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Del. Joseph P. Johnson Jr, DAbingdon, said he supports Gov. Allen only if the defendants' constitutional rights can be secured.
"I would support that proposal as long as each member can get a fair trial and their constitutional rights aren't affected," he said. "At times that's not possible because some prejudicial statements are made in trial that could affect the other defendants."
In supporting Gov. Allen's proposal, Jerry W. Kilgore, secretary of public safety, said state prosecutors should have the same ability as federal prosecutors when trying a drug case.
"In the federal system you can try everybody together," said Mr. Kilgore, who has been mentioned as the primary candidate for the Republican attorney general nomination. "Here you might have to have 10 different trials, and that’s not good for your witnesses, and that's not good for the commonwealth's case."
Gov.- Allen agreed with Mr Kilgore and Attorney General James S. Gilmore III, who also discussed the issue during the second annual crime forum in Richmond. Gov. Allen" affirmed Mr. Kilgore's statement that single trials would help safeguard witnesses.
"We should not hn.\ c a system," he said, "where law entorcement authorities have to persuade a key witness to testify multiple times in multiple trials all involving the same operative "criminal activity. One trial of all the gang members should be enough to achieve justice."
The governor's proposal came as no surprise, since the General Assembly previously has killed similar legislation. Del. Johnson, an attorney and a Courts of Justice Committee member, therefore, sees its chances as slim in making it through the upcoming assembly session.
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