Andre Griffin has already spent 12 of his 32 years in prison. And now, because of a new conviction for robbery, he'll spend the next 18 years there, as well.
"If you consider [his] entire life, it seems like he never had a chance," said defense attorney John Jacob before Griffin was sentenced Friday. But stalking and robbing a 51-year-old pizza deliveryman didn't help his cause, said Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Dennis Fitzpatrick.
"There was intimidation and violence, and [Griffin] clearly had an intent to steal," said Fitzpatrick during Griffin's trial in October. In the end, the jury agreed and recommended he serve 18 years in prison. Last Friday, Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge Gaylord Finch imposed that sentence.
The robbery occurred May 4 in Centreville's Virginia Run community. The deliveryman, a Centreville resident, worked nights for Pizza Hut. (Centre View is withholding his name because he's a victim). A small, slight-built man of Chinese descent, he spoke at the trial through a Cantonese interpreter.
He described what happened and how frightened he was. The night of the crime, he only had $30-$40 on his person and was driving his wife's car, around 11 p.m., backing up after delivering pizza to a home on Smith's Trace, when he noticed a car following him.
The car — a dark blue, 1989 Buick Century later identified as being driven by Griffin — rammed the victim's car twice and sent it spinning. When it finally stopped, after striking a stop sign at the intersection of Beckford Way and Eagle Tavern Lane, the terrified deliveryman left his car and ran for help. When he did so, the Buick's occupants — Griffin and two teens, who'd just struck a tree on Eagle Tavern — left their own car, got into the victim's vehicle and fled.
The victim banged on a door of a Virginia Run homeowner until someone answered. He said he'd been robbed, and the homeowner called police. The victim further testified that Griffin had stalked him, earlier that evening, while he delivered pizza to the Sanderling condominiums in Centre Ridge.
About 30 minutes before going to Virginia Run, he said, he saw the same car at Climbing Rose Way. He said two to three people were in it, including Griffin. He said he knew it was the same car because it was the only one that passed him at Climbing Rose, and the parking lot of that apartment complex was well lit.
The two Centreville teens involved with Griffin both testified against him at his trial and were not prosecuted. They said Griffin wanted to "rob the pizza man" and told them to follow the victim at Sanderling and take his money. But they only followed him and did nothing else.
To divert suspicion from himself, after leaving Virginia Run, Griffin called police to report his own car stolen. But the responding officer soon realized Griffin was lying and was actually the person who'd stolen the deliveryman's car in Virginia Run.
Before Griffin's sentencing Friday, Jacob told Judge Finch that his client was abused and neglected by his natural parents and was adopted around age 2. He said Griffin's first two years of life affected his ability to cope. Then, at 16, he was sentenced as an adult for two burglaries and an attempted rape and was sent to prison.
"His probation officer wrote a letter to [that] judge, saying, 'If you don't send him to boot camp [where he could have received treatment and counseling], you'll lose him,'" said Jacob. "But he was sent to prison, instead. He's never gotten counseling, so his productive skills and ability to get a job were severely hampered."
In the brief period that Griffin was a free man, said his attorney, he had sex-offender treatment and held some jobs. Added Jacob: "His brother testified that, when [Griffin] lived with him, he wasn't violent." He then asked Finch to consider suspending some of the prison time the jury recommended.
But prosecutor Fitzpatrick said the jury considered seriously all the evidence it heard — and didn't even know about the attempted-rape conviction. Therefore, he said, the sentence is appropriate.
"I don't see this as an impulse-control or coping-skills case," he said. "This was a fairly well-thought-out plan. They followed [the victim], and the evidence shows Mr. Griffin rammed [the victim's] car twice. I reject the notion that psychological makeup is a factor. I think the jury considered that the defendant was indoctrinating the [two teen-agers] into a life of crime."
Then Griffin — who'd pleaded 'not guilty' at his trial — continued to maintain his innocence, saying his fingerprints weren't found in the victim's car and the victim wasn't sure enough that he, Griffin, was really the man he saw that night. "I gave those two kids my car to [go] buy soda," he said. "They did this on their own."
Finch then imposed the 18 years, plus three years post-release supervision. Griffin said he intends to appeal the jury's decision and the sentence, and Finch appointed Jacob to represent him in that effort.