Is Doyle ready to exercise judgment?

By J.R. | April 28, 2008
Filed Under Judges |

Norfolk Commonwealth’s Attorney and Democrat, Jack Doyle, is on the short-list to becoming a circuit court judge in Norfolk. He is one of the four would-be judicial appointees of Sen. Yvonne Miller for Norfolk and Virginia Beach. However, some information has come to light that might derail his plans to become a judge, let alone be re-elected as Norfolk’s CA: two of his prosecutors were recently charged with DUI and refusal (both)…yet they remain prosecuting cases.

One of the attorneys had his case dismissed by another well-known Norfolk attorney (and Democrat), who was a substitute judge at the time of the trial, Pete Decker. The other attorney wasn’t so lucky. She was found guilty of the DUI and is currently appealing the refusal charge.

Because the two attorneys involved with DUIs are still practicing on Doyle’s staff, regardless of whether they prosecute DUIs or not, it calls into question Doyle’s judgment — after all, these attorneys still were accused of violating the law. Last I checked, DUI is a criminal offense and the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s office is designed to prosecute the law. Shouldn’t the attorneys in that office obey the law?

Additionally, one has to wonder whether on the bench Doyle would exercise the same kind of leniency towards DUI offenders that he has to his staff.

The bottom-line: DUI kills. In 2006, more than a person a day, 374 to be exact, died in Virginia as the result of a person driving while drunk. Nationally, that number was 17,602. That’s one year. That’s an epidemic. That’s intolerable. Leniency on DUI is a non-starter…and Doyle has two on his staff.