Trials & Litigaiton
Judge reverses contempt citation for prosecutor who was late to court
A Virginia prosecutor who was held in contempt and fined $250 for being late to court in Norfolk won a reversal on Friday after appealing the conviction.
Calling the case “unusual to say the least,” Circuit Judge Charles E. Poston reversed the Jan. 7 conviction of Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Catherine Paxson, the Virginian-Pilot reports.
A special prosecutor brought in to handle the case moved for the dismissal of the case, with prejudice, and Poston granted the motion during a hearing that lasted about 15 seconds, the newspaper says.
Court records show Paxson told a clerk in District Judge S. Clark Daugherty’s courtroom she had to attend to a circuit court matter prior to the tardiness that led to the contempt ruling.
