Sunday, October 28, 2012

Legal leaders urge judge to replace Morrogh in capital case

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, the original prosecutor in the case, was discredited by the findings of a federal judge who threw out Wolfe’s conviction as tainted by prosecutorial misconduct.

Among those supporting the motion to disqualify Morrogh are former Virginia Attorneys General William G. Broaddus and Stephan D. Rosenthal. A number of Virginia attorneys also signed the letter, including nine former prosecutors.

According to the letter, the signers are troubled by Morrogh’s quick decision to retry Wolfe on capital murder charges. “This suggests a hurried decision in which the special prosecutor did not carefully examine the evidence to reach an independent conclusion about the case, but instead relied on the earlier deliberation of the Prince William County prosecutors,” the letter reads.

A hearing is scheduled for Oct. 31 on the motion to disqualify Morrogh as special prosecutor.

Morrogh said he could not comment because of ethical rules.

Source: http://valawyersweekly.com/vlwblog/2012/10/25/legal-leaders-urge-judge-to-replace-morrogh-in-capital-case/

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