OFFICE OF THE COMMONWEALTH’S ATTORNEY

for Rockbridge County & the City of Lexington

CHRISTOPHER BILLIAS MELISSA S.

MICHALSKI
Commonwealth’s Attorney Administrative Assistant
JARED L MOON VICTIM WITNESS
PROGRAM
Chief Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney HEATHER WOOD
MARY E. LESTER Victim Witness
Director
Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney MAVIS A. ENDERS
DENNIS W. AYERS Assistant Victim
Witness Director
Paralegal
February 26, 2018

Sheriff Chris Blalock

Rockbridge County Sheriff's Office
258 Greenhouse Rd.
Lexington, VA 24450

Re: Robert A. Morrison use of force investigation

Dear Sheriff Blalock,

After a thorough and exhaustive review of the evidence in the matter, I find the lethal use of
force on Robert A. Morrison by Rockbridge County Sheriff's Deputies on December 15, 2017
at the Cornerstone Bank clearly justified based on all the factors faced by the officers at the
time of the event as described more fully below.

At approximately 10:50 a.m. on Friday, December 15, 2017, Robert A. Morrison (hereafter
"Morrison"), date of birth 12/20/1959, walked into the Cornerstone Bank (hereafter "Bank")
on 744 North Lee Highway in Rockbridge County dressed in a lab jacket, surgical mask,
sunglasses, hat and gloves, holding a gun upright with the barrel turned towards the ceiling,
and announced "This is a robbery." Citizen witnesses who observed the actions of Morrison,
including employees and a customer sitting at the drive-thru who saw the robbery occur from
outside the building, were consistent in their retelling of the events that transpired. He walked
in and announced it was a robbery. He patted down the only customer in the bank and told
him "Sit down and don't be a hero." He then told tellers "If you want to be home with your
families for Christmas, you'll do what I say." Morrison told tellers that he wanted access to a
particular drawer, and was told they did not have access to that drawer. He then pointed his
gun at another employee and told her "I need access to her drawer." This was the drawer of
a teller that was robbed the previous time, which led the employees to believe that Morrison
was the same person who had robbed the bank a few months before. When told each
employee only had access to their own drawer, Morrison told the employees to take money
from the drawers they had access to, and this money was given to Morrison. After obtaining

20 South Randolph Street, Suite 301, Lexington, Virginia 24450 (540) 463-7337 (office) (540) 463-6628 (facsimile)
money from tellers, he exited the Bank and said "You can call the police now" which the
Bank employees promptly did. He walked in an easterly direction towards the back docks
and woods behind the stores immediately adjacent to the bank. However, he was not in a
hurry and had an obvious defect in his walk that witnesses thought may have prevented him

20 South Randolph Street, Suite 301, Lexington, Virginia 24450 (540) 463-7337 (office) (540) 463-6628 (facsimile)
 from moving quickly (It should be noted that his car was parked on the far side of the dock a
few hundred feet from the Bank, and this was recorded on video obtained from cameras in
the front parking lot of the shopping plaza).

Unbeknownst to Morrison, an off duty officer was pulling into Tractor Supply to shop when he
was alerted that there possibly was a robbery in progress at the Bank. The officer, Sgt. H.
David Hopkins, immediately ran over to the Bank, approximately 75 yards away, and arrived
at about the same time as Deputy James E. Smith, III, driving a marked Sheriff's Office
vehicle, who had been at the Sheriff's Office when the call came in minutes before. Close
behind them was Sgt. Michael O. Cash, the School Resource Officer for the High School,
who was similarly dispatched. These officers arrived on the scene as Morrison was behind
the buildings, and huddled over some money that he had dropped while walking away. What
happened next is not in dispute. Officers announced themselves as law enforcement clearly,
loudly and repeatedly. Two of the deputies were in their uniform, one driving a marked police
unit and one unmarked, and there could be no mistake as to their identity. Morrison was
ordered to stop and drop his weapon, which all witnesses described similarly as a revolver
type handgun. He failed to comply with the officer's orders, and proceeded to crouch and
take a firing position. While continually being ordered to drop his weapon and submit, he
ignored the orders and the officers took evasive action once he began raising his pistol.
Hopkins took cover behind some dumpsters behind the building, approximately 75 feet from
where Morrison was crouching, and Smith used his vehicle for cover. 1 When Morrison raised
the weapon to a firing position, both Deputy Hopkins and Smith opened fire. Hopkins, next to
the dumpster, fired twice from about 75 feet, and Smith, about 10 feet back and using his
vehicle for cover, fired once. According to the trajectory, entry wounds and autopsy report,
the shot fired by Hopkins hit center mass and was fatal. Morrision was hit a second time in
his right side buttocks as he fell with another round by Hopkins, and grazed on the top of his
head with the shot by Smith. Cash did not fire because Smith was between Morrison and
him.

Other officers arrived on scene soon enough to be able to hear the shots. Captain McFaddin
arrived and used his vehicle for cover just after the shots were fired. He took possession of
the weapon and put it on the floor of his vehicle for safekeeping. Lexington officers Captain
Riley and Lt. Frost arrived just behind McFaddin, and rendered emergency first aid. Other
officers came onto the scene to secure it and be sure there were no further threats. State
Police officers arrived in force with a CSI team to secure evidence and take over
responsibility for the shooting incident. The State Police did a thorough search of the area,
mapped it with the Leica scanner, and measured all distances accordingly. They obtained
videotape that was available, and interviewed witnesses. As you know, the Sheriff's Office
maintained responsibility for the robbery itself.

There were a few unusual aspects of this case that are of interest. First, between where
Morrison parked his car and the bank, a long and high dock extended that he would have
had to take steps up and jump down the other side if were to have effectuated his escape.
1
It should be noted that all three officers ordered Morrison to drop his weapon and follow their commands, and each
officer was interviewed separately just after the event in question so that the consistency of their retelling of events was
not given the benefit of hindsight and revisionism.

20 South Randolph Street, Suite 301, Lexington, Virginia 24450 (540) 463-7337 (office) (540) 463-6628 (facsimile)
He could have easily walked around the dock, which would have taken a few seconds longer
but face much less challenging terrain for an individual with an obvious limp and difficulty
moving fast. It was illogical for Morrison to walk in a direction that would have forced him to
scale the dock, and would have required him to jump down the other side. For someone who
otherwise apparently was very careful in his planning, this was a glaring error in strategy.
Second, again for all his planning and probable success in the first robbery, a quick scan via
Google Maps or just driving around the area would tell a potential robber that the County
Sheriff's Office was within 2 miles of the planned robbery, with a concomitant response time.
His curious admonition to the employees that they could call the police as he was leaving did
not give him much of a chance to succeed. There are numerous bank branches in
Rockbridge County that are much further from a Sheriff's Office or Police Department, where
a fast response time would likely be by chance rather than assured by proximity. It is also
important to bear in mind that Morrison was an experienced bank robber, have twice
previously been convicted of bank robbery, and after having served a ten year sentence for
his last.

Third, every witness, including non-law enforcement, indicated 3 shots were fired by officers.
We know Morrison did not fire his weapon, nor did Cash. The Special Agent who was in
charge of this investigation indicated that some time after this incident, a bank employee
produced an empty shell casing which came from a .45 caliber gun. This was not found at
the time of the incident despite a thorough search by a team of State Police Officers and
evidence techs. The site was secured and no one was allowed there besides law
enforcement. There was no problem identifying the three spent casings from the officer's
weapons at the time of the incident. So this empty casing is a mystery. There are a few
possibilities. It was reported that there were a number of interested parties that came to the
scene after the scene was cleared and the area returned to normal after the publicity
generated by local news stations. It was found well after the event by a Bank employee who
had been strongly affected by the case, and was in the habit of looking in the parking lot
where this occurred. When speaking about a possible cause of the spent casing, Deputy
Smith offered that earlier that day he had to shoot a wounded deer, and put the spent casing
on his floorboard, and he may have kicked it out when confronting Morrison in the highly
charged situation that he faced. I am very assured this is not a matter for further investigation
as there is no evidence whatsoever of another round being fired besides the three that were
accounted for consistent with the report of all witnesses, both civilian and law enforcement,
and the work of the evidence officers and investigators who did a highly commendable job in
putting the facts of this case together. This casing was not sent for ballistic evaluation as I
believe it would serve no purpose in this matter.

Last, upon initial inquiry in his criminal history, it appeared Morrison did not serve the 10 year
active sentence that was imposed in Charlottesville. Upon deeper inquiry, he in fact did serve
the full 10 year sentence, less the good time credit that amounts to usually about 15% off of
the full active sentence. The oddity is that he served years in local jail from the time of his
conviction, in 2009, to the time of his sentencing, in 2012. He did not enter the Department of
Corrections until December 5, 2012, and with continuous credit for the time served since his
arrest in April, 2008, he only had a little more than 4 years left to pull in DOC. He was
ultimately released on May 22, 2017. What may explain part of his actions the day in

20 South Randolph Street, Suite 301, Lexington, Virginia 24450 (540) 463-7337 (office) (540) 463-6628 (facsimile)
question is that he still had 30 years suspended time from his last robbery, and as a third
violent offense, my office would have indicted him and he would have faced a mandatory
minimum life sentence as a third violent felony offense under the three strikes program.
Morrison, an experienced felon, would well have understood that had he lived, he would
have spent the rest of his days in the Department of Corrections. Further, he had a
congenital heart condition, and mental health issues including major depressive disorder,
post-traumatic stress disorder, and recurrent episode with psychotic features. He was also
alcoholic, and his toxicology returned showing he had a .245 BAC, plus Diazepam and
Nordiazepam in his system at the time of the robbery. And despite having a large family, he
was denied a requested transfer to Boston, MA, because he did not have immediate family
there willing to take him in. Fourth, Morrison was using what turned out to be a starter pistol.
This will likely be a surprise to anyone who was a witness that day, and certainly surprised
the author of this report. I was called to the scene by the Virginia State Police, and while
there I had the opportunity to view the scene and took a look at the revolver on the floor of
Captain McFaddin's police vehicle. While I did not touch or manipulate it, from the side I was
certain it was a revolver with chambers, black with light brown handle as had been described
by all witnesses that saw it. I am certain beyond any doubt that the officers, standing at
closest 60 feet from Morrison, had no idea that it was a non-firing weapon. I am sure this will
also come as a surprise to the bank employees, who responded in every way due to the
threat that it was a firing weapon.

It was quite clear after my review that the shooting was justified, and there is no question
that the officers acted appropriately and reasonably under the circumstances faced by them.
We are fortunate to be served by these dedicated officers, and that no civilians or bystanders
were harmed during this unfortunate incident.

Thanking you for your consideration of the above, I remain,

Very truly yours,

Christopher Billias

cc: Michelle Trout, Clerk of Court

20 South Randolph Street, Suite 301, Lexington, Virginia 24450 (540) 463-7337 (office) (540) 463-6628 (facsimile)