Category: courts

John Ames’s defense attorney soliciting contributions for Harvey Latney

From Craig S. Cooley (PDF link below):

I write on behalf of our mutual friend, Harvey Latney, Jr..

As you are probably aware, a few months ago Harvey learned that his longtime trusted legal assistant had stolen funds from client accounts. These thefts occurred from an estate account, as well as his trust account, and his personal earnings. The assistant has been indicted but the disposition of the stolen funds is unknown and it appears she is unable to make any restitution.

Harvey’s malpractice insurance carrier denies coverage from theft. He will litigate that coverage question in Richmond Circuit Court, but even if he prevails, the insurance coverage is inadequate and this process is time consuming.

The client losses appear to be nearly $300,000.00. Harvey does not have the personal resources to repay these losses. Obviously, despite the fact the losses result from theft, he is ultimately responsible to his clients. Of course, he depends upon his continued professional practice for income and it now appears his ability to continue practicing law may depend on quickly repaying these client losses.

We have long known Harvey to be a man of honor and integrity and an underpaid but devoted public servant. He needs our help.

Therefore, I am asking that you consider a donation to assist in the immediate repayment of these client losses. Please send any amount you can afford, payable to “Craig S. Cooley, Trust Account” so that we can keep clear records of all contributions and document all payments made to Harvey’s clients. Please reference “Harvey Latney Client Restitution” on the memo of your check.

Thank you for your help. Please let me know of any other citizen or member of the Bar that I should contact for this purpose. With kindest personal regards, I am

Very truly yours,
[Signed]
Craig S. Cooley

This is the same Craig S. Cooley that represented John Ames in his first-degree murder trial. This is the same Craig Cooley that managed to secure bond for someone charged with first-degree murder. He managed to secure bond for someone that had previously been charged with attempting to run over a Virginia State Trooper! Charges that Latney nolle prossed! Why is it that Latney didn’t mind Ames being released on bond but both Donna Blanton and Thomas Monroe (both also charged with first-degree murder) were denied bond?

pdficon_smallPDF of letter (recipient’s name and address redacted).

Who does a convicted felon want as sheriff of Caroline County?

Why, Homer Johnson, of course. Or as Tom James has said, “[…] the only people who don’t like Sheriff Lippa are the criminals.”

A Ms. Ella Kay Pritchard wrote a letter in the September 5, 2007, edition of The Caroline Progress complaining about current Sheriff Tony Lippa and calling on voters to vote for Homer Johnson for sheriff in November. She even goes so far as to call Homer Johnson “[…] an honest & respectable member of our community”. Ha! Coming from a convicted felon! For even more humor consider Ms. Pritchard’s criminal history below:

  • Ella Kay Pritchard’s partial criminal history (felonies in bold):
    • May 24, 2005, Caroline County Circuit:
      • Revoked suspended sentence/probation – Show Cause.
    • April 6, 2005, Caroline County Circuit:
      • Guilty – Grand larceny.
      • Guilty – Capias.
    • December 17, 2004, Caroline County General District:
      • Guilty – Obstruction of justice.
    • November 5, 2004, Stafford County Circuit:
      • Guilty – Larceny third offense.
    • August 6, 2004, Spotsylvania County General District:
      • Guilty in absentia – Speeding 60/45.
    • January 20, 2004, Spotsylvania County General District:
      • Guilty – Following too closely.
    • November 25, 2003, Stafford County General District:
      • Prepaid – Speeding 74/55.
      • Prepaid – Safety belt violation.
    • April 17, 2002, Caroline County Circuit:
      • Guilty – Petit larceny.
    • October 23, 2001, Spotsylvania County General District:
      • Guilty in absentia – Speeding 71/55.
    • February 3, 2000, Stafford County General District:
      • Guilty – Bad check-$90.00
    • October 22, 1999, Spotsylvania County General District:
      • Guilty – Bad check-$31.22.
      • Guilty – Bad check-$70.54.
      • Guilty – Bad check-$3.30.
      • Guilty – Bad check-$19.76.
      • Guilty – Bad check-$67.72.
      • Guilty – Bad check-$78.00.
    • August 20, 1999, Hanover County General District:
      • Guilty – Driving suspended.

Kill a newborn? Get eighteen (18) months in jail.

From NBC 4 in Washington, D.C.: Woman Gets 18 Months In Newborn’s Death:

A Bethesda woman has been sentenced to 18 months in jail for killing her newborn baby last summer.

Ellen Griever, 22, was sentenced Wednesday on her guilty plea to a charge of child abuse resulting in death.

Griever brought the body of the full-term baby girl to Holy Cross Hospital in June 2006 and told workers there that the baby was stillborn. She later told police that the baby was born alive in the bathroom of her boyfriend’s house.

Prosecutors asked Montgomery County Circuit Judge Eric Johnson for a term of 12 to 20 years. The judge said he imposed the shorter sentence so she would go to the Montgomery County jail to receive some meaningful treatment.

More disturbing details from The Washington Post: Woman Gets 18 Months In Death of Newborn:

Yesterday, reality came into sharp focus for Griever, a former child-care worker, as a Montgomery County judge sentenced her to 18 months in jail for delivering a full-term baby girl into a toilet last summer and doing nothing to keep her alive as the newborn made “gurgling” noises and moved around.

[…]

Investigators called Griever’s behavior before the birth unfathomable and her calm demeanor afterward bewildering. She told detectives in videotaped interviews that she kept the pregnancy from her boyfriend, Joey Piemontese, because she was afraid he would leave her.

“She is not remorseful in those videotapes,” Assistant State’s Attorney Deborah W. Feinstein said. “She was not sad. It was chilling watching those videotapes.”

Prosecutors said in a sentencing memorandum that Griever was at Piemontese’s house June 25 last year when she delivered the baby on his toilet about 5 a.m.

Griever told detectives that the baby “like gurgled” for less than a minute, prosecutors said. According to the memorandum, when a detective asked why the baby stopped moving and making noises, Griever said, “I don’t know, unless it was choking on its own mucus or whatever.”

Her boyfriend came to the bathroom shortly after the delivery and helped Griever move to the shower, prosecutors said. She told detectives that she left the baby in the toilet most of the day before placing her in a plastic bag that night, they said.

Griever called Holy Cross Hospital that evening and spoke to someone who encouraged her to come in with the baby. Early the next morning, Griever placed the baby, in a bag, in the trunk of her boyfriend’s car.

Griever and Piemontese then drove to his father’s house, where Griever took a bath and the two watched the animated film “Finding Nemo” and “The Ellen DeGeneres Show.” The baby’s body was left in the trunk, prosecutors said.

That afternoon, Griever went to Holy Cross, where she told hospital workers that she hadn’t known she was pregnant and that the baby was stillborn. Medical examiners later determined that the baby’s head was in a position that prevented her from breathing and that she was asphyxiated.

Later, Griever told homicide detectives that a previous pregnancy had resulted in an abortion. “I was mostly worried, also, because I was like, I was afraid Joey would leave me,” she told detectives, according to the memorandum.

*Snicker* The poor woman…

From The Free Lance-Star: Theft case moves to feds to prosecute [emphasis mine]:

A Caroline County woman accused of stealing money from the private law firm of Caroline’s chief prosecutor is now under federal indictment.

Shelia [sic] Boone, 49, is charged with two federal counts of bank fraud and one of aggravated identity theft.

As a result of the federal charges, state embezzlement charges were dropped yesterday, said Richmond city prosecutor Sangeeta Darji.

Darji said the identity theft charge would carry a mandatory two-year minimum jail term if Boone is convicted.

Boone was a secretary for Harvey Latney, who is Caroline County’s commonwealth’s attorney and also runs a private law firm in Richmond. She is accused of stealing money–at least $271,000–from clients at Latney’s private law firm. She has charges in Caroline County.

Latney is not suspected of any wrongdoing. Boone no longer works for him, although she is still listed as his secretary on Caroline County’s government Web page. Boone is alleged to have forged Latney’s signature on checks to herself from an estate account.

The fraud was discovered when the commissioner of accounts, who oversees estates in escrow like this one was, did not receive reports from Latney on what was going on with the estate.

[…]

Boone’s federal court date has been set for Nov. 5 before Judge Henry Hudson.

I’m guessing the phrase “equal protection” doesn’t mean anything to you… Part 13, I’m getting sick of writing about this…

From the Richmond Times-Dispatch: ‘Rational basis’ for driver law at issue:

Was the General Assembly rational when it exempted residents of other states from Virginia’s new and controversial driver-fees statute?

Obvious jokes aside, both the lawyers and the judge homed in on that issue yesterday in the Richmond Circuit Court appeal case that challenges the constitutionality of the driver law.

Judge Walter Stout heard brief arguments from Commonwealth’s Attorney Michael N. Herring, who defended the law, and from lawyer N. Barton Chucker, who is representing a traffic-court defendant.

(Anyone know if Walter Stout is related to a Neil Stout of Stout, Billy, & Seli?)

The “civil remedial fees” statute is meant to generate revenue from dangerous drivers — people convicted in court of certain traffic violations ranging from drunken driving to manslaughter.

At least they’re honest, I wonder what the average speed of the legislators is on I-95. I sure hope it isn’t about 80 MPH…

Chucker argued that the law is unconstitutional on due-process grounds because it applies only to Virginia residents and exempts others who drive in the state.

But the law could pass constitutional muster if the assembly had a “rational basis” for deciding the fees would be imposed only on Virginia residents. Proponents of the law as written say the fees would be too difficult and costly to collect from people in other states.

Yesterday, Stout wondered: “Isn’t the cost of collecting from out-of-state drivers a rational basis for making the distinction [between Virginia residents and others]?”

If you’re an out-of-state driver and you fail to pay your fine (not fee) when found guilty, your license will be suspended by your state; how much does that cost?

He decided he will make his ruling later.

Herring said he shares some of Chucker’s concerns about the law. “As an officer of the court and commonwealth’s attorney, I think the statute as it stands is constitutional,” Herring said. “It could be improved.”

[…]

Chucker represents Joseph C. Fields, on whom the law would impose a $1,050 driver fee for his reckless-driving conviction in Richmond General District Court.

Judge Thomas O. Jones of Richmond General District Court convicted Fields on July 7 and fined him $100 plus court costs. Chucker appealed the automatic driver fee, which was to be paid in three equal annual installments.

At a hearing Aug. 3, Jones sided with Chucker when he ruled that the law is unconstitutional.

“For me, it’s an absolute no-brainer,” Jones said from the bench.

Apparently, not for everyone else.

Herring, noting that every commonwealth’s attorney is obligated to defend state laws in court, appealed the case.

It’s pretty ironic that he had to note that.

Bowling Green murder trial begins

From the Richmond Times-Dispatch: Bowling Green murder trial begins:

Jury selection continues this afternoon in the murder trial of a Caroline County man charged in the fatal workplace shooting of his boss.

Thomas E. Monroe, 67, is charged with first-degree murder in the Nov. 17 slaying of David Ganoe, a well-known county school-system maintenance supervisor. Ganoe, 51, also coached youth sports.

Attorneys in the case are expected to make opening statements later this afternoon.

Monroe is accused of shooting Ganoe in Ganoe’s office adjacent to Bowling Green Elementary School. Monroe had lost his job with the school system a day earlier, though school officials and investigators so far have declined to disclose the circumstances.

Monroe also is charged with assaulting Ganoe’s secretary, who witnessed the altercation.

He turned himself in to authorities shortly after the shooting.

Monroe faces a maximum penalty of life in prison if convicted of the murder charge. The trial is expected to continue through the week.

Update: Teenager Kills Sister, Attacks Toddler in Spotsylvania County

From the Richmond Times-Dispatch: Boy’s state of mind is at issue:

A teen charged with raping and killing his sister may have been under the influence of marijuana during or after the crime, his defense attorney suggested in court yesterday.

Also in court, the boy’s mother suggested her son is insane and needs help.

A judge granted a request by Walter L. Smith Jr.’s defense lawyer to take a blood sample from Smith, 16, charged in the Labor Day slaying of his sister Betsy Mary Smith, 22, to determine whether the boy had drugs in his system.

The teen’s lawyer, Kristie Kane, said the blood analysis could provide evidence that might help Smith’s case, though she would not say how. Spotsylvania County Commonwealth’s Attorney William F. Neely said the results, which also would show any medications the teen had taken, could affect how Smith’s statements to police are weighed in court.

Smith made an initial appearance yesterday in Spotsylvania Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court. Judge Joseph J. Ellis set a Nov. 27 hearing to determine whether the case would be transferred to Spotsylvania Circuit Court, where Smith would be tried as an adult.

[…]

Walter L. Smith Jr. is charged with first-degree murder and rape in the death of his sister. Prosecutors yesterday also upgraded to aggravated malicious wounding a charge involving Smith’s alleged beating of his 2-year-old niece, who remains hospitalized.

He faces a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted.

Prosecutors gave this account of what happened:

Smith attacked his sister with a sledgehammer and raped her Monday morning, in addition to hitting the toddler with the sledgehammer. The teen then locked the two victims and a 1-year-old relative in his sister’s bedroom in the dilapidated home along Brock Road in central Spotsylvania. The sister kept a padlock on the outside of her door.

At some point, relatives in the home asked about the two young children, and Smith let them out of the room and then locked it again. A relative took the girl to Mary Washington Hospital in Fredericksburg, where it was determined the child had a fractured skull.

A detective went to the home about 8 p.m. Smith’s father gained access to the bedroom and they found the sister dead inside. Neely said she is believed to have been dead about 20 hours by then.

Smith then tried to commit suicide by jumping off a roof, authorities said. He initially told investigators that he killed his sister because she injured the toddler, Neely said, but then he changed his account.

In court yesterday, the judge cited the “heinous” nature of the allegations in deciding that Smith should remain in juvenile detention.

Neely said he believes county social services officials had opened an investigation involving some household members before the slaying. The parents apparently were sleeping at the time and later thought the older sister was away, Neely said, adding he does not expect to bring charges against the parents.

What a freakin’ joke…

From the AP via NBC 4 in Washington, D.C.: Former Va. ACLU President Gets 7 Years For Downloading Child Porn [emphasis mine]:

A former president of the Virginia chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union has been sentenced to seven years in prison for downloading child pornography.

The prison term imposed on Charles Rust-Tierney, 52, of Arlington, is one year less than the minimum sentence suggested under federal sentencing guidelines. But it’s more than the five-year term requested by defense attorneys. Rust-Tierney also received 10 years of supervised release following his prison term.

U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III gave Rust-Tierney credit for what he said was “an otherwise exemplary life” that included decades of service as a public defender in the District of Columbia representing the mentally ill. Several dozen people wrote letters to Ellis on Rust-Tierney’s behalf, and more than 20 people attended Friday’s hearing in support of him.

[…]

According to court documents, Rust-Tierney started accessing child pornography online as early as June 2004. He used his home computer to access child pornography Web sites at least five times between March 2005 and October 2006. In a two-week period in January 2006, he accessed more than 850 digital images and videos of child pornography from one Web site. About 560 images and 137 videos of child pornography were found on computers and digital media taken from Rust-Tierney’s home.

Ellis said Friday that the pornography downloaded by Rust-Tierney “was of the most abhorrent kind,” including torture and sexual assaults on children as young as 6.

[…]

Prosecutor Edward McAndrew urged Ellis to impose an eight-year sentence, in line with federal sentencing guidelines. He suggested in court papers that many of Rust-Tierney’s supporters would be less likely to stand with him had they actually seen the type of pornography that Rust-Tierney was receiving.

“The children of this country are at maximum peril when their guardians exploit them,” McAndrew said.

More details from The Washington Post: Va.’s Ex-ACLU Chief Gets 7 Years for Child Porn [again, emphasis mine]:

A former Arlington County youth sports coach and civil rights lawyer who once headed Virginia’s American Civil Liberties Union chapter was sentenced today to seven years in federal prison for buying child pornography that prosecutors labeled sadistic and masochistic.

Charles Rust-Tierney, 51, pleaded guilty in June to downloading hundreds of pornographic images of children as young as 4. Authorities said Rust-Tierney used a computer in his 11-year-old son’s bedroom to view the files, which included a six-minute video that depicted sexual torture of children, set to a song by the rock band Nine Inch Nails.

[…]

Authorities said Rust-Tierney used his home computer to purchase Internet access to commercial child pornography Web sites at least five times between March 2005 and October 2006, spending about $420. During one two-week span, he accessed more than 850 digital image and video files of child pornography on one site. Many of these files showed children under the age of 12 being forced to engage in sexual acts with adult males, authorities said.

Rust-Tierney has been in jail since his arrest.

A federal magistrate who declined to release him in March described the images she viewed as “the most perverted and nauseating and sickening type of child pornography” she had seen in 10 years on the bench.

Ellis also refused to release Rust-Tierney, saying he posed “a serious risk of harm to the community.” The judge added that “the term ‘child pornography’ does not convey the depravity” of the images that were downloaded.

Yet, more details, from WUSA 9 in Washington, D.C.: Youth Coach In Court On Child Porn Charges [again, emphasis mine]:

They say Rust-Tierney had video showing, among other things, the sexual torture of infants and toddlers. The judge said she’d never heard of child pornography that vile and said because of that, Rust-Tierney would stay behind bars until his trial.

And finally, from Bill O’Reilly (whom I can’t stand to watch or listen to): A Journalistic Cover-up [again, emphasis mine]:

Tierney apparently told the feds that he paid for the child porn using a Paypal account and then downloaded images of prepubescent girls being violently raped onto CD-Rom disks, which the authorities seized in his home.

One of the images Tierney was in possession of showed a little girl tied up and screaming while being violently raped.

Nothing illegal here. Move along, move along… Part 4

From the AP via WUSA 9 in Washington, D.C.: Priest Pleads Not Guilty To 13 Fraud, Money Laundering Counts:

A Roman Catholic priest accused of stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from two Louisa County churches pleaded not guilty to federal fraud and money laundering charges Thursday.

The Rev. Rodney L. Rodis waived his right to a jury trial. U.S. District Judge Richard Williams will hear the case beginning Oct. 25. The trial is expected to last three days.

Rodis, 51, faces eight counts of mail fraud, two counts of wire fraud and three counts of money laundering. Twelve of the counts are punishable by up to 20 years in prison, one by up to 10 years.

According to federal prosecutors, Rodis embezzled money from Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Bumpass and St. Jude Church in Mineral from 2002 until last year. He allegedly wired at least $515,231 of the money to his native Philippines.

[…]

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Richmond has said Rodis embezzled more than $600,000 from the churches, where he was pastor from 1993 until he retired in May 2006 because of health problems.

[…]

Rodis originally was charged in state court with 13 embezzlement counts. The Louisa County prosecutor dropped those charges after Rodis was indicted last month by a federal grand jury.

After being charged in state court, Rodis was released on $25,000 bond. That bond was revoked in May after Rodis violated his conditions of release by flying to Detroit to visit a sick child. He remains in custody in the Northern Neck Regional Jail in Warsaw.

Justice in Caroline? Nope, just nolle prosequis. Part 5, apparently it’s okay to assault law enforcement officers.

From The Free Lance-Star (August 23, 2007): Police briefs:

A man who was to be arraigned and tried for a felony assault and battery of a Caroline County sheriff’s deputy yesterday ended up with two months in jail, which he had already served.

John Lamont Walton repeated the words “thank you” over and over after finding out that Commonwealth’s Attorney Harvey Latney would reduce his charges to a misdemeanor assault if he’d plead guilty.

The judge ordered him to serve six months in jail, four suspended with credit for time served and to pay his court costs. Walton had already served two months in jail.

The deputy he was charged with assaulting, J.K. Miller didn’t testify.

  • John Lamont Walton’s partial criminal history (felonies in bold, nolle prosequi by Harvey Latney in italics):
    • August 22, 2007, Caroline County Circuit:
      • Guilty – Assault and battery [knock back from felony assault on a law enforcement officer].
    • June 8, 2007, Caroline County General District:
      • Nolle prosequi – Assault on law enforcement officer.
      • Nolle prosequi – Obstruction of justice.
      • Nolle prosequi – Disorderly conduct.
      • Nolle prosequi – Spitting in public place.
      • Nolle prosequi – Spitting in public place.
    • June 2, 2006, Caroline County General District:
      • Guilty – Assault and battery.
    • December 5, 2003, Caroline County General District:
      • Guilty – Petit larceny.
      • Guilty – Driving on suspended license.
      • Guilty – Reckless driving.