NORFOLK, Va - The Downtown Norfolk Civic League had questions for Norfolk Commonwealth's Attorney Ramin Fatehi on what his office is doing to address crime in prosecuting criminals. This comes as Norfolk has seen an uptick in homicides and other crime this year.
Fatehi says his office puts forth cases in a trial that a jury doesn’t always convict on.
In the civic league meeting, Fatehi showed surveillance video of a deadly 2020 Downtown Norfolk shooting, in which he believes the shooter should have been found guilty of manslaughter. The video shows the Granby Street shooting, where 25-year-old Marqail King was charged with the murder of 33-year-old Abram Randle. Randle is seen banging on king’s car window aggressively when King fires several shots.
Some may argue king acted in self-defense.A jury found King not guilty.
"What you just saw is manslaughter is all day and all night. The reason this ultimately was manslaughter was because the driver had alternatives. He did not have to shoot that guy through the window. That was not necessary. That was the use of deadly force in response to non-deadly force," Fatehi said.
Homicides are up in Norfolk compared to previous years. Norfolk has seen 52 murders so far this year. In 2021, the city saw 61 murders. In 2020, the city had 49 murders.
"I have directed my office’s resources towards focused on gun crimes and violent crimes," Fatehi said.
In Downtown Norfolk, homicides and robberies are up significantly this year. Downtown Norfolk has had four homicides this year. In 2021, Downtown Norfolk did not have any homicides. There have been eight robberies so far this year in Downtown Norfolk. In 2021, downtown only had one robbery. Car thefts are also up.
Fatehi says staffing issues are a concern.
"I don’t have enough staff in the same way that a lot of other people don’t. The general assembly chooses to fund federal prosecutors to prosecute felonies and only felonies," Fatehi said.
He says it’s hard to prosecute every misdemeanor in the City of Norfolk.
"Every misdemeanor I prosecute is one that I either do on federal and state grant money or supplemental budget from the city. If that upsets you, it should," Fatehi said.
The City of Norfolk has 36 prosecutors. Fatehi says his office would need significantly more than 40 to prosecute all misdemeanors.
"I should be able to have a prosecutor in every car larceny, every trespassing but it’s literally impossible because of the lack of manpower and funding."
Norfolk Commonwealth's Attorney says a change is needed in the Virginia Code in order for the state to provide funding to hire more prosecutors to handle misdemeanors.
