The VLW Blog

Gloucester County Commonwealth’s Attorney Bob Hicks issued a formal apology today to four current or former county supervisors who have sued him for libel.
Hicks also announced that he will not seek reelection to a post that he has held for 17 years. He had run as an independent in earlier races but unsuccessfully sought [...]

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Prince William County Commonwealth’s Attorney Paul Ebert and an assistant came in for scathing criticism Tuesday as a Norfolk federal judge overturned the death sentence of a man convicted in a 2002 drug-related killing.
U.S. District Judge Raymond A. Jackson accused Ebert and assistant Richard Conway of “stifling” a search for truth by supporting the use [...]

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Winchester lawyer Paul H. Thomson, a former commonwealth’s attorney, pleaded guilty Monday to five criminal charges, most involving efforts to hide his relationship with a man who supplied him with cocaine.
Thomson, 56, signed a plea deal Sunday that calls for three years in prison and a $5,000 restitution payment, apparently a client’s fee refund. A [...]

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Jim Fisher has been appointed Fauquier County Commonwealth’s Attorney by the judges of the 20th Judicial Circuit, effective July 1.
Fisher, currently the chief deputy attorney in Loudoun County, will serve the balance of a term that ends Dec. 31. He has filed papers to be on the ballot this November for a full four-year [...]

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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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