The VLW Blog

A special prosecutor concluded today that Chesterfield County police were justified in fatally shooting a lawyer after he fired at officers who had been called to his home.
The lawyer, Richard C. Ferris II, confronted officers twice from the garage of the home after an overnight standoff about 7:30 a.m. on Jan. 28, according to the [...]

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A bill to bring Virginia commonwealth’s attorneys and their assistants under the pension plan for police officers has died in a House subcommittee.
Virginia Beach Commonwealth’s Attorney Harvey Bryant requested House Bill 1594. While prosecutors don’t face the same risks as officers, he said, they do encounter stress and threats on the job. He also said [...]

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The Supreme Court of Virginia has provided a safe harbor for prosecutors to advise police about questioning a willing defendant even after a defense lawyer has been appointed.
It was a hot topic for Virginia prosecutors. A 2009 U.S. Supreme Court decision allowed police interrogation even after a right to counsel attached in some cases under [...]

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Virginia State Bar disciplinary charges against former York County assistant prosecutor Cathy Krinick have been dropped in the wake of dismissal of a companion case against commonwealth’s attorney Eileen Addison.
VSB Counsel Edward Davis confirmed the head of a three-judge panel has signed the order dismissing charges against Krinick, who is now in private practice in [...]

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A three-judge disciplinary panel Monday found no evidence of improper witness coaching against York County Commonwealth’s Attorney Eileen Addison. After hearing the case presented by Virginia State Bar lawyers, the panel dismissed misconduct charges that arose from a 1996 capital murder case, reports the Daily Press.
The ruling ends what had been scheduled as a three-day [...]

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Chief Justice Leroy Rountree Hassell Sr. says he will appoint a subcommittee of the Committee on District Courts to help develop a policy designed to save $3 million a year in court-appointed attorneys’ fees.
Commonwealth’s attorneys suggested the money could be saved if they adopted a general rule of not seeking jail time for misdemeanor offenses, [...]

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The Senate voted 23-17 today to drastically increase filing fees in general district and circuit courts to provide money for sheriffs and commonwealth’s attorneys.
Proponents of Senate Bill 329, patroned by Sen. Richard H. Stuart, R-Westmoreland, contend there is no other to generate about $50 million and save the jobs of about 1,400 deputy sheriffs.
Critics countered [...]

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Matt Geary, the No. 2 man in the office of Richmond Commonwealth’s Attorney Mike Herring, is resigning to return to private practice.
Geary was involved in a number of high profile murder cases, including the deaths of six people on his first day in the office in January 2006, but his major contribution to the office [...]

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Former Floyd County Commonwealth’s Attorney Gordon E. Hannett Jr. has agreed to pay $3,500 and to perform 100 hours of community service to avoid trial on charges of stealing the hard drives from computers in the prosecutor’s office.
The charges will be dropped if he performs by April 16.
As reported by the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Hannett never [...]

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Portsmouth Commonwealth’s Attorney Earle Mobley (left) got a public pat on the back Saturday from columnist Roger Chesley at The Virginian-Pilot.
The piece highlight’s Mobley’s unsolicited telephone call to lawyers in a high-profile murder trial underway in nearby Chesapeake.  In that case, special prosecutor Roger Ebert put a jailhouse snitch named Jamaal Skeeter (we couldn’t make [...]

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