PORTSMOUTH, Va. — Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares and Portsmouth Commonwealth's Attorney Stephanie Morales met Monday for what the two are calling a "productive" collaboration about combating the city's violence.
The two prosecutors were slated to discuss ways they could work together to secure convictions and keep criminals off the street.
"When leaders and community stakeholders commit to working together in service of our communities, we are at our very best," Morales said in a statement. "Today, my meeting with Attorney General Miyares and our teams was highly productive and will greatly expand efforts to make our Portsmouth community safer. We look forward to continued collaboration in service of our Portsmouth community and the Commonwealth of Virginia."
Morales requested the meeting after Miyares offered his office's help in launching the program Operation Ceasefire, which is aimed at reducing gun violence through prosecution and prevention. In addition to the initiative, Miyares said he and his team recommended other resources and continued cooperation with Portsmouth in Monday's meeting.
"We have also shared information on Virginia's new witness protection efforts to protect our witnesses before testifying. Collaboration and open communication between local city officials and Commonwealth's Attorneys is critical to that effort, and I appreciate today's meeting with Mrs. Morales," Miyares said in part.
The meeting comes on the heels of a 13News Now investigation into dismissed criminal cases in Portsmouth, including a first-degree murder case and a separate child abuse case.
Following 13News Now's investigation, Miyares wrote a letter to Morales citing news reports and calls from concerned citizens about two criminal trials that were dismissed due to reported errors in the court's process of submitting a witness list.
In Morales' letter responding to Miyares, she defended her office's work by advocating for the protection of victim-witnesses.
She also pushed back on the claims about dismissed cases, saying, "As it appears you have relied on news reports, I will share that one instance which you classified as a dismissal due to a prosecutor's mistake is in fact a dismissal by the court based on inaccurate representations by defense counsel."