadelphia, and convictions in that case led to an eight-year prison sentence.
Barnes was released in December 2013, and moved back to Central Virginia.
Now, he’s accused of kidnapping and raping a Richmond teen, and abducting a Philadelphia woman.
But, Stone said, it is very likely that Richmond could have locked him up months ago for violating the rules of his original suspended sentence.
“If he committed a violent offense while on a suspended sentence, he would have more than likely gone back to jail,” Stone said.
Stone said it is possible that did not happen because “once you`re off supervised probation, there is nothing to keep a check on whether you get new convictions.”
We have learned prosecutors are not required to alert another jurisdiction if they convict someone who has a suspended sentence there.
In fact, Stone said prosecutors sometimes agree not to notify that jurisdiction.
“It is often a bargaining chip when you`re having a plea negotiation,” Stone said.
While we do not know exactly what happened in Barnes’ case, Stone said criminals with a suspended sentence frequently do not end up back in jail, even when they commit another violent crime.
“I see it all the time,” Stone said.
Stone said the process could benefit from a database that would alert prosecutors if a criminal violates their suspended sentence in another jurisdiction.
He said it would not be that hard to create because the information is already there, it is just not being shared.
