Va. Supreme Court gets local murder case

By Nate Delesline III

Published: July 19, 2008

Michael W. Hash, convicted in 2001 of the 1996 murder of a 74-year-old Lignum woman, is taking his request for a new trial to the Virginia Supreme Court.

According to Culpeper County Circuit Court records, court appointed Richmond-based attorney David Hargett filed the appeal on Hash’s behalf July 7.

The move comes after recently retired Circuit Court Judge John R. Cullen denied in June a motion to set aside Hash’s conviction on a capital murder charge.

Thelma Scroggins was found shot to death in her home on July 14, 1996. Church members discovered the crime when they went to her house to check on her after Scroggins, a musician at the church, didn’t show up for services.

“We we’re a little surprised by Judge Cullen’s ruling,” Hargett said Friday afternoon. “The court ruled in our favor that the attorneys were deficient in their performance.”

According to Hargett, the key issue is the testimony of Paul Carter, who after cooperating with authorities, had federal prison sentence reduced.

“He was let out of prison and he testified that he had no expectation of any benefit because he was serving a federal sentence, which is just completely untrue,” Hargett said.

“He had written dozens of letters knowing that he was doing everything to help himself. He said all these things before he testified at the Culpeper trial. Not only does it change the fact that he knew he had a benefit, it also shows that he committed flat-out perjury,” Hargett said.

Hash, now 27, and two others, Jason Kloby and Eric Weakley, were arrested in connection with the case in 2000.

In 2001, Weakley pleaded guilty to a second degree murder charge, while a jury acquitted Kloby.

Hargett said each step of the appeals process can take several weeks or longer and that the case may not be fully resolved until early next year.

Nate Delesline III can be reached at 825-0771 ext. 110 or .