Sloppy Work By Herring OAG Costs Taxpayers $7,674
Now this is a tad bit unusual. From the Richmond Times-Dispatch, it would appear as if the Office of the Attorney General sent McGuire Woods on a rabbit trail to ask questions of a corrections officer… who was never involved in this particular case:
Longtime court observers described the sanction as “highly unusual” and “rare” in federal court in the Eastern District of Virginia, particularly when it involves the Virginia Attorney General’s Office.
Anderson ordered that McGuireWoods be compensated for the billable time the lawyer spent traveling to and from the prison, mileage, the cost of the court reporter and the costs incurred by bringing the motion for sanctions. An affidavit filed Thursday indicates the two sides agreed to a payment of $7,674.36.
Bob Lewis, a spokesman for the law firm, said the firm is representing inmate James H. Raynor at no cost and the money would be donated to the Central Virginia Legal Aid Society.
I mean, how do you get that wrong?
This particular case involves an inmate who was assaulted by a fellow inmate at the Sussex II State Prison in Waverly, Virginia. McGuire Woods initially asked for a reimbursement to settle the matter (because, you know, the corrections officer was never actually involved in the incident — in this instance, escorting the victim after the assault), and the OAG declined to do so.
So a judge had to enforce some basic rules of decorum here.
Too bad the Virginia Way has to be enforced by referees… sloppiness, I’m sure, is not something we experienced under previous Republican OAGs.
