Tharp v. Commonwealth

Convicted in a jury trial of rape and sodomy, defendant Bruce Tharp was sentenced in accordance with the verdict to the penitentiary for ten years and five years, respectively. The dispositive question on appeal is whether an inculpatory statement made by defendant should have been excluded from evidence because it was obtained incident to an alleged unlawful arrest.

The offenses occurred in the City of Hampton near midnight on Friday, May 4, 1979. Valid arrest warrants for defendant were issued the next day by a Hampton magistrate. The rape warrant was subsequently executed by Hampton…