A judge in Virginia has shut down the Portsmouth Police Department's attempt to bar Commonwealth’s Attorney Stephanie Morales from working on a controversial confederate monument case that has caused widespread criticism in the state's political scene, according to The Virginia-Pilot.

Members of the Portsmouth police force sought to subpoena the city’s elected prosecutor, Morales, in an effort to force her to recuse herself from the felony cases stemming from a protest on June 10 that led to the destruction of a confederate monument in Portsmouth. 

The move is part of a longstanding battle between the Portsmouth Police Department and state-level elected officials. As Blavity previously
reported, there was national outrage in August when the police department charged State Senator L. Louise Lucas, the senate’s first Black president pro tempore, and other civil rights leaders with felonies for attending a protest near the statue.

Hours after Lucas and others left the protest, the confederate statue was spray-painted and a part of it was ripped off, injuring one of the protesters. Police have said that despite leaving the protest hours before any of that happened, Lucas and local NAACP members should be charged with felonies.

Lucas, Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam and other elected officials told The Washington Post that the charges were a blatant attempt at retribution for Lucas' work on police reform and her support for the protests this summer over police brutality and racism. 

Despite the criticism, the police force has forged ahead with the charges and tried to subpoena Morales in the case, even though she was never at the protest and had no involvement. 

Judge Claire Cardwell ruled that there is no reason why Morales should not be allowed to handle the cases involving Lucas and others.

“The judge’s ruling was that there was no basis for a request for the subpoena, and therefore she said the subpoena couldn’t issue. I think the judge made her decision based upon the facts and the relevant law. The upshot of today is that Ms. Morales is the prosecutor in all of the cases and she will address the cases in the normal fashion,” Edward Ungvarsky, an attorney for Morales, told HuffPost.

The police attempt to go after Lucas and other local Black leaders have caused chaos in Portsmouth's local government. There is now a standoff between city council members, who are backing the Portsmouth Police Department chief, and the City Manager Lydia Pettis Patton, who resigned after suspending the police chief, according to HuffPost.

Lucas criticized police chief Angela Greene for not stopping the June 10 protest before it turned violent, but police advocates for Greene have flooded media outlets with withering criticism for Lucas. 

Portsmouth Police Sgt. Kevin McGee sent a letter to the city's government bashing Lucas and Morales for their attempts to hold police accountable.

Cardwell on Monday ruled that Morales cannot be called as a witness in the case and will leave it up to her whether she believes she should recuse herself. 

Ungvarsky later told The Virginia-Pilot that Morales was not there and that police failed to subpoena Morales in accordance with Virginia law. According to the newspaper, Cardwell noted how strange it was that Morales was only subpoenaed for Lucas' case and none of the other 15. 

Lucas and others are scheduled to appear in court in late November. 

Morales has been at odds with the police force since she charged an officer for killing an 18-year-old Black teenager in 2016, according to HuffPost. The local police department has been in upheaval since forcing former chief Tonya Chapman, the first Black police chief in the state, to resign. She was replaced by Greene, who is also Black.

According to HuffPost, police sources said they were concerned that Morales may throw out the charges against Lucas and others and seek to remove her from the case so the charges could be tried in court. 

But other local leaders have said the charges against Lucas and others are confusing considering the timeline. 

“She left at 1 o’clock and riots began at 9 in the evening. I just don’t know how you incite a riot eight hours after you left the place. There’s something that just does not make any sense,” Virginia Senate Majority Leader Richard L. Saslaw told The Washington Post.

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