Byrdsong v. Commonwealth

Opinion

BAKER, J.

In March 1985, William Ivan Byrdsong (appellant) was tried by a jury and convicted of forcible sodomy and aggravated sexual assault of a thirteen year old retarded boy who was a special education student in a class taught by appellant in the Newport News public school system. Appellant appeals from an order of the trial court which approved the verdict and total sentence of sixty-five years imprisonment.

The issue on this appeal is whether the trial court erred in refusing to permit two witnesses, Mary E. Green and Emma L. Howell, to testify before the jury concerning…