W.Va. woman facing perjury charges agrees to plea bargain

February 03, 2004|by CANDICE BOSELY

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - A woman charged with trying to bribe two witnesses connected to the case involving the shooting of West Virginia State Police trooper R.J. "Bobby" Elswick pleaded guilty Monday to one count of conspiracy to suborn perjury and two counts of attempted subornation of perjury.

Connie Marie Harrison, 41, of Shenandoah Junction, W.Va., agreed to the plea bargain during a hearing Monday morning before Circuit Court Judge David Sanders.

Harrison was accused of offering $50,000 to Johnny and Sandra Lambert if the couple left the state, thereby possibly preventing subpoena delivery, or if they lied and said they knew nothing about the shooting or other events that led to it.

Before shooting Trooper Elswick once in the head on Oct. 10, 2002, Harrison's boyfriend, David Eugene Munday, 38, allegedly broke into the Lamberts' mobile home and held them at gunpoint.

The Lamberts did not take the bribe, and testified against Munday.

Rather than immediately sentencing Harrison, Sanders asked the county's probation department to complete a pre-sentence investigation.

Berkeley County Prosecutor Pamela Games-Neely said that, under the terms of the plea bargain, Harrison will be allowed to serve her sentence in either home confinement or on probation.

Harrison will be sentenced to one to five years for the conspiracy charge and one to three years for each of the attempted subornation of perjury charges. The sentences will run concurrently, Games-Neely said.

The fact that Harrison has no criminal history played a part in the plea bargain, Games-Neely said.

Munday faces the same three felony charges, but Games-Neely said she probably will file a motion to dismiss the charges.

On Monday afternoon, Munday was sentenced to serve life in prison in the shooting of Elswick.

"After a point in time, it becomes overkill," Games-Neely said.

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