University of Virginia Library

Greenfield Convicted Of Murder

was a juvenile, Juvenile Court
Judge Ralph P. Zehler asked
news media not to use
Greenfield's name anymore in
subsequent stories. Most media
ignored the request, however,
since Greenfield's identity had
been released statewide.

A motion by Gerald F.
Tremblay, Greenfield's lawyer,
to suppress the statement given
by Greenfield to Mr. Duke was
overruled. Mr. Tremblay
argued that a confession by a
juvenile is admissible only if
taken in the presence of a
friendly adult.

On June 6, Judge Coles also
denied a motion for a change
of venue for the trial. Mr.
Tremblay maintained that
Greenfield could not receive a
fair trial in Charlottesville
because of the case's publicity,
which had made it
"sensational." He told Judge
Coles that he would not be able
to find a jury which would not
have been affected by the
publicity.

After an unusually large
number of potential jurors
were dismissed the final jury
chosen included no one who
knew anything of the
confession or who said they
would have to see some
evidence to be convinced that
Greenfield was innocent.

The most unusual turn of
events came on the last day of
the trial, when Mr. Tremblay
asked Judge Coles to allow
psychiatrist Kenneth R. Locke
to hypnotize Greenfield on the
witness stand in order that he
could remember the incident's
details more clearly. Mr.
Tremblay also asked Judge
Coles to allow Dr. Locke to
relate additional details that
Greenfield had told Dr. Locke
under hypnosis.
Judge Coles denied both
motions.

Dr. Locke hypnotized
Greenfield during a recess to
enable Greenfield to remember
more details through a
post-hypnotic suggestion.
Judge Coles afterward warned
Mr. Tremblay that the
hypnosis was "highly irregular"
but did not formally censure
him.

On the stand, Greenfield
testified that he could not
remember stabbing Miss
Jordan, but that when he saw
her lying beside the car, his
feeling was "that I must have
freaked out on drugs and killed
her." He added that his
statements later to the police
officers were based on that
feeling, and that he did not
admit killing her, but said "I
must have killed her."

He testified that he had
taken psilocybin and heroin
earlier in the day, but both
were weak, and he was not
severely under their influence
at the time of the slaying.

Dr. Locke told the jury that
he had concluded from
Greenfield's statements under
hypnosis that Greenfield had
reached for the car door to get
out, and then fallen to the
ground, becoming unconscious
at the time of the slaying. He
also said that Greenfield had
recalled seeing someone larger
than he who wore a similar
jacket say "hey" and run
through the parking lot.

Dr. Locke said that from his
study of Greenfield, he
believed it highly unlikely that
he was lying in saying that he
was unconscious during the
slaying. But, the psychiatrist
said, Greenfield may have been
"overwhelmed by some
psychosis, just for a moment,"
that was too deeply repressed
for hypnosis to bring out.

Dr. Locke made his
statements while the jury was
out of the court room.

Miss Jordan died at
University Hospital November
8, two hours after she was
found lying near her car in the
parking lot. She had been
stabbed some 15 times. She was
a student in the Education
School.