Slain suspect had been freed by veteran court employee's mistake

NORFOLK

Christopher White, the man who was killed by Chesapeake police after he opened fire on officers on Monday, was released from jail because of an error made by a veteran court employee of 25 years.

Thomas Baldwin, clerk of Norfolk’s General District Court, said today that the clerk had prepared advance paperwork for the day’s docket and failed to make a correction that would have prevented White’s release.

The mistake happened in December; Baldwin said he learned of it in early March when the clerk and her supervisor notified him. He took disciplinary action at the time, he said, and changed the office’s policies. Now any release order written by a clerk must be double-checked by another clerk before it goes to the jail, Baldwin said. Clerks no longer prepare paperwork in advance, he said.

“Our heartfelt sympathies go out to the wounded police officer and to his family,” Baldwin said,”also to the family of Mr. Tione Vincent.”

Baldwin said the clerk "is absolutely devastated.”

Baldwin said he has fired employees for such errors.  In a courthouse that handles more than 150,000 cases a year, he said, mistakes are bound to happen.

“We have the best training and the best technology,” Baldwin said. “But there will be errors when dealing with this volume.” 

It is the second time this year that such an error led to the release of a man who was later suspected in a killing.

In Monday's case, White, 26, was identified as the man who fired an automatic rifle at his Chesapeake police pursuers following a chase.  White was in a van with the body of Tione D. Vincent, who was abducted in Norfolk earlier Monday. Police said Tuesday that Vincent was killed by his captors. A Chesapeake police officer was shot and wounded.

Two others from the van who survived the shootout are in custody.

A judge on Wednesday denied bond for Willie Simmons, one of the men accused of being an accomplice. Judge Robert Carter made the decision in Chesapeake General District Court.

Simmons’ lawyer, A. Robinson Winn, argued that his client was an unwilling participant in Monday’s events. Winn said another man, Christopher White, forced Simmons into a white van in Norfolk.

White faced charges in Norfolk of robbery, conspiracy, use of a firearm during the commission of a felony, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. A Circuit Court order signed by a judge on Feb. 13 said White was erroneously released on a $7,500 bond “when none had been granted,” and that his release was “due to an error in paperwork in the General District Court.”

“The court hereby orders that the defendant’s bond be revoked and he immediately be taken into custody,” the order said. Norfolk’s Circuit Court still lists White as a fugitive.

Two weeks ago, documents revealed that James A. Moore was released from jail because of a Circuit Court clerk’s error.

After his release, police said, Moore killed Katrina Wilson, who had filed charges against him in January saying he had kicked down her door and threatened to kill her. Wilson was stabbed to death in her Norfolk driveway in April. Moore now faces a murder charge.

Christopher White was wanted on several charges from different dates, court documents showed.

He was charged with receiving stolen goods and weapon possession by a convicted felon for incidents in November 2007, according to a General District Court document dated Jan. 13. The charges were sent to the grand jury, according to the document, which listed his bail as $7,500. White was indicted on those charges in Circuit Court on Feb. 4. The same day, he was indicted for failing to appear in General District Court in July 2008 after he had been released on bond.

Additionally, indictments filed in December accused White of armed robbery in September and of conspiring with others . He was arrested on Sept. 24.

Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney Linda Bryant said in an e-mail Tuesday night that a prosecutor discovered White’s mistaken release when he failed to appear in court on Feb. 11. Both the prosecutor and the defense lawyer handling the case had expected White to be there, Bryant said, believing him to be in jail.

When the prosecutor learned of the error, she immediately asked a judge to correct it, Bryant said.

White was convicted of attempted escape for an incident in January 2004. Online records show that he was sentenced to eight months in jail for that conviction.

Pilot writer Louis Hansen contributed to this story.

Michelle Washington, (757)446-2287, michelle.washington@pilotonline.com