PORTSMOUTH, Va. — The case against a Portsmouth woman, charged after an April 2022 fire at the daycare she was running that injured seven kids, has been dismissed with prejudice.
That means the 19 charges Dewanna Seward was facing cannot be brought back.
The judge in the case made the decision Tuesday morning after about an hour and a half of arguments from both the Commonwealth and Seward’s attorney.
As News 3 has reported, when the Commonwealth attempted to call the first witness in Seward’s trial, Seward's attorney, Michael Massie, objected saying the Commonwealth didn’t provide a witness list during discovery.
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The judge agreed to take the case under advisement.
Tuesday, the Commonwealth argued enough other information was provided during discovery to allow Seward’s attorney to prepare for trial and that, while the rules of discovery were not followed, the "spirit of discovery" was complied and that should be enough.
Both sides also argued over whether expert witnesses would be called.
The Commonwealth argued no such witnesses would be called, with Seward's attorney and the judge questioning whether some of the witnesses who would've been called would, in fact, be considered experts.
Regarding discovery, the judge said the Commonwealth Attorney’s Office still has to follow the rules and the rules require a witness list to be submitted.
The judge also noted that this is not the first time the Commonwealth Attorney's Office has had issues with discovery. Specifically, the judge said there were 4-5 cases within a month's time she could recall in which there were issues.
The issue of medical records for the kids involved in the fire were also brought up Tuesday. Massie had previously taken issue with the delivery of the records.
He said the records in question were not requested by the Commonwealth until Aug. 9 despite the fire happening in April of 2022 and were not provided to him until Aug. 20.
The Commonwealth argued the records may not have been used in the trial.
The judge then questioned the logic of requesting them if they wouldn't be used.
In making her decision, the judge said she hates the case, the facts of it, and being in the position she was in.
Afterward, Seward’s attorney broke down in tears as he spoke to reporters.
He said the case was "a bit overwhelming" because children were involved.
"I was a prosecutor for six years. When cases involve children, you always want to make sure that you do a really good job, make sure justice is served, and do everything you can. In this case, that didn't happen for them and it should've happened for them," Massie said.
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He also said he knew this would be a difficult decision for the court and should've been a difficult decision.
"This case has taken a toll on (Seward.) She's lost a lot, some of which she can't recover," said Massie.
He hopes this case creates a renewed "emphasis of responsibility" by the prosecutors to ensure they do everything they can with their cases to make sure that they're prepared and justice is served.
"This is just a terrible result for those families, but my client has been waiting for this nightmare to end and I'm glad that it ended today and it ended with prejudice so that she can go on with her life," said Massie.
Family members of some of the kids involved in the case declined to speak to reporters after the decision was made.
The Commonwealth Attorney's Office released the following statement in response to the ruling:
"The Commonwealth's Attorney's Office will exercise all available appellate rights to seek justice for the victims in this matter. To be clear, this office agrees that court rules are not suggestions and takes seriously its discovery obligations and requires strict and documented compliance. As such, any individual non-compliance is addressed internally through the personnel process. This office remains open to immediate feedback from judicial officers should related concerns arise and will act accordingly."
