HABITUAL FELONS

A recent Journal article on habitual felons quoted Velma Thomas, the
wife of habitual felon Victor Thomas. Mrs. Thomas said that her husband was
the victim of racism. The truth: Acting on a tip provided by a "snitch,"
officers arrested Victor Thomas for having cocaine in his vehicle. Officers
later searched his house and found a handgun and 20 bags of cocaine packaged
for resale. Thomas had seven previous drug-related felony convictions and 13
misdemeanor convictions. Thomas admitted the gun and drugs were his.

Velma Thomas was the "snitch" who reported Victor Thomas. At trial, she
changed her story and testified that the drugs were hers and that she
planted the cocaine to frame Thomas.

Our office rejects two-thirds of the cases that qualify for habitual
prosecution, largely because we have found drug treatment a better, less
expensive alternative. Of those rejected, 85 percent are black. Forsyth
County habitualizes a smaller percentage of blacks than four other urban
counties. Our office leads the state in number of habitual felons convicted,
conviction percentage and number of convictions per prosecutor.

Our community needs to focus on the reasons for the high minority crime
rate. It is worthy to note that most victims of violent crime are also
minorities. We as prosecutors spend our entire professional careers
advocating for these victims. Racists? Hardly.

DAVID L. HALL

DIRECTOR

HABITUAL FELON UNIT

FORSYTH COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY'S OFFICE

Winston-Salem