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 [...]

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Calling the exoneration of Thomas Haynesworth a “wake up call” for many in Virginia, state Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli sounded a note of caution Tuesday about prosecutors who fail to balance mercy with the desire to punish. He also called for a rewrite of the state’s actual innocence statute.
Haynesworth – who otherwise had no criminal [...]

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While the General Assembly considers stripping some law enforcement revenue from local governments, the battle over speeding ticket revenue came to a head in a Hopewell courtroom Thursday.
City prosecutor Rick Newman moved to turn all the city’s local speeding charges into state charges, denying the city about $2 million in annual revenue. A judge rejected [...]

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Culpeper County Commonwealth’s Attorney Gary Close has announced he is resigning in the wake of harsh criticism from a federal judge of his handling of a capital murder case against a teenaged suspect.
U.S. District Judge James C. Turk criticized both Close and police detectives who prepared the case against Michael Wayne Hash, who was 15 [...]

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A police officer is talking to a criminal defendant when the defendant offers some information and asks about a plea deal. The officer calls the commonwealth’s attorney’s office and asks if he can talk to the defendant about some horse trading.
The request should set off ethical alarm bells for the prosecutor who takes that call, [...]

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A lawyer in the Spotsylvania County commonwealth’s attorney’s office is charged with driving under the influence after being involved in a three-vehicle accident.
The Free Lance-Star reports Amy Marie Harper, 38, of Fredericksburg has been suspended by boss Bill Neely, the Spotsylvania County commonwealth’s attorney, after the Friday night accident. Harper also was charged with following [...]

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A veteran prosecutor may have to run for re-election as a write-in candidate after a judge rejected his bid for a court order to get his name on the ballot Thursday.
Richmond County Circuit Judge Harry Taliaferro dissolved his temporary injunction and allowed the county registrar to report the names of qualified candidates to the State [...]

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Update: (9/8/11, 3:50 p.m.) Judge Harry Taliaferro has upheld the local electoral board’s decision invalidating Wayne Emery’s petition. According to the Northern Neck News, Emery plans to file further injunctions immediately.
A 16-year Virginia prosecutor could be unseated this year because his election paperwork was found to be defective after the registration deadline passed.
Richmond County [...]

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Prince William County Commonwealth’s Attorney Paul Ebert denies he violated the law or the Rules of Professional Conduct in the capital murder prosecution of Justin Wolfe.
Wolfe was convicted of arranging the murder of a drug dealer, but his case now is subject to habeas corpus review based on a July opinion from U.S. [...]

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Virginia House Majority Leader Bill Janis, R-Glen Allen, is said to be planning a run as an independent for Henrico County commonwealth’s attorney in the wake of the Republican Party’s public rejection of its nominated candidate.
WWBT references several sources who say Janis will run.
GOP leaders have called on Matt Geary to quit the race in [...]

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