The VLW Blog

A Fairfax County prosecutor received a public admonition yesterday from a Virginia State Bar three-judge discipline panel for allegedly withholding evidence about prosecution witnesses.

As The Washington Post reports, the judges rejected license suspension for Fairfax County Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Mark Sullivan, but admonished him for allowing two co-defendants to testify they were not offered any deals for fingering another man.

In fact, evidence showed Sullivan had agreed to reduce one charge and advise the sentencing judge about the pair’s cooperation.

Evidence of Sullivan’s silence about the deal resulted in a new trial for a man convicted in a 2009 robbery and abduction.

A dispute over public access to evidence in a criminal file must be resolved by the Supreme Court of Virginia, a Court of Appeals panel decided in a split decision.

A newspaper reporter is challenging the decision of a Newport News judge to block access to certain evidence in a criminal case. Two members of a three-judge Court of Appeals panel decided that, because the appeal does not concern the actual criminal conviction, it belongs at the Supreme Court.

Judge Larry G. Elder dissented on that point – he said the Court of Appeals had jurisdiction to consider the case. His opinion goes on to argue that the circuit judge failed to articulate sufficient grounds to deny access to the disputed evidence.

In the underlying case, parents of two children were convicted of second-degree murder in the death of a daughter and felony child neglect of both children.

By Peter Vieth

His election to a Richmond judgeship might have been rejected by the House of Delegates, but Tracy Thorne-Begland could get an interim appointment from the city’s circuit judges.

As the Richmond Times-Dispatch reports, the six circuit judges in Richmond have the authority to make an interim appointment for the funded-but-unfilled vacancy on the general district bench. Richmond legislators who supported Thorne-Begland in the General Assembly have not wavered in their endorsements, the paper says.

Any person selected by the circuit judges would serve only until the next General Assembly session unless the Assembly elected that person for a full term as judge.

Del. Manoli Loupassi tells the paper he thinks the outcome of the House vote might be different if Thorne-Begland were up for election again. Other sources suggest conservatives would mount a coordinated campaign to again deny him a judgeship.

Thorne-Begland’s bid for a judgeship has become an issue in the U.S. Senate campaign in Virginia, as The Washington Post reports. Del. Bob Marshall, one of the Senate candidates, led the opposition to Thorne-Begland on the House floor in Richmond.

Certain unnamed Virginia Beach circuit judges are so lenient on drunken driving defendants, lawyers will jockey their cases to try to get those judges, according to an article by WAVY-TV.

Commonwealth’s Attorney Harvey Bryant tells the station certain judges hand out little or no jail time for drunken or drugged drivers.

A member of Mothers Against Drunk Driving says she and others are monitoring the court to try to keep track of repeat offenders who get off lightly.

Virginia Beach charges more drunken driving offenses than any other Virginia locality, and 20 percent are repeat offenders.

Three lawyers in Virginia have been tapped as Fellows of the American College of Trial Lawyers.

According to Charlottesville lawyer Thomas E. Albro, Virginia state chair, the college recently inducted these individuals:

• Claire Cardwell, Richmond

• William E. Glover, Fredericksburg

• John E. Lichtenstein, Roanoke

Albro noted that an invitation to be a Fellow is extended only to trial lawyers who have mastered the art of advocacy and whose professional careers have been marked by the highest standards of ethical conduct, professionalism, civility and collegiality.

Lawyers must have a minimum of 15 years of trial experience before they can be considered for fellowship. Membership in the college cannot exceed 1 percent of the total lawyer population of a state.

The Virginia Association of Women Judges recently awarded its annual $500 scholarship to Dildora Rakhmatullaeva, a graduating high school senior who wrote an essay about the benefits of women’s full participation in the legislative and judicial branches of government.

For her essay to be considered, Rakhmatullaeva was required to interview at least one woman judge and one female member of Virginia’s General Assembly.

Rakhmatullaeva, a senior at T.C. Williams High School in Alexandria, plans to attend Marymount University next year; she is interested in International Business.

The VAWJ presented the scholarship at the Virginia State Capitol at a May 5 luncheon which brought together sitting and retired judges from across the Commonwealth to celebrate with the family of the scholarship winner.

According to Portsmouth General District Judge Roxie Holder, president of the VAWJ, the scholarship is designed not only to provide financial assistance but also to increase awareness of the functions of, and women’s contributions to, the legislative and judicial branches of the government. The VAWJ is a chapter of the National Association of Women Judges and includes female judges on Virginia’s state and federal benches

Sen. J. Chapman Petersen, D-Fairfax, who had been mentioned as a possible gubernatorial candidate in 2013, took himself out of the running late yesterday.

In a lengthy post on Facebook, he explained his reasons.

He said he had been getting many inquiries, which he did not discourage.

But “[t]o run for public office, a lot of pieces must be in place: family, financial, professional and spiritual. A candidate must also have a vision which is congruent with the moment…. Timing is everything,” he said.

“2013 is not my time,” he said.

“I’m very blessed right now to have a growing family, a busy law practice and a seat in the Virginia Senate,” he added. “Those obligations, plus additional ones with church and community, will take up my time for the next two years.”

A candidate for statewide office must “24/7 at least a year prior. I can’t make that commitment right now. I can’t even make it in the next 2-3 months,” he said.

Even though he won’t be in the race, Petersen said that he wants to be engaged. “ I have a lot of ideas, both substantive and political, which I’d like to offer” the eventual Democratic nominee, he said, thanking everyone who had encouraged him to run.

- Paul Fletcher

Court-appointed lawyers could face disappointment on fees for some cases next month. The money for fee cap waivers is running out again.

The budget for the fiscal year that ends in June included $4.2 million for extra pay for court-appointed lawyers in time-consuming cases. The Supreme Court had processed $3.7 million for waiver payments as of May 8, according to a memo from the court. There was just $343,730 in the account as of Thursday, reported Executive Secretary Karl R. Hade.

At the current rate of payment, the waiver money will run out in early June, Hade said. Once that fund is exhausted, vouchers submitted with court-approved waiver payments will be automatically reduced to the basic fee, without the waiver amount.

The waiver drought would last only until July 1, the start of the new fiscal year.

In a similar scenario, the fee cap money ran out in mid-April in 2010.

NORFOLK — Virginia Supreme Court Chief Justice Cynthia D. Kinser shone a light on court staff in her 2012 State of the Judiciary address delivered May 15 in Norfolk.

The chief justice opened Virginia’s annual Judicial Conference with a summation of achievements and milestones during the past year.

Virginia’s 4,500 judicial branch employees handle over 4 million court proceedings annually, Kinser said. She celebrated funding for 34 judicial vacancies this year, as well as money for 61 new district court clerk jobs and 10 new foreign language interpreters.

The additional positions will bring staffing levels in all district courts to 80 percent of model staffing guidelines. But pay still lags, Kinser said, when comparing the average district court employee salary to the average salary of other state employees.

She lauded funding of the weighted case load study and said the court has contracted with the National Center of State Courts to begin gathering information from Virginia courts, with a deadline of Nov. 15, 2013, to deliver a report to the General Assembly.

Under a 2011 grant from the State Justice Institute, the court has set up a mentoring program for new judges, and has trained 52 experienced judges to team up with new judges, one-on-one, for each new judge’s first year of service on the bench.

In-house training programs are in place at multiple levels of the judiciary branch, with 18 court employees having participated in a three-day “faculty development program” to give them the skills to design and deliver training. Kinser also reported that dissemination of “best practices” through a number of juvenile and domestic relations courts has led to a 32 percent statewide decrease in the number of children placed in foster care during the past six years.

Kinser’s expressions of gratitude to court personnel echoed throughout the conference, as numerous presenters thanked staff from the Office of the Executive Secretary for their hard work, not only to support the annual conference, but year-round. The OES celebrates its 60th anniversary this year, Kinser said.
–Deborah Elkins

Tazewell County Circuit Judge Teresa M. Chafin was elected to the Court of Appeals of Virginia in an early morning General Assembly session that left confusion and controversy about other judicial appointments.

It appeared that the Assembly elected Fredericksburg lawyer Wesley G. Marshall to the Virginia Workers’ Compensation Commission, but the action could not be immediately confirmed.

In a widely reported vote, the House of Delegates denied a judgeship for an openly gay prosecutor after a 1 a.m. debate.

Tracy Thorne-Begland, Richmond deputy commonwealth’s attorney, had been nominated for a general district court seat. His election was challenged by a conservative advocacy group and by Del. Bob Marshall, R-Prince William County.

The House vote on Thorne-Begland’s bid for the bench was 33 to 31, with 10 abstentions, reports The Washington Post. He would need 51 votes in the 100-member House to win election.

The 31 nay votes all came from Republicans, reports the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

Thorne-Begland, a Richmond prosecutor for 12 years, had been approved for the judgeship by both the House and Senate courts committees.

The House debate over his nomination lasted for over an hour, reported Sen. John Edwards, D-Roanoke. “The fireworks didn’t really start until after midnight,” he said.

Two former delegates were elected to judgeships. Clifford “Clay” Athey, R-Warren County, was approved for a circuit court seat, and Clarence “Bud” Phillips, D-Dickenson County, was elected to a general district judgeship. Both retired last year from the House.

Montgomery County Commonwealth’s Attorney Brad Finch was elected to a juvenile and domestic relations judgeship, replacing Marc Long who moves to the circuit court bench.

We will continue updating this post throughout the day as information becomes available.

By Peter Vieth with additional reporting by Deborah Elkins

UPDATE:

Arlington attorney Louise M. DiMatteo was elected to the circuit court bench in Arlington, according to Del. David Albo, R-Springfield. Four funded judgeships were left unfilled, he said, apparently because of disagreement between the House and Senate. Online legislative information shows conflicts in judicial nominees in both Hopewell and Halifax County.

Marshall confirms he was elected to the Workers’ Compensation Commission. He said he looks forward to helping that panel reduce a “fairly significant case backlog.” Marshall has represented injured workers and other accident victims since 1991.

From the minutes of the House and Senate, now posted online, here are the judges elected early Tuesday morning:

Circuit Court

• Ninth Judicial Circuit: Michael E. McGinty
• Twelfth Judicial Circuit: Steven C. McCallum
• Thirteenth Judicial Circuit: Gregory L. Rupe
• Fourteenth Judicial Circuit: Richard S. Wallerstein, Jr.
• Sixteenth Judicial Circuit: Susan L. Whitlock
• Seventeenth Judicial Circuit: Daniel S. Fiore, II
• Seventeenth Judicial Circuit: Louise M. DiMatteo
• Twenty-second Judicial Circuit: Stacey Moreau
• Twenty-sixth Judicial Circuit: Clifford L. Athey, Jr.
• Twenty-seventh Judicial Circuit: Marcus H. Long, Jr.
• Twenty-eighth Judicial Circuit: Sage B. Johnson

General District Court

• First Judicial District: Michael R. Katchmark
• Second Judicial District: Daniel R. Lahne
• Sixth Judicial District: Bruce A. Clark, Jr.
• Eleventh Judicial District: Mayo K. Gravatt
• Twentieth Judicial District: Deborah C. Welsh
• Twenty-fourth Judicial District: Sam D. Eggleston
• Twenty-eighth Judicial District: V. Blake McKinney
• Thirtieth Judicial District: Clarence E. Phillips
• Thirty-first Judicial District: Tracy C. Hudson
• Thirty-first Judicial District: William E. Jarvis
• Twenty-fifth Judicial District: William Chapman Goodwin

Juvenile & Domestic Relations Court

• Second Judicial District: Tanya Bullock
• Ninth Judicial District: Wade A. Bowie
• Ninth Judicial District: Cressondra B. Conyers
• Twelfth Judicial District: J. David Rigler
• Fourteenth Judicial District: Rondelle D. Herman
• Fourteenth Judicial District: Randall G. Johnson, Jr.
• Sixteenth Judicial District: Richard E. Moore
• Twenty-second Judicial District: Brian H. Turpin
• Twenty-seventh Judicial District: Bradley W. Finch
• Twenty-seventh Judicial District: Monica Dawn Cox
• Twenty-eighth Judicial District: Deanis L. Simmons
• Twenty-fourth Judicial District: H. Cary Payne