Newman elected with 52 percent in three-way race

BY MATT TOMSIC

mtomsic@registerbee.com

(434) 791-7993

Michael Newman’s election to Danville commonwealth’s attorney reaffirmed the office’s current practices as Newman campaigned on the standards and policies that Bill Fuller set during his 40-year tenure as the city’s top criminal prosecutor.

Newman picked up 52 percent of the vote running against Jim Martin, who received 29 percent, and Claudette Robertson, who received 19 percent. The results are unofficial.

“My first thought, I was so appreciative of the citizens of Danville with trusting me with this awesome responsibility,” Newman said.

Throughout the campaign, the candidates debated over the amount of change to bring to the office of the city’s top criminal prosecutor. Newman positioned himself as a candidate who would maintain current practices while Robertson proposed transforming some of the office’s policies and practices. Martin fell between his two opponents.

Open file discovery, grand jury testimony and experience were popular campaign issues.

Newman maintained his position, which reflected the way the office currently runs, on each of them. He opposed open file discovery, reaffirmed police officers’ requirement to testify before a grand jury and cited his time as a senior assistant commonwealth’s attorney.

The debate on open file discovery highlighted Newman’s tendency during the campaign to lean toward the office’s current practices.

Open file discovery is a practice that allows prosecutors to share the entire case file — or a majority of it —with defense attorneys, sometimes omitting sensitive information about witnesses and their notes about the case.

Discovery is a pretrial procedure that allows the defense to request certain documents from the prosecution.

The Danville commonwealth’s office does not practice open file discovery and adheres to a Virginia Supreme Court rule when deciding what documents to share with defense attorneys. Rule 3A:11 states that defendants are entitled to all exculpatory evidence, or evidence that would indicate their innocence.

Robertson raised the issue of open file discovery during a debate, saying she supported the policy. She said that commonwealth’s attorneys for Pittsylvania, Halifax, Campbell, Bedford and Henry counties and in the city of Martinsville have moved toward open file discovery.

But Newman kept step with the office’s current practices and said that he would continue to provide discovery according to rule 3A:11.

“I think obviously (my election) shows a satisfaction to the office itself,” Newman said. “You can’t be afraid to look at change, but sometimes you need to take a step back because what we’ve been doing is absolutely correct.”

Some voters Tuesday said they supported Newman because of his television advertisements.

Lasheri King, 26, said she hadn’t gotten much information about the low-profile race but saw Newman’s commercial and agreed with its message. King voted for Newman at Woodrow Wilson Magnet School.

Newman said the ads focused on his experience as a senior assistant commonwealth’s attorney, an issue he pushed throughout the campaign. They also helped him reach a broad audience.

“The only strategy I had was try to keep it simple,” Newman said, adding that he didn’t want his message blurred by his opponents. “I’m almost speechless.”

Tomsic is a staff writer for the Danville Register & Bee