Waynesboro prosecutor needs to recuse himself in police misconduct case

Waynesboro Commonwealth’s Attorney David Ledbetter is saying that he intends to handle the prosecution of two Waynesboro Police officers facing assault and battery charges.

This, quite obviously, is a bad idea.

“I’m elected to prosecute the felony cases in Waynesboro, the hard ones and not simply just the popular ones. I do not intend to recuse myself at this time,” Ledbetter told The News Leader.

This isn’t about Ledbetter being a standup guy and prosecuting a tough case.

I mean, we’re not talking about him pulling a Jeffrey Gaines, the Commonwealth’s attorney over in Staunton, and just not prosecuting the case at all, as Gaines is doing with the case of a neo-Nazi towing company owner facing a misdemeanor charge after speeding within a few feet of a large group of political protestors.

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ICYMI

• Staunton: Somehow, I’m now the prosecutor in the April 5 reckless driving case

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Ledbetter, it is clear, needs to recuse himself from the case involving charges for Jacob W. Moore, 30, of Stuarts Draft, a corporal in the department, and Joseph M. Meadows, 29, of Churchville, who has the rank of officer.

Both have been charged with one count of assault and battery of a law enforcement officer and one count of disarming a law enforcement officer of a stun gun, both of which are Class 6 felonies, stemming from an incident that occurred in April.

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ICYMI

• Two Waynesboro Police officers indicted in on-duty misconduct incident

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The reason that Ledbetter, and his office, need to hand over the prosecution of Moore and Meadows is because of the obvious entanglements between his attorneys and the Waynesboro PD, which work together on a daily basis.

The last thing we need to result from the Moore and Meadows cases is a resolution to the case that makes it appear that the two cops were given special treatment.

Anything less than a vigorous prosecution – for example, a plea arrangement that allows the officers to cop to a lesser charge to avoid exposure to jail time – will give us that.

The message sent from Ledbetter’s office if we get what appears to be anything less than 100 percent in the prosecution of this case would be:

Vigorous prosecution for thee, but not for we.

Ledbetter, to avoid the appearance of giving the cops special treatment, needs to hand the case over to an outside prosecutor, who can work with the Virginia State Police, which led the investigation of the matter that led to the charges against Moore and Meadows, on the prosecution.

Whether it’s fair or not to say this, I don’t think we can expect Ledbetter to give 100 percent to prosecuting people that his office works with every day.

If the police and prosecutors here in Waynesboro want us to respect what they do going forward, they’ll recognize the need to do the right thing.