PORTSMOUTH, Va. — Commonwealth's Attorney Stephanie Morales continues to remain hopeful a judge will reconsider his decision to not let a witness testify in a murder case, which led to the case being dismissed.
The case originated in Feb. 2022 when a shooting on George Washington Highway left a man dead and another seriously hurt.
Months later, Jamal Cannon was arrested and charged with first-degree murder, along with malicious wounding.
Last month, the case went to trial, but ended rather quickly all because of questions over the witness list and how it was filed as evidence.
The original list was filed last March and contained the name of the victim who survived the shooting as a witness, but it left his address blank.
The list was later re-filed to cite rules of the Supreme Court of Virginia in place of an address, saying prosecutors can redact witness or victim addresses in certain circumstances.
Still, the defense attorney, Michael Massie, argued in court the prosecutors didn't complete the discovery process of entering evidence by not providing the address and said the judge shouldn't let the witness testify.
The judge ruled in favor of Massie. Because of that ruling, the prosecutor handling the case at first sought unsuccessfully to get the judge to declare a mistrial before saying he couldn't move forward with the case, which led to the judge dismissing it.
"We have a victim and we have a victim's family who have been hurt by what has transpired, not just with the incident itself, but what happens when the system potentially buried something," Morales told News 3 this week.
Morales doesn't want the case to just go away and is hoping Judge Kenneth Melvin takes another look at it.
"From my perspective, my office complied with what the law and rules require," she said.
The Supreme Court of Virginia rules say prosecutors can leave out a witness' address, she said.
If the defense had wanted the address for whatever reason, they could've made a motion before the trial to get the information, she added.
Massie was unavailable to do an interview with News 3.
"We do not want witnesses and victims to feel like the court system is not going to protect them," she said.
Morales and her team have filed a series of motions to try and get the case back in the courtroom, but so far haven't been successful.
Judge Melvin already denied her office's motion to have a new open court hearing on the case, but she's hoping he'll reconsider.
"It is our opinion that asking the court to reconsider and to have it readdress what it heard - we think that is something that can appropriately done because there is always a concern about courts ruling on accurate information," she said.
Judge Melvin told News 3 judges are prevented from being able to comment on pending cases.
Morale's office also recently had another case dismissed by a different judge over issues with evidence.
It involved the case of a woman named Dewanna Seward who ran a daycare where a fire broke out last year.
The defense attorney, also Massie, said he didn't receive a witness list prior to the trial.
The judge dismissed the case.
"This office has been in existence before I was and there are always instances where people will do things that are not perfect and what we seek to improve - we develop processes to put those in place to ensure that mistakes are not repeatedly made, but we are also aware that courts are not always perfect either," she said.
Morales says her office continues to review for any potential remedies in the case and continues to hope for a reconsideration in the murder case.
"We will reiterate our request and that will be done and directed at the judge," she said.
