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By VAL VAN METER
Rappahannock Neva Staff Writer
BERRYVILLE — Clarke County’s Circuit Court judge was accused of playing partisan politics last week after he refused to renew a concealed weapon permit for Republican Senate candidate Oliver North.
North lives on an estate along the Shenandoah River in eastern Clarke County.
Judge James Berry, who approved the same request in 1991, turned down North’s March 24 application because, he said, North was not a person of “good character,” as required under the state law.
Berry cited North’s ‘‘previous convictions for crimes involving moral turpitude.”
In his order, Berry said he could not ignore those convictions, even though they were overturned on appeal because the government was unable to show that North’s testimony at joint hearings before the House and Senate Select Committee investigating Iran-Contra was not the source of the evidence used to convict him. North was granted immunity for that congressional testimony.
A press spokesman for North, Dan McLagan, said Tuesday that the judge’s change of attitude “seems fairly politically motivated.”
McLagan said Berry approved the same request earlier. “The only thing that has changed is that Ollie has become the Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate. Judge Berry is obviously a Democrat.”
Berry said Tuesday that it would be inappropriate for him to comment on the matter.
North requested the permit to carry a .38 caliber Smith and Wesson revolver, a Walther PPKS .380 automatic pistol and a 10 millimeter Colt automatic. His application cited a need to protect himself and his family from threats against his life as a result of his work for the National Security Council during the Reagan Administration, and because he has become a “high profile target” because of his political campaign.
Several years ago, North traveled with a security detail. Now, a spokesman said, although he does have an entourage during his campaign appearances, there are no “official bodyguards,” around North.
Corrections
One ingredient was omitted from the recipe for Mary Williams’ pasta salad which ran in last week’s Rap' pahannock News. One can of tuna fish, flaked, should be added to the salaid.
In the July 27 issue, it was reported that the Best of Show award for flowers at the Culpeper-Madison-Rappahannock Farm Show was awarded to Mary Bywaters. Due to a mix-up at the Farm Show, the ribbon was on the wrong flower, and the award was actually for a gladiola grown by Alice Pullen of Flint Hill.
The Rappahannock News regrets the errors.
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