COURT OF APPEALS OF VIRGINIA 

Present: Chief Judge Moon, Judge Coleman and Senior Judge Cole 

Argued at Richmond, Virginia 

THOMAS ROWE HOPE 

 MEMORANDUM OPINION* BY 

v. Record No. 1340-96-2 CHIEF JUDGE NORMAN K. MOON 

 APRIL 22, 1997 

COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA 

FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE CITY OF RICHMOND 

James B. Wilkinson, Judge 

 Patricia P. Nagel, Assistant Public Defender 

(David J. Johnson, Public Defender, on 

brief), for appellant. 

 John K. Byrum, Jr., Assistant Attorney 

General (James S. Gilmore, III, Attorney 

General, on brief), for appellee. 

 Thomas Rowe Hope appeals his conviction of unlawful wounding 

in violation of Code § 18.2-51. Hope argues that the evidence 

was insufficient to sustain his conviction. We disagree and 

affirm. 

 In December, 1995, Hope was a temporary resident in the 

apartment of Michael Foster to whom Hope paid fifty dollars a 

week in rent. As of December 22, 1995, Hope was in arrears more 

than one hundred dollars. On that day, Foster returned home at 

approximately 5:30 p.m. from a Christmas party where he had 

consumed three or four beers. Hope arrived approximately one 

hour later after having spent the day drinking with some friends. 

 Hope's and Foster's testimony conflicts substantially as to the 

 

 *Pursuant to Code § 17-116.010 this opinion is not 

designated for publication. 
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events that occurred during the remainder of the evening. 

 According to Foster, he quarreled with Hope about the rent 

that Hope owed him before Hope lay down on the floor and fell 

asleep. Foster testified that at 8:30 or 9:00 p.m., Hope 

received a telephone call after which he and Foster again argued 

about the rent. Foster initially informed Hope that Hope would 

have to leave the next day, but Foster then changed his mind and 

ordered Hope to leave that evening. Hope refused to leave and 

Foster pushed Hope, causing him to fall backwards through a 

partition separating the living room from the bedroom. 

 Foster testified that he then began searching for his 

cellular phone, but, unable to find it, he decided to open the 

front door and to order Hope to leave. Foster had trouble with 

the lock, turned around, and "met" Hope who was armed with a 

knife. Hope and Foster struggled, and Foster was stabbed four to 

five times in the stomach and side and once across the arm. 

Foster eventually succeeded in disarming Hope, at which point he 

realized that the bleeding from his arm was severe. Foster told 

Hope that he believed he was "bleeding to death" and asked him to 

call 911. Hope did so and undertook first aid measures until the 

police arrived. Upon their arrival, they discovered Hope and 

Foster covered in blood and Hope administering first aid to 

Foster, who was lying approximately six to seven feet from the 

apartment's front door. 

 Hope offered a substantially different scenario. Hope 

testified that after he returned to Foster's apartment on 
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December 22, 1995, the two did not argue about the rent, but 

instead, Hope stated that he informed Foster that he was having 

trouble finding work. They then discussed Hope's plans for 

relocating to quarters at the Salvation Army. Hope testified 

that after making a few calls he sat on the couch with Foster, 

whereupon Foster requested that Hope return his apartment key. 

Foster acted hostile and according to Hope, unsuccessfully 

attempted to pick a fight with Hope. Hope then went to sleep on 

the floor. 

 Hope awoke to discover Foster kicking him and telling him to 

"get up." As he attempted to get up, Foster grabbed him and 

hurled him through a partition into the bedroom. Hope stated 

that Foster then threatened to kill him and that Foster then ran 

out of the room and disappeared around a corner. Hope testified, 

and Foster confirmed, that on a separate occasion several weeks 

earlier, Foster had threatened a mutual friend with a knife in 

Foster's apartment and that the friend had fled. Hope stated 

that he feared Foster might also attack him with a knife and 

consequently, he ran to the kitchen and grabbed a knife out of 

the cutting block. Hope testified that he then looked for 

Foster, in order to make sure that Foster did not sneak up on 

him. Unable to locate him, Hope headed to the apartment door 

with the intent of leaving, but found Foster blocking his exit. 

According to Hope, Foster then charged him and a struggle ensued 

during which Foster was stabbed several times. 

 Hope testified that Foster stated "Tommy, I'm cut" and at 
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that point, he realized that "[Foster] was the friend [he] had 

always known, he was changed." According to Hope, the two then 

ceased their struggle, and Hope called 911 and then administered 

first aid. Hope stated that he dragged Foster to the area near 

the front door, "because it was a wide open space there." 

 Subsequently, Hope was charged with feloniously, unlawfully, 

and maliciously causing bodily injury to Foster in violation of 

Code § 18.2-51 which provides: 

 If any person maliciously shoot, stab, cut, 

or wound any person or by any means cause him 

bodily injury, with the intent to maim, 

disfigure, disable, or kill, he shall, except 

for where it is otherwise provided, be guilty 

of a Class 3 felony. If such act be done 

unlawfully but not maliciously, with the 

intent of the aforesaid, the offender shall 

be guilty of a Class 6 felony. 

The jury found Hope guilty of the lesser included offense of 

unlawful wounding, which requires that the Commonwealth prove 

that Hope acted with the intent to maim, disfigure, disable, or 

kill, but without malice. See Miller v. Commonwealth, 5 Va. App. 

22, 25, 359 S.E.2d 841, 843 (1987). 

 On appeal, we review the evidence in the light most 

favorable to the Commonwealth, granting to it all reasonable 

inferences fairly deducible therefrom. Higginbotham v. 

Commonwealth, 216 Va. 349, 352, 218 S.E.2d 534, 537 (1975). 

Here, the record establishes that Hope armed himself with a knife 

and went looking for Foster. Upon finding Foster, Hope 

approached him and whether with the intent of fleeing or 

maliciously harming him, Hope repeatedly stabbed Foster, who was 
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unarmed. 

 Such actions do not constitute self-defense. "A person only 

has the privilege to exercise reasonable force to repel an 

assault." Foote v. Commonwealth, 11 Va. App. 61, 68, 396 S.E.2d 

851, 856 (1990). Further, the amount of force used must be 

reasonable in relation to the threatened harm and cannot, except 

for extreme cases, do serious bodily harm or endanger human life. 

Id. Holding that the evidence, viewed in the light most 

favorable to the Commonwealth, was sufficient to sustain Hope's 

conviction for unlawful wounding, we affirm. 

 Affirmed.