2 Robbers Wed, Part for a Stretch

In an unusual ceremony in Van Nuys Superior Court, two men who had just been sentenced to lengthy prison terms for robbery and rape were wed to their fiancees Tuesday by the same judge who imposed the sentences.

The men, Randy Lamont Fleming, 20, and Everette Eugene Walker, 18, both of Los Angeles, were accused of attacking customers and employees at two San Fernando Valley restaurants in December, 1984, and January, 1985.

The two pleaded guilty in May to counts of armed robbery and sexual assault.

As part of the plea bargain, however, the men asked that they be allowed to marry before being shipped off to state prison.

Judge Darlene E. Schempp said she was reluctant to perform the marriage ceremony because she wanted the sentencing date to be “memorable” to the two, but for reasons other than their weddings.

2 Abbreviated Ceremonies

Rather than force the case to trial, Schempp performed two abbreviated civil ceremonies in her courtroom minutes after sentencing Fleming to 30 years in prison and Walker to 29 years.

The two men, dressed in street clothes, were permitted to stand next to their brides but were forbidden to touch or kiss them. Fleming married Patrice Wilmore, 22, of Los Angeles, and Walker married Carol Denise Bluee, 20, also of Los Angeles.

The women, both dressed in cotton print dresses, said they went forward with the marriages because they love the men and want to make conjugal visits in prison.

Although it is not unusual for inmates to marry civilians, several attorneys said it is rare for the sentencing and marriage to be performed by the same jurist.

The two men robbed several people inside Reuben’s Restaurant in North Hollywood on Dec. 31, 1984, and raped a waitress there, according to Deputy Dist. Atty. Michelle R. Rosenblatt.

They also robbed customers and employees at JoJo’s Mexican Restaurant in Tarzana on Jan. 14, 1985, and Fleming raped one woman there, Rosenblatt said.