Charges dropped in Wytheville robbery

By NATE HUBBARD/Staff

DNA test results have led Wythe County prosecutors to drop charges against suspected Counts Drug robber Anthony Joseph Worrell.
Worrell, 20, was arrested on Dec. 28, 2006, by the Wytheville Police Department and charged with 12 felonies in a robbery of the Wytheville drugstore five days earlier.
The Pulaski man was scheduled to face a trial in Wythe County Circuit Court on April 15.
On April 10, though, all 12 charges against Worrell were dropped when Judge Josiah T. Showalter Jr. accepted a nolle prosequi motion by Daronda Combs, an assistant Wythe County commonwealth’s attorney.
Although Worrell is no longer facing any charges at this time, the nolle prosequi motion isn’t equivalent to an acquittal and allows the prosecutors to charge him again with the same crime if additional evidence is found in the case.
“We may bring the charges back,” said Wythe County Commonwealth’s Attorney Gerald Mabe on Tuesday afternoon.
Mabe said his decision to stop Worrell’s prosecution prior to the trial stemmed from new DNA evidence that came to light just last week.
In reviewing court files last week with Byron Shankman, Worrell’s defense attorney, Mabe said the lawyers realized that neither of them had ever received the certificate of analysis from the lab that performed a DNA test last year on an item of clothing found at the crime scene that police believed contained specks of Worrell’s blood.
The attorneys immediately contacted the lab and got the test results, which showed that the sample didn’t match Worrell’s DNA.
“That pretty much prevents prosecution at this point,” Mabe said. “At this point in time the guy is innocent.”
Shankman didn’t immediately return a phone message left Tuesday afternoon seeking his comments on the dismissal of the charges.
Mabe added that the best identification of Worrell had come from someone who saw Worrell later in the day after the robbery – not from one of the four employees at Counts Drug who were in the store at the time of the robbery.
Witnesses also differed in their descriptions of key features such as the hair color of the assailant, Mabe said.
“With our ID being a little shaky and without DNA…,” Mabe said in further explaining why the prosecution wasn’t comfortable with going to trial.
Bill Weisiger, Counts Drug co-owner and pharmacist, said he was surprised to hear last week that the charges against Worrell were being dismissed.
Nevertheless, he added that he’s willing to be patient if further investigation by the WPD develops a stronger case against Worrell or another suspect.
“I’m just content that they’re still looking into it,” Weisiger said. “I’d rather them delay it and still be successful.”
Eddie Williams, a WPD investigator, confirmed during a phone interview Wednesday morning that he has expanded his investigation into the matter.
He said that some of the initial witness statements pointed toward two people potentially being involved in the crime.
“We’re looking at other people,” he said, although he added that Worrell “remains a person of interest.”
Williams said he couldn’t speculate on whether the police would be more likely to charge only Worrell again, Worrell and an accomplice or only someone that has not been identified so far.
“It’s an ongoing investigation so there’s not much I can say,” Williams said.
Mabe said he encouraged the police department to push the case back toward the top of its priority list.
Although Williams said he didn’t have a precise timeframe in which he might complete his reinvigorated investigation, he acknowledged that the case has become a significant concern once again.
“Any time we have a serious crime…it becomes a priority,” he said.
At the time of Worrell’s 2006 arrest, police charged him on the grounds that he stole a large quantity of schedule II drugs from the Main Street pharmacy, threatening the employees with the claim that he had a firearm but never showing a weapon.
The stolen drugs included the painkillers oxycodone and morphine, police said.
Four employees were in the store at the time of the robbery and Worrell was charged with four counts of abduction, four counts of robbery, two counts of possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute, one count of grand larceny and one count of using a firearm in commission of a felony.
According to court records, Shankman filed four pre-trial motions on April 9 on Worrell’s behalf, including a motion to dismiss the abduction charges and a motion to merge the four counts of robbery down to a single charge.
No action was taken on the motions because of the prosecution’s decision to seek the dismissal of all 12 charges the next day.
Nate Hubbard can be reached at 228-6611 or .