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Dotson withdraws as special grand jury prosecutor
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| By O'DONNA RAMSEY, Contributing Writer |
September 22, 2005 |
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Wise County Commonwealth Attorney Chad Dotson has withdrawn as prosecutor for a special grand jury after the Virginia State Bar determined it could be a conflict of interest for him to participate in the proceeding.
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Dotson, however, hopes the recent development will not delay the grand jury, which is scheduled to meet Oct. 3 to hear evidence of possible vote fraud in Appalachia's May 2004 council election.
The bar has decided it would be improper for Dotson to take part in the special grand jury investigation since he currently prosecutes Appalachia's misdemeanor cases, the commonwealth attorney confirmed in a telephone interview Monday.
Dotson said he received the bar's decision on Sept. 9 and has since asked Circuit Court Judge Tammy McElyea to appoint a special prosecutor to oversee the grand jury. As of Monday, she had not yet appointed a prosecutor.
Dotson first announced in July that he would seek a special grand jury - the first in Wise County's history - following a lengthy Virginia State Police investigation into alleged vote buying and stealing of absentee ballots in the Appalachia election.
As the investigation progressed, Dotson said Monday, he became concerned that he might have a conflict of interest because he currently serves as Appalachia's prosecutor. The commonwealth attorney's office prosecutes all felonies and some misdemeanors, he explained, but each locality must hire its own attorney to prosecute misdemeanors charged through town warrants. Appalachia pays him to prosecute its misdemeanor cases.
Dotson declined to elaborate on why the concern of a conflict arose later in the investigation and not in the beginning, saying only that doing so would disclose too much information about the investigation. But once he realized there could be a possible conflict, Dotson said, he asked the bar to issue an opinion on whether it would be ethical for him to continue to participate.
Once he learned that he could not proceed as the prosecutor, Dotson asked the bar if another prosecutor in his office could take over. However, he said, the bar determined that it would also be improper for one of his assistants to handle the matter.
"I'm extremely disappointed I won't be able to continue doing this, because I've put a lot of work into it," Dotson said. "But I want to make sure this is done 100 percent above board, because the people in Appalachia deserve some answers."
Once the judge has selected a special prosecutor, Dotson said, he will turn over all the information to that attorney and step aside. Hopefully, the grand jury will be able to convene as scheduled, he said.
McElyea set aside Oct. 3 and Oct. 4 for the special grand jury to hear testimony, view evidence and deliberate. The grand jury will consist of seven to 11 people, who will be selected solely by the judge.
Dotson has declined in the past to estimate how many witnesses will be called to testify before the grand jury, but he has said it is a "fairly substantial list."
Dotson also has said previously he hopes prosecutors can question all necessary witnesses, present all evidence and get the grand jury's recommendations on possible indictments within the two-day period.
The state police, assisted by the Wise County Sheriff's Department, began investigating allegations of vote buying and stealing of absentee ballots several months ago.
The May 2004 election returned incumbent Councilman Ben Cooper to office and chose newcomers Eddie Gollaway and Andy Sharrett for three open seats on the five-member council.
Defeated were incumbent Mayor Gary Bush and Councilman Rick Bowman.
A mid-May Roanoke Times story reported that of 585 people who voted, 108 cast absentee ballots, an absentee rate of 18 percent contrasted with a usual statewide rate of about 5 percent.
In the story, some Appalachia residents were quoted as claiming that supporters of an unnamed council candidate offered bribes if they would let the supporters fill out their absentee ballots.
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©Coalfield.com 2009
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