What began as an unsettling encounter in an Ivy-area residence has grown into one of the more confounding criminal cases Albemarle County Circuit Court has seen in recent memory.
At the center of it all is Brian Andrew Starnes, a 33-year-old man with no fixed address, a Tennessee drawl and — at least briefly — a backpack laden with stolen groceries.
"This is a complicated case," prosecutor Susan Baumgartner said Tuesday, as the case was delayed for at least the fourth time.
The complications started around 6:13 p.m. on July 18, 2024. That’s when western Albemarle County resident Julie Montross came home to find a shirtless and tattooed man in her kitchen, drinking something. Startled by Montross’ arrival, the man fled out the back door and headed west on Ivy Road.
Police officer Michael Arcoraci responded, and as he walked through the house with Montross, she confirmed that several items were out of place. A bottle of Belvedere vodka had been removed from a bar cart. A container of half-and-half was on the counter. There was a frying pan full of soapy water in the sink, and grated parmesan cheese had spilled near the stove.
The house had clearly been lived in, if only for a while, by someone uninvited and hungry.
Police canvassed the area and located Starnes at Knoll Ridge Drive. He told Arcoraci that since June he had been walking from Tennessee and was headed for the mountains. He said he entered the house through an unlocked door.
Starnes, who wears the inked image of a gun on the right side of his neck, confessed. He said he’d retrieved some ground beef from Montross’ freezer, fried it on the stove, layered it with shredded cheese and microwaved it. He admitted to drinking the vodka and half-and-half and said he also helped himself to three bananas.
Behind the nearby All Saints Anglican Church, police found Starnes’ backpack. Inside were two packages of Perdue roasted chicken, four cans of StarKist tuna, a package of Sargento Swiss cheese and $12.72 in cash. Also nearby: a partially consumed bottle of Crown Royal peach-flavored whisky, a container for leftovers and a fork — all belonging to Montross. The total value of what was consumed or taken: $141.72.
Charged with felony breaking and entering with intent to commit larceny, Starnes prepared for a guilty plea and an expected release from Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail, where he has been held since his arrest. But what might have been a speedy resolution has instead stretched across more than a year in Albemarle County courts, bogged down by competing visions of justice and uncertainty over what to do with a man with no permanent address.
On March 10, Baumgartner, an assistant commonwealth’s attorney in the county, told a judge that Starnes’ plea agreement was mostly about securing a felony conviction because the proposed six-month sentence, already served during pretrial detention, would free Starnes upon the court’s acceptance of the deal. The judge asked him where he would go.
"I like sightseeing," Starnes remarked with a grin.
The judge, Richard Moore, did not like that.
"You smile for most of this proceeding," said Moore. "Is this funny to you?"
The judge went on to express concern about Starnes’ nomadic lifestyle, noting no plan for permanent housing
"He’s going to be somebody else’s problem," said Moore. "It’s like get him out of our hair and get him in someone else’s hair."
Moore compared the situation to a fired employee passed along to a new employer with his troubling past covered up by a nondisclosure agreement.
"How do we know what he’s doing after this?" Moore asked. "He’s itinerant."
Moore expressed worry for the next place Starnes might wander even if quitting Charlottesville were part of the deal.
"It clearly serves the ends of justice for this community, but not for the commonwealth," said Moore. "He might go to Roanoke or Big Stone Gap."
When the court reconvened a month later, Montross took the stand to describe the impact the incursion had on her family, particularly on her 6-year-old daughter, still struggling with fears and attending therapy sessions.
"It was deeply traumatic," she said. "It shook us to our core."
At that April 15 hearing Montross thanked the judge for refusing to approve the month-earlier plea deal.
"You sent a message that this kind of behavior will not be passed along to the next town or the next family," she said.
This time appearing more contrite than jovial, Starnes maintained that he never intended to harm anyone as he sought shelter.
"I was cold and wet," he told the court. "I was looking for a place to stay."
The judge was unmoved.
"Lots of people are cold and wet and don’t go in someone’s house," Moore said.
The judge said he was shocked to learn that Virginia’s voluntary sentencing guidelines didn’t call for any active jail time.
"The guidelines in my view are preposterous," said Moore. "The idea that a house is your castle is centuries old; that’s why we have laws against burglary."
Citing unease over Starnes’ homelessness and the severity of the intrusion, Moore ultimately rejected the plea agreement.
The case came back to court once again on Tuesday — nearly a full year after the initial crime — but again there was no resolution. Baumgartner and defense attorney Hayley Setear, of the Public Defender’s Office, jointly asked for a continuance to finalize a plea deal that might include a firmer post-release plan.
The once-wavy hair of Starnes was now closely cropped. Judge Cheryl Higgins, now presiding, listened as Baumgartner called his case complicated.
"We’re trying to ensure a plan that doesn’t tie him to a place where he doesn’t have support," Baumgartner said.
The case is scheduled to return on July 29, when the court may finally determine whether Starnes is simply a drifter in need of help — or a threat that should not be passed along.
Source: www.dailyprogress.com