Virginia Beach police officer's conviction dismissed by judge

VIRGINIA BEACH

Circuit Judge A. Joseph Canada Jr. said he wrestled with the case of a former Beach police sergeant convicted of extortion and finally decided that the jury was wrong.

Canada on Tuesday overturned the verdict against Jesse Burton Spry III.

After a two-day trial in September, jurors decided Spry had extorted money from a man who had towed away a Jeep that Spry owned and had tried to get the title . The jury recommended Spry serve six months in jail and pay a $2,500 fine.

Instead of imposing a sentence, Canada dismissed the case against Spry. Canada said it was the first time in his 13 years on the bench he had to conclude that a jury’s finding conflicted with the law.

“The judge’s actions are troubling,” Commonwealth’s Attorney Harvey Bryant said in a statement. “Twelve citizens had no problem, after having been given instructions by Judge Canada, in deciding that Spry was guilty of extortion and should go to jail as punishment.”

The decision was also rare, according to Anne Coughlin, a professor at the University of Virginia’s School of Law.

“There is a heavy burden on a defendant once convicted to win such a motion,” she said. “A judge will have to find that the evidence was clearly inadequate to support a conviction.”

“The judge is saying, 'I saw the same evidence you saw, and I conclude that no reasonable person could convict,’” she added. “It’s extraordinary.”

In May 2006, Spry reported that his Jeep had been stolen from outside his father’s home at the North End.

Several days later, Spry received a certified letter from Michael O’Hargan informing him that the Jeep had been towed to his home and that he had started the paperwork to obtain what he thought was an abandoned vehicle.

On June 4, 2006, five police officers and Spry, who was off duty at the time, went to O’Hargan’s house and handcuffed him . O’Hargan then agreed to pay Spry $8,200 for the 1984 Jeep CJ-7.

Deputy prosecutor Thomas Murphy told jurors during the trial that O’Hargan had to choose between paying Spry’s price for the vehicle or going to jail. He characterized the case as “highway robbery.”

“From my point of view, Spry did wrong,” O’Hargan said Tuesday. “A grand jury indicted him, and a 12-person jury convicted him. One judge flipped the whole thing out.”

Defense attorney Andrew Protogyrou convinced Canada that there was no threat of arrest, because O’Hargan initiated the negotiation to buy the Jeep after he was already in handcuffs .

Protogyrou argued that the issue arose weeks later when O’Hargan complained the price was too high and filed a police complaint.

“We’re ecstatic that the judge followed the law,” Protogyrou said after the hearing.

Spry, who was a 28-year veteran of the police force when the allegations arose, walked out of the courthouse flanked by family and friends.

“I’m glad it’s over,” he said.

Duane Bourne, (757) 222-5150, duane.bourne@pilotonline.com