Dispute over DUI manual sparks courtroom clash between top prosecutor, defense lawyer
A dispute over who owns a DUI manual has sparked dueling allegations of criminal conduct and a courtroom clash between a Virginia prosecutor and defense lawyer.
Tony Spencer, who works as Caroline County’s top prosecutor, says defense lawyer Melissa Danjczek took the manual when she was formerly employed by the commonwealth attorney’s office and he wants it back, reports WWBT.
“I demanded that she return it, and she refused. Her refusal indicates her intention to permanently deprive my office of the DUI manual,” Spencer says in an arrest warrant he filed against Danjczek.
An argument over the ownership issue during a Friday court hearing resulted in the Caroline County sheriff’s office being called to the scene, the station reports. A lawyer representing Danjczek told WWBT that Spencer shoved Danjczek and took the DUI manual from her during the hearing.
“The evidence should be that [a] charge of strong-armed robbery will be appropriate under these circumstances,” attorney Vincent Robertson Sr. told the station.
State police and the state attorney general’s office are investigating the incident.
“There’s nothing to investigate,” Spencer told WWBT, declining to discuss specifics of the incident. “My expectation is nothing will come of state police looking into the allegation.”
