Tag: joe platania

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Charges dropped for mask-wearing protesters at KKK rally

Many protesters at the July KKK rally covered their faces after police used tear gas. photo Eze Amos

Three people charged with wearing a mask at the July 8 KKK rally in Justice Park were in Charlottesville General District Court today, where the prosecution dismissed their felony charges because tear gas used by police could have been a factor in why they covered their faces.

Diego Trujillo, from Charlottesville, Sarah Barner from Waynesboro and Naomi Bendersky from Montgomery Village, Maryland, each were charged with the Class 6 felony that can carry up to five years in jail.

Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Nina Antony told the judge Virginia code prohibits masks worn with the intent to conceal the identity of the wearer. She said police officers saw the three walking toward them. “Fearing an escalation, they arrested these individuals,” she said, adding that the officers had “ample probable cause.”

After the 40 or so Klan members left the July rally, police declared an unlawful assembly, ordered everyone to leave and then fired tear gas into the crowd of those still on High Street, which was closed.

“The use of tear gas beforehand” could have been a reason they covered their faces, acknowledged Antony. “The commonwealth does not have proof beyond a reasonable doubt these individuals were trying to conceal their identities.”

Judge Bob Downer, who has had all the KKK and the August 12 Unite the Right arrests go through his court, commended the prosecution for dropping the charges. “I think it’s well-founded and appropriate” to use discretion in such cases.

The defendants declined to comment after the hearing.

Attorney Jeff Fogel, who represented Bendersky, complimented new Commonwealth’s Attorney Joe Platania, whom Fogel challenged last year in the June Democratic primary, for deciding to nolle prosequi the charges.

However, “I don’t think they should have been arrested,” he said. “They were arrested because they didn’t follow orders. The tear gas should never have been used.”

Bendersky “took out a T-shirt and put it over her face” when the tear gas was fired, he said. “To be arrested for trying to protect yourself?”

Bendersky’s family is from the Soviet Union, and Fogel says they fled because her father was a dissident. She’s 18 and just started at VCU. “This was her first demonstration,” he said.

The law originally was written to prevent KKK members from marching masked in public, but Fogel said the people who tend to get arrested under the statute usually aren’t Klansmen.

“I think it’s written wrong,” said Fogel of the mask-wearing law. Rather than citing intent to conceal one’s identity, he said it should target “intent to intimidate.”

Another case from the KKK rally was continued to January 19. Jordan Romeo from Roanoke is charged with assaulting an officer, a felony, disorderly conduct and misdemeanor assault, the latter complaint brought by frequent City Council critic John Heyden.

 

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Split decision: Shooter gets bond, alleged assailant doesn’t

KKK imperial wizard Richard Wilson Preston is charged with firing a gun August 12. ACLU video

 

Two ponytailed Unite the Right participants represented by the same Blairs, Virginia-based lawyer had different fates in their January 4 bond hearings in Charlottesville Circuit Court.

Judge Humes Franklin granted 52-year-old Baltimore resident Richard Preston, an imperial wizard of the Confederate White Knights of the KKK who was filmed firing a gun during the August 12 Unite the Right rally, a $50,000 cash bond with the instruction to not leave the state, possess a firearm or “engage in any assemblies, if you will.”

Defense attorney Elmer Woodard called on Billy Snuffer Sr., the imperial wizard of the Rebel Brigade Knights of the True Invisible Empire, who testified he had a “trailer down on the farm” in Martinsville, where he would allow Preston to live pending his three-day trial in May.

Snuffer, who told the judge he owns Snuffer’s Auto Repair in Buchanan, offered to give Preston a job while out on bond, but it is unclear whether the judge will allow Preston to leave the trailer for matters other than court and to meet with his attorney, who also represents several other white nationalists, including “Crying Nazi” Chris Cantwell.

In a separate hearing on the same day, Jacob Goodwin, a 22-year-old from Arkansas who allegedly participated in the Market Street Parking Garage beatdown of DeAndre Harris, was denied his shot at getting out of jail.

Goodwin, wearing all-black clothing, black goggles, a helmet and carrying a shield on August 12, can be identified in widely circulated videos of the attack, but Woodard told the judge his client was simply walking to his car in the garage when he encountered two groups of people “exercising their First Amendment rights with great vigor,” and unintentionally became involved in the scuffle.

“I was walking and DeAndre Harris come sprinting at me,” Goodwin testified. “He come at me, kind of bounced off my shield and I kicked him.”

On a small scrap of paper, Woodard offered to the judge an address apparently near Richmond where a friend identified by the prosecution as Eric Davis had invited Goodwin to live, if granted bond.

When Franklin asked how long Goodwin had known the Central Virginia resident, the Arkansas man first said four months, but quickly changed his answer to about a year. No one could determine whether Goodwin’s friend, whom he said he met at a “political meeting” in Kentucky and roomed with in hotels, lived in a house or apartment near Richmond, or whether he has a criminal record.

As Franklin was in the process of denying the request for bond, Matthew Heimbach—a co-founder of the Traditionalist Worker Party and Holocaust denier often considered to be the face of a new generation of white nationalists—approached the defense and whispered for several seconds before a deputy ordered him to sit down.

“Apparently someone in the courtroom has the answer to your questions,” interjected Woodard, but the ruling had already been made, Heimbach had already retaken his seat next to Unite the Right organizer Jason Kessler and Franklin said he was done with that hearing for the day.

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August 12 shooter and Market Street Garage attackers go to grand jury

Imperial wizard Billy Snuffer came to court to support fellow Klansman Richard Preston, accused of firing a gun at Emancipation Park August 12. Daryl Davis has made it a mission to meet KKKers to find out why they hate him for the color of his skin. Eze Amos

Three out-of-towners who were charged following the August 12 Unite the Right rally were in court December 14 for preliminary hearings, where a judge determined there was probable cause to seek grand jury indictments.

Baltimore resident and Confederate White Knights of the KKK imperial wizard Richard Preston, 52, is charged with shooting a firearm within 1,000 feet of a school. Alex Michael Ramos, 34, from Jackson, Georgia, is charged with felonious assault, and Jacob Scott Goodwin, 23, from Ward, Arkansas, is charged with malicious wounding, both in the Market Street Garage beating of Deandre Harris.

The three men were in court the same day as the hearing for James Fields, the man accused of killing Heather Heyer when he drove into a crowd. The judge ordered increased security in the courtroom, and he warned that anyone making noise would be removed.

Fellow KKKers, including Billy Snuffer, imperial wizard of the Rebel Brigade Knights of the True Invisible Empire, showed up in support of Preston.

Preston’s attorney, Elmer Woodard, also represents Goodwin and “Crying Nazi” Chris Cantwell. The Danville attorney, known for his showmanship in his appearances here, was corrected twice on the pronunciation of the name of Commonwealth’s Attorney-elect Joe Platania.

Platania called one witness, attorney and former mayor Frank Buck, who was near the corner of Market and Second streets when the rally was declared an unlawful assembly and whites-righters streamed out of Emancipation Park.

Buck testified he saw Preston point his gun at Corey Long, who made a flamethrower from an aerosol can. “I heard the gun discharge,” he said, and he saw a puff in the mulch near Long’s feet.

ACLU video

He followed Preston at a distance, and then filed a complaint with a magistrate. “He fired a handgun in the midst of people,” said Buck. “That struck me as an unlawful discharge.”

Woodard, who brought an aerosol can that he shook in court, asked Buck why he didn’t file a complaint against Long.

At that point, Judge Bob Downer interrupted the attorney. “All we’re here for today is to determine whether a firearm was unlawfully fired within 1,000 feet of a school. You seem to quibble about the distance of the flamethrower.”

Widely circulated video shows Preston firing a Ruger SR9 in the direction of Long, who was subpoenaed by Woodard but did not appear in court.

Woodard produced four witnesses who testified Preston saved them from the flamethrower. “There was nowhere to go and I was getting ready to be burned alive,” said Glasgow resident Scott Woods.

Another witness was testifying to the proficiency of Preston’s shooting when Downer interrupted again and reminded the lawyer that the preliminary hearing was only to determine probable cause that Preston fired his gun in the vicinity of Park School.

Despite Woodard’s argument that Preston’s firing was justifiable, that he kept people from being burned and was a “hero,” Downer certified the charge to the grand jury, which indicted him December 18.

Jacob Goodwin, Alex Michael Ramos and Richard Preston were in court December 14 for August 12-related charges. Charlottesville police

Detective Declan Hickey described on the stand his investigation into the beating of Harris, and the identification of some of the men who allegedly took part in that, including Goodwin and Ramos.

Goodwin was arrested October 11, and Hickey pointed him out in a video wearing all black and carrying a shield. Goodwin’s attorney painted a picture of self-defense and said Harris “ran at this man. He had to defend himself.”

Woodard asked the detective why he didn’t arrest another man in the video, who was wearing a brimmed hat and whom Woodard dubbed “Boonie Hat.”

“What’s appalling,” he said, “is that the commonwealth didn’t know Boonie Hat existed.”

He had Goodwin stand up, and the lawyer kneed him in the buttocks, apparently to demonstrate the extent of Goodwin’s involvement, contending, “That’s not malicious wounding.”

Ramos’ attorney, Jake Joyce, argued his client’s involvement in the beating did not rise to malicious wounding. “It might be assault and battery,” he said.

Downer did not buy those arguments, and said under the standard of probable cause, there was enough evidence to certify the charges to the grand jury, which met December 18 and handed down indictments for the two men. As for Boonie Hat, the judge said he hoped police find him.

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KKK support group: Gun-firer and alleged Harris attackers remain in jail

KKK imperial wizard Richard Wilson Preston is charged with firing a gun August 12. ACLU video

A judge was unswayed hearing testimony from a man who first said he was threatened by the thrower of a C-VILLE Weekly box at the August 12 Unite the Right rally and who then fired his pistol to defend a man who was the target of a homemade flamethrower.

Richard Preston photo Charlottesville police

Baltimore resident Richard Wilson Preston Jr., 52, imperial wizard of the Confederate White Knights of the KKK, appeared in Charlottesville General District Court October 12 seeking bond. He was arrested August 26 for discharging a weapon within 1,000 feet of a school after video circulated of him firing the gun at the rally.

Preston was represented by Elmer Woodard, who is also the attorney for other white nationalists arrested in conjunction with the August 12 weekend and were in court October 13—Identity Evropa’s Nathan Damigo, Richard Spencer’s National Policy Institute cohort Evan McLaren and JonPaul Struys—as well as Chris Cantwell, aka the “Crying Nazi.”

Originally scheduled for a preliminary hearing, Preston first asked that it be continued, and then changed his mind the Saturday before, according to Woodard. The prosecution objected because Preston’s change of heart came about October 7 on a holiday weekend.

“You can’t have it both ways if you ask for a continuance,” said Judge Bob Downer, who rejected going forward with the preliminary hearing.

Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Joe Platania also said he was not prepared for a bond hearing, but Downer agreed to hear testimony at the end of the day from the half dozen Preston Klan supporters who came to vouch that he’d show up in court if released.

Wearing a striped jail jumpsuit and ponytail, Preston told the judge that initially he’d been threatened with a C-VILLE Weekly box and pulled his pistol in that encounter, but the box was tossed in a different direction. Beside him, a man clad in black wearing shorts and a mask had what Preston described as a nail-spiked stick. “He said he was going to kill me,” said Preston. “I pulled my pistol back up and said if he tried that, I’d fucking shoot him.”

Attorney Elmer Woodard had white nationalist clients in court October 12 and 13. Photo Natalie Jacobsen

Preston’s gun is registered in Baltimore. “There’s no restriction on marching around this beautiful city with a firearm,” said Woodard.

Scott “Woodsy” Woods from Glasgow, Virginia, testified he’d been hit with pepper spray August 12 when a second threat emerged. “I’m right here getting attacked by this guy with a flamethrower,” he said. “I saw this guy flick this thing three times. Then he sprayed it in my face. I felt the heat.”

Said Woods, “Someone fired a shot.” And that’s when the threat stopped, he said.

Culpeper resident Corey Long, 23, identified as the man in the iconic flamethrower photo, turned himself in October 13 and was charged with disorderly conduct and in another August 12 incident, assault. He was released on an unsecured bond.

Woods said he’d been Facebook friends with Preston for about five years, and has met him “two or three times,” the last occasion at a June cookout in Martinsville.

Billy Wayne Snuffer Sr., the imperial wizard of the Rebel Brigade Knights of the True Invisible Empire, which had a gathering in Martinsville in June, came from Buchanan and testified he was prepared to put up $2,500—10 percent of a $25,000 bond, the amount Woodard suggested.

According to Vice, Snuffer was connected to another KKKer—Chris Barker, who organized the July 8 rally in Charlottesville. Snuffer expelled Barker in 2015 for defacing a synagogue in Danville.

Woodard said if released, Preston had friends who would house him in Virginia. “They’ll drag him up here,” he assured the judge. And while Preston didn’t object to electronic monitoring, because his friends live in rural areas, it might not work, said his lawyer.

Downer said it was not the flight risk that worried him. “I do think he’s a danger to others,” he said. That Preston would fire a gun in a crowd of people there to exercise their First Amendment rights, Downer said, was “totally and completely reckless.”

Two other men arrested for felonious assault for the beating of Deandre Harris in the Market Street Garage August 12 also had hearings.

Daniel Borden Photo Charlottesville police

Daniel Borden, the 18-year-old from Mason, Ohio, looked surprised on the video feed from Albemarle Charlottesville Regional Jail when he learned that his lawyer, Mike Hallahan, was not able to be in court that day and his hearing would be continued to December 14. Borden shook his head.

And Alex Michael Ramos, 33, from Jackson, Georgia, who was denied bond September 25, again was rebuffed because of his lack of ties in this area and the “very violent encounter” with Harris, said prosecutor Nina Antony.

Ramos, she said, was not part of the original gang beating Harris, but came from across the street to join in and punch Harris, who was on the ground.

Once again, Downer expressed his concerns about “someone who strikes someone, who kicks someone when they’re down.”

Alex Ramos from wanted poster

And Ramos’ non-resident status was another factor. “I’ve had oodles of experience with out-of-state defendants voluntarily coming back,” said Downer, in denying bond.

Ramos, too, will be back in court December 14.

Earlier that day, Harris, 20, turned himself in on a charge of unlawful wounding after League of the South member Harold Ray Crews alleged Harris assaulted him. Harris was released on an unsecured bond.

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Progressive setback? Laufer, Hill, Platania move on; Fenwick, Fogel out

Heather Hill and Amy Laufer are the Dem nominees for City Council, and Joe Platania is most likely the new commonwealth's attorney. Submitted photos

The heavily watched June 13 primary in Virginia offered several surprises, most notably record-setting Democratic turnout and Corey Stewart’s near upset of Ed Gillespie in the GOP gubernatorial race. Conversely, hometown favorite Tom Perriello’s race against Ralph Northam for governor was expected to be much closer than Northam’s 12-point win.

And in city Democratic primary races, challengers Amy Laufer and Heather Hill handily unseated incumbent Bob Fenwick, and Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney candidate Joe Platania blew out progressive, Equity and Progress in Charlottesville-endorsed opponent Jeff Fogel.

The energized progressive element of the Democratic party fielded House Minority Leader David Toscano’s first primary challenger, UVA instructor Ross Mittiga, in the 57th District in a dozen years.

And yet when the dust settled, establishment Dems were still firmly entrenched, and the upset threat came in the Republican Party, with former Trump Virginia campaign manager Stewart nearly toppling expected shoo-in Ed Gillespie in the GOP governor’s race.

‘It was certainly the closest of the races and the biggest surprise of the night,” says UVA’s Center for Politics analyst Geoffrey Skelley. Gillespie, who nearly unseated Senator Mark Warner in 2014 and was expected to be the GOP standard bearer, squeaked by Stewart with slightly more than a point.

Stewart’s message was “‘I was Trump before Trump,’” says Skelley. “It’s hard to dismiss his play to cultural conservatives and attaching himself to the Confederate monument issue.” Stewart made several visits to Charlottesville over City Council’s vote to remove the statue of Robert E. Lee. “He got his name out there,” says Skelley.

On the other hand, Dem turnout could be unsettling for Republicans in the fall. “The Democrats were clearly animated,” observes Skelley. “They had record-setting turnout for a non-presidential primary.”

While it’s not surprising that Perriello claimed 80 percent of the votes in Charlottesville, in the state’s major metropolitan areas, he trailed Northam by 15 points in Northern Virginia, and even more in Richmond. And in Northam’s home base of the Hampton Roads area, Northam led by 40 percent, says Skelley.

In Charlottesville, many predicted Laufer’s victory and saw it as a battle between Fenwick, who was endorsed by EPIC, and Hill. Laufer took a hefty 46 percent of the vote, while Hill picked up 34 percent and Fenwick nabbed a meager 20 percent.

“First of all, [Fenwick] was wildly outspent and arguably out-worked,” says former mayor Dave Norris, an EPIC founder who is no longer on its board.

“My sense is among the general population, there’s a lot of frustration with what is going on in the city and a lot of them took it out on Bob,” adds Norris.

EPIC also endorsed civil rights lawyer Jeff Fogel for commonwealth’s attorney. Fogel garnered 32 percent of the vote, but Norris doesn’t see that as a resounding defeat.

“Jeff played an important role in bringing attention to systemic racial inequity in the criminal justice system and the failure of the war on drugs,” says Norris. “His presence forced his opponent to take bolder positions.”

Unknown is what factor Fogel’s June 2 arrest for assault, stemming from a confrontation at Miller’s with an associate of whites-righter Jason Kessler, played in the voting booth.

“My position is progressives did great,” says Fogel, who says he got far more votes than expected because of the surge in turnout.

With progressive candidates like Perriello, Mittiga and Fogel being shut out of Democratic nominations, what does that bode for the fall?

“I think the progressive candidates and the progressive community has its work cut out for it,” says Norris. “It’s going to take a lot of mobilizing, maybe smarter strategy and more resources to prevail.”

On City Council, he says, “I think this is the year [independent] Nikuyah Walker could pull off a victory,” although she faces an ever-growing pool of independent candidates, as well as Dem nominees Laufer and Hill, in the November election.

Far from being disheartened by progressive candidates’ lackluster showings, Norris says, “Everyone understands change takes time. It’s important to get people into the debate. We may not have won this election, but we certainly influenced the debate.”

And in other state primary races, Justin Fairfax took the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor, while state Senator Jill Vogel edged out state Senator Bryce Reeves in an acrimonious contest that included a defamation suit.

A Richmond Times-Dispatch editorial opined that Reeves was unsuitable for office after he criticized Vogel for supporting “the first openly gay judge in Virginia.”

Skelley is skeptical that the piece impacted Reeves, who took 40 percent of the primary vote, in a GOP contest where “Corey Stewart nearly won.” Says Skelley, “I don’t think gay bashing is going to hurt you in that situation.”

Correction June 15: Dave Norris said “smarter strategy,” not “harder strategy” would be needed for progressives. And Amy Laufer won with 46 percent of the vote.

Updated June 19 with Fogel comment.

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Style and turnout: Platania and Fogel present their cases

Either Joe Platania or Jeff Fogel will likely be commonwealth’s attorney-elect after the June 13 primary. Submitted photos

Come June 13, Charlottesville likely is going to have a new commonwealth’s attorney, given the unlikelihood a Republican candidate will emerge for the general election in November.

That person will be either Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Joe Platania, who seemingly has the backing of the city’s Democratic machine, or Jeff Fogel, who has captured the support of new progressive groups. The winner will be decided by who can get voters to the polls in a non-presidential election.

Both talk a good criminal justice reform game.

“I don’t think we have a lot of significant differences,” says Platania, because each sees opportunities to look at reform, he says.

“I won’t prosecute marijuana cases,” says Fogel, who contends that’s a big difference. “Joe says no one should go to jail for marijuana. Ninety percent of people in this community say don’t prosecute marijuana.”

Platania has practiced law in Virginia for nearly 20 years, was one of the original attorneys hired in the Public Defender’s Office and has been a prosecutor since 2003.

Fogel started out as a criminal defense attorney in the Northeast, but switched to civil rights law because he says he felt he could make more of a difference in that area. He served as executive director of ACLU of New Jersey, and since he’s been in Charlottesville, has sued the city several times, including for its panhandling law and its stop-and-frisk records.

And he started his own rap sheet June 2 with his first arrest for misdemeanor assault in an encounter with white-rights provocateur Jason Kessler (see story on p. 10).

“We have different approaches to problem solving,” says Platania. “Jeff takes a more adversarial approach. I take a more relationship approach. It’s more who I am.”

He points to a mental health treatment court he’s working on with others. “I get together with people and say, ‘We’ve got a problem. How do you solve it?’”

Fogel has gotten endorsements from Equity and Progress in Charlottesville, which he helped found, Showing Up for Racial Justice and Together Cville, largely for his denunciation of the mass incarceration that disproportionately targets African-Americans.

“It is the new Jim Crow,” says Fogel. “I’ve been struck by the fact many white people don’t get the impact mass incarceration has on black communities.”

Platania, who was endorsed by his boss, Dave Chapman, notes that Fogel isn’t a prosecutor. “Some aspects you learn on the job,” he says. “It’s a skill set that comes with time. I’m a better prosecutor than I was 13 years ago.”

“I don’t see that as a problem,” rejoins Fogel. “I learned a lot about prosecuting cases from the civil work I do. There’s no reason a trial lawyer can’t step in and prosecute a case. Putting on a case for the commonwealth is no different than preparing a case for any other client.”

And, says Fogel, if he wins June 13, he’ll have six months to prepare.

Platania says if he’s elected, he wants to work on getting prosecutors out in neighborhoods more, and he’d like them to show up at the police department’s roll call, and provide training for officers.

“It’s back to relationships and collaboration,” he says. “We can learn from them, too.”

Former city commonwealth’s attorney Steve Deaton is pleased the candidates are progressive and have taken the death penalty off the table.

“They’re both good guys,” he says. “I think either one would be a good commonwealth’s attorney.”

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Less prosecution: Fogel announces run for commonwealth’s attorney

Jeff Fogel appears at the Free Speech Monument to announce his run for commonwealth’s attorney. Staff photo

Attorney Jeff Fogel has been in the thick of almost every civil rights action in the city during the past decade. He sued the city for its restrictions on panhandling. He’s sued Albemarle police on behalf of plaintiffs who say they were targeted by an officer because they were black. And he’s sued Charlottesville police under the Freedom of Information Act to release stop-and-frisk records.

Now on a platform of criminal justice reform, he’s seeking the Democratic nomination for Charlottesville commonwealth’s attorney, a seat currently occupied by Dave Chapman, who says he will not seek a seventh term.

“I do this out of great concern for the criminal justice system,” said Fogel at a January 26 press conference. “We’re sending too many people to jail. It’s costing us a fortune and we’ve got too many people of color in jail.”

Citing the “incredible discretion” of the top prosecutor’s office, Fogel pledged to try to keep nonviolent people who don’t prey on others out of jail, referring them to treatment or social services when possible. He vowed to not overcharge crimes that result in felonies to get a plea bargain when they could be misdemeanors.

He said he would not prosecute marijuana possession cases and he would scrutinize all cases brought by the Jefferson Area Drug Enforcement Task Force, especially those that used informants.

And he said he’d try to avoid charging anyone with an offense that carries a mandatory minimum sentence, taking aim at the war on drugs and the 1994 Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act that gave states money to build more prisons if they enacted mandatory minimum sentences. “We need to reinstitute parole,” he said.

The New York-born Fogel is a graduate of Rutgers Law School. After working for the public defender’s office and as a criminal lawyer, Fogel says he felt he could do more to impact the criminal justice system as a civil rights lawyer rather than defending one client at a time.

He’s served as the executive and legal director of the ACLU of New Jersey, the Center for Constitutional Rights legal director and taught at Rutgers and NYU law schools.

Fogel is a co-founder of a new political group, Equity and Progress in Charlottesville, that hopes to channel the enthusiasm from Senator Bernie Sanders’ run for president and work on income inequality and affordable housing.

“We’re a political organization but we’re not a political party,” said Fogel January 17 when the group debuted. It seems likely he’ll get EPIC’s endorsement.

Fogel is challenging Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Joe Platania, who has been endorsed by Chapman and seemingly much of the legal community, which turned out for his announcement in January.

“Lawyers don’t comprise that many people,” says Fogel, undeterred by Platania’s popularity with his peers. “Joe’s been here a long time. They know and like Joe, and he has a reputation as a very decent guy with a good heart. I’m not running against Joe as a personality.”

Says Platania, “Jeff has long been a tireless advocate for his clients in civil cases and I have a great deal of respect for him. I’m pleased to see that much of Jeff’s platform is already common practice locally at the Charlottesville Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office.”

The two will square off on the ballot in the June 13 Democratic primary.

FIVE FOGEL FACTS:

  • Successfully defended three prisoners charged with kidnapping in the New Jersey Rahway Prison riot in 1971, the same year as the Attica riot. 
  • Represented Rubin “Hurricane” Carter co-defendant John Artis, who spent 14 years in prison, in his second murder trial. 
  • Inspired to run for commonwealth’s attorney by Senator Jeff Sessions’ nomination as attorney general. 
  • Listed in C-VILLE’s 2015 Power Issue: “If power can be defined as the ability to give a voice to the voiceless, attorney Jeff Fogel would be yodeling at the top of the list.” 
  • Typically found on Monday nights speaking at City Council meetings.
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Chapman passes prosecutorial torch to Platania

Joe Platania, left, gets Dave Chapman's endorsement for city commonwealth's attorney. Staff photo

Charlottesville’s legal community turned out today for Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Joe Platania’s official announcement that he wants the job of his boss, Dave Chapman, who will not be seeking a seventh term.

Chapman introduced and endorsed Platania, whom he hired in the city prosecutor’s office in 2003. “It’s important to me who’s the next commonwealth’s attorney,” said Chapman, and that person should be able to “look on the face” of a lengthy murder trial and “not have knees knocking.”

The commonwealth’s attorney should be able to “walk down the mall without fear, even when you’re near people you’ve put in jail and who call you by your first name,” said Chapman.

Platania, who worked in the public defender’s office when he came to Charlottesville in 1999, stressed prosecutorial discretion. “This community demands more from its prosecutors than simply jailing those who commit crimes,” he said.

platania
Joe Platania. Staff photo

“I will strive to keep the community safe while prosecuting those who commit crimes fairly,” said Platania.

The position requires experience, integrity and innovation, along with a “common-sense perspective,” he added.

City Space was packed with Platania supporters, despite another big Dem event taking place 45 minutes later: Tom Perriello’s announcement he was running for the party’s nomination for governor. Among those present for Platania were former Albemarle commonwealth’s attorney Denise Lunsford, county clerk Jon Zug and city clerk Llezelle Dugger, city Sheriff James Brown, Mayor Mike Signer, Councilor Kathy Galvin and former city Republican chair Buddy Weber.

“I’m going to support Joe,” said Weber. “I think he’s the best and that’s why I’m here.”

 

 

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In brief: Screwdrivered, Uber option and more

And the next election cycle begins

platania
Joe Platania. Susan Parmar Photography

Charlottesville Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Joe Platania says he’ll seek his boss’ job in 2017. Commonwealth’s Attorney Dave Chapman plans to retire after 24 years as the city’s top prosecutor. And state Senator Bryce Reeves officially threw his hat into the lieutenant governor’s ring, vying with two other Republicans who want the nomination.

Screwdriver stabbing

City police say Keith Lamont Brooks, 40, stabbed a family member with a screwdriver December 3 at 4am in the 800 block of St. Charles Avenue and fled the scene before police arrived. He was arrested the following day without incident. Brooks’ rap sheet includes possession of cocaine, grand larceny, multiple probation violations and driving as a habitual offender.

Streak snapped

UVA men’s basketball’s 24 home game-winning streak ended December 3 when West Virginia’s Mountaineers cleaned house at JPJ with a 66-57 victory.

Rolling Stone rebuffs verdict

eramo-eze-amos
Nicole Eramo’s $3 million award is being challenged. Photo Eze Amos

The magazine filed motions December 5 asking a judge to overturn the jury’s $3 million award to UVA administrator Nicole Eramo, contending Eramo did not prove Rolling Stone and reporter Sabrina Erdely acted with actual malice in publishing “A Rape on Campus” in 2013.

Look out, Uber

HyperFocal: 0Ride-share competitor Lyft began offering rides and gig economy jobs December 1. New passengers using the code VALOVE got $5 off their first ride.

Don’t give money to strangers who call

The Albemarle Sheriff’s Office is NOT demanding immediate payment of fines for skipping jury duty and warns of a holiday scam.

Quiz: Real or fake?

toy guns_edit
Albemarle County Police

Safety first

Police officers in America killed at least 28 juveniles and adults carrying BB or pellet guns in 2015, in instances in which the officers did not realize the firearms were fake. In preparation for every parent’s inevitable Christmas shopping frenzy, the Albemarle County and Charlottesville police departments are preparing a program to inform families of the dangers of buying and using these faux firearms.

“We’re hoping to prevent a local tragedy,” says ACPD Crime Prevention Specialist Andrew Gluba, adding that there have been several instances locally in which law enforcement officers encountered toy gun-toting juveniles. “We’re not saying don’t let your kids play with these, we’re saying educate them if they do,” he says.

How to help:

  • Don’t buy toy guns (i.e. BB/pellet/airsoft).
  • Talk to your kids about the dangers of how their toy guns can be perceived.
  • Teach them to put the gun down immediately if confronted by police or someone else.

Answer key: 1. Fake 2. Fake 3. Fake 4. Fake 5. Fake 6. Fake 7. Fake. All guns pictured were confiscated locally.

Quote of the week

“This whole issue of matters by the public is a tempest in a teapot. Just ignore it. You’ve got far more important things to do.”

—John Pfaltz at the December 5 City Council meeting, where petitioners sought to throw out new comment procedures

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Bryan Silva pleads guilty, now under strict house arrest

After turning himself in for the violation, a representative from the Albemarle Charlottesville Regional Jail says he is not currently incarcerated. Mugshot courtesy of the Charlottesville Police Department

Bryan Silva, the 25-year-old social media celebrity jailed after a January 3 SWAT standoff, pleaded guilty April 11 to brandishing and possessing a firearm. Though he has been denied bond twice since January, Charlottesville Circuit Court Judge Rick Moore agreed to release him from jail on a $20,000 bond and under a stricter than usual house arrest until his July 5 sentencing.

As part of the plea agreement reached by prosecutor Joe Platania and Silva’s attorney, John March, Moore agreed to drop an abduction charge Silva faced for allegedly pointing the laser scope of a loaded 9mm at his 17-year-old girlfriend on the morning of the standoff, refusing to let her leave his apartment in the 2500 block of Jefferson Park Avenue and then eventually throwing her belongings outside.

Silva had met his girlfriend online about a month earlier, and, according to a statement of facts from Platania, she was homeless and living in another state when Silva offered to fly her out to Charlottesville to live with him.

The victim told detectives that Silva had taken a large amount of Xanax on the day he threatened her with the gun and that she was scared of him, the statement of facts says. The prosecutor said the victim has since left Virginia and did not want to come back to testify against him in a trial.

At the hearing, Moore asked Silva about his level of education, to which he answered that he completed eighth grade and then got his GED at 16.

“Tell me what you think the agreement says,” the judge said. “That I’m pleading guilty,” Silva said, and indicated he understood that staying in jail could help him get a headstart on the maximum sentence of six years that his charges carry. March said house arrest would help Silva establish a good track record and argue for a shorter sentence.

Silva will stay with his mother in her Orange apartment, under 24-hour supervision of an adult with no criminal record and GPS monitoring. After three weeks, Moore said he may drop one of these conditions.

“I want to know where he is at all times and I want to make sure he’s not alone,” the judge said. “This is stricter than most house arrests.” He asked Silva’s mother if she realized her son had pointed a loaded handgun at a girl.

Silva will also be subject to routine drug and alcohol tests, and the social media star will not have access to the Internet.

Moore brought up Silva’s online presence and Facebook photos in which Silva can be seen shirtless and brandishing a handgun matching the one his former girlfriend said he pointed at her.

“The Bryan Silva who is in this court today and the Bryan Silva in those pictures is two different people,” his attorney told the judge. “One is for show and one is for real.”

 
After the hearing, March said Silva is “a very nice young man” and has had plenty of time to reflect in prison.