The conflict between Virginia Beach judges and Commonwealth’s Attorney Harvey Bryant continues to provide fodder for the Virginian Pilot. Today’s article centered around Bryant’s little black book.
Included in the book are “what he [Bryant] thinks are questionable decisions by several of the city’s judges.” The judges are not identified by name but the Pilot was able to match names with the incidents listed in the book by reviewing the records of the court clerk.
The real source of the disagreement between the judges and Bryant is the understanding of what the law allows.
Many of the cases Bryant cited were instances in which the judges reduced or dismissed charges after taking cases under advisement for months.
Bryant does not believe that the statute gives the judges such discretion. State Senator Ken Stolle disagrees:
Stolle said, however, that he thinks judges are within their rights to issue deferred findings, even in DUI cases. The practice, he said, should be used sparingly.
Legislation to change the amount of discretion judges are allowed has routinely failed to gain support in the General Assembly, Stolle said.
Bryant admits that the Commonwealth Attorney’s office routinely exercises discretion in determining which charges to prosecute but says that “such discretion is within the statutory authority granted prosecutors.”
A few things come to mind here. First, it appears to me that this is the local version of those who believe in a strict interpretation of the US Constitution. I abhor such an interpretation. Secondly, I’m no fan of sentencing guidelines in a lot of cases, especially ones where the guidelines have the tendency to be unfair – such as the ones for crack cocaine versus powder cocaine. Finally, if the judges are acting outside of their statutory authority – and I don’t believe they are – the legislature is the proper place to handle such things.
One final note: I do not condone the changing of the blood alcohol certificates, as alleged in the black book. If someone blows a .24, the record should properly indicate that.
VIVIAN J. PAIGE | All Politics is Local 