The VLW Blog

Michael Hash of Culpeper, who spent nearly 12 years in prison before his capital murder conviction was overturned by a federal judge, has filed suit against the people who prosecuted him. Hash’s suit in Charlottesville federal court names five law enforcement officials and a jailhouse snitch. He claims the law enforcement officials, including former Culpeper [...]

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After 12 years as commonwealth’s attorney, Harvey Bryant says he will leave office at the end of next year when his term expires. Bryant tells The Virginian-Pilot he will support his second-in-command, Chief Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney Colin Stolle, in the election next year. Bryant, 66, said he decided this past fall that he would retire [...]

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Former Lancaster County Commonwealth’s Attorney C. Jeffers Schmidt Jr. is accused of destroying a public record last year as he ran unsuccessfully for re-election. Schmidt faces a misdemeanor charge in the case. Court records indicate he was arrested Nov. 6 and the Northern Neck News reports he was arraigned Wednesday in Lancaster County General District [...]

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Virginia voters decided three contested commonwealth’s attorney special elections yesterday, and all three were won by women. In two cases, male incumbents were defeated. Megan Revis Frederick defeated incumbent Paul Walther for the Culpeper County prosecutor’s job. Walther had worked in the commonwealth’s attorney’s office since 1994, reports The Free Lance-Star. The election was marked [...]

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A letter signed by 59 former judges, former prosecutors, lawyers and law professors asks the judge in the revived Justin Wolfe capital murder case to remove Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Ray Morrogh as special prosecutor. Defense lawyers for Wolfe claim Morrogh is too cozy with Prince William County Commonwealth’s Attorney Paul Ebert. They argue Ebert, [...]

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Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Ray Morrogh Monday moved to dismiss the murder charge against Michael Hash for the 1996 slaying of a Culpeper County woman. Hash’s capital murder conviction was overturned in February with a federal judge finding police and prosecutorial misconduct. Now, with a judge dismissing the murder charge, Hash is a “totally free [...]

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A 4th Circuit panel refused to disturb lower court findings that prosecutors denied due process rights for the Prince William County man accused of arranging the murder of a competing drug dealer. The three-judge panel Thursday affirmed the conclusions of U.S. District Judge Raymond Jackson who pointedly criticized Commonwealth’s Attorney Paul Ebert and his staff [...]

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Amelia County Commonwealth’s Attorney Lee Harrison was injured along with two others when a criminal defendant became violent at the Amelia County courthouse Thursday. Harrison came to the aid of a sheriff’s deputy who was attacked by an accused burglar, according to a news release from the county sheriff’s office. Harrison was taken to a [...]

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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 [...]

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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 [...]

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