THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, January 24, 1995 TAG: 9501240300
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B7 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JOE JACKSON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 71 lines
A retired judge ordered Commonwealth's Attorney Charles D. Griffith Jr. and General District Judge Charles R. Cloud to meet with a court-approved mediator in an attempt to settle their dispute over whether Cloud can force prosecutors to try violent misdemeanor cases in his court.
``There must be serious efforts made to resolve this issue,'' said retired Courtland Judge Benjamin A. Williams Jr. during a Circuit Court hearing Monday. ``Thus, I'm going to do something I've never done before. I'm ordering the parties to meet with a mediator'' in order to settle their argument outside court before the next hearing, scheduled for March 7.
``I realize that reasonable men can negotiate their differences,'' Williams said. ``I think the city of Norfolk deserves such a solution. I'm not aware of a problem such as this elsewhere in the state.''
Williams also overruled an attempt by Cloud to lift a temporary injunction prohibiting him from ordering prosecutors into his court to try misdemeanor assault.
Williams, appointed by the state Supreme Court to hear the case, told Griffith and Cloud to choose from a list of mediators kept by the clerk of Circuit Court. ``I will appoint the mediator if you cannot agree on one'' by Thursday, Williams said.
Mediators, often used in divorces and other domestic cases, meet with both parties in a dispute in an attempt to help them reach their own mutually agreeable solution. They are different from arbitrators in that the latter judge the dispute and can impose a solution from above.
There are about 400 mediators statewide certified through the state Supreme Court, said Norfolk mediator David J. McDonald. The meetings are confidential.
``If two parties can come to a decision through mediation, they're more apt to abide by it . . . because they had a part in reaching'' the decision, said McDonald.
Monday's unusual action by Williams was the latest in a series of unusual events triggered by Cloud's campaign to get public prosecutors for victims of violent misdemeanors.
The heart of the matter is power: Who has the most when it comes to trying misdemeanors? The judge, who says he is mandated by law to see that both victims and defendants receive fair trials? Or the prosecutor, who says state law gives him discretion to refuse such cases?
Over the past year, Cloud has asked Griffith and City Attorney Philip R. Trapani to participate in such cases, but they have refused.
City attorneys and commonwealth's attorneys are not required to prosecute misdemeanors in General District Court. In Norfolk, prosecutors decline to do so, saying they lack staff.
This means a victim who files charges with a magistrate must prosecute his own case in General District Court. The defendant sometimes has his own lawyer, and often that lawyer is appointed by the court.
On Sept. 28, Cloud forced the issue by ordering Griffith and Trapani to participate in every case of alleged handgun violence and every Class 1 or Class 2 misdemeanors (the most serious misdemeanors) in his court. On Sept. 30, Griffith asked the Circuit Court for a writ of prohibition, an order that would overrule Cloud. Griffith also asked for a temporary injunction to stop Cloud from enforcing his order before a full hearing could be held.
Norfolk's nine Circuit Court judges disqualified themselves, and the Supreme Court appointed Williams. On Oct. 1, Williams held a hearing in his home during which Williams ordered Cloud to stop trying to enforce his order so the issue could be determined after a full hearing.
On Jan. 9, Cloud said he would order Griffith and Trapani to explain why they should not be held in contempt for refusing to give a volunteer prosecutor permission to try a jail beating in his court. by CNB