Defense attorney challenging Loudoun County Commonwealth’s Attorney in Dem primary

“There can be no justice unless all parties to our criminal justice system, the commonwealth’s attorney, the judges, and law enforcement, are operating in a professional and competent manner,” Lancaster said. “Sadly, the current commonwealth’s attorney, Buta Biberaj, has demonstrated neither professionalism nor competence in her office.”

From 2004 to 2019, the commonwealth’s attorney’s office was run by Republican James E. Plowman until he was named a 20th Circuit Court judge and replaced by Biberaj. She was elected by two percentage points later that year.

Biberaj ran as a reformer promising an approach that focused on violent crime rather than low-level drug and property crimes. During Biberaj’s time in office, violent crime is down in Loudoun despite being up statewide.

But Biberaj’s liberal approach has made her a target of Republicans who unsuccessfully sought to recall her from office. Plowman has frequently ruled against her office and the Virginia Supreme Court last month overruled Plowman for disqualifying Biberaj’s office from a burglary case.

However, Lancaster said her criticism is over policy, not politics and cited several examples. They included:

The case of Peter James Lollobrigido

• who is accused of beating his wife Regina Redman-Lollobrigido to death in September of 2021. Lancaster said Biberaj’s office should’ve opposed Juvenile & Domestic Court Judge Avelina S. Jacobs releasing Lollobrigido on bond with an ankle monitor in July of 2021 after he was charged with beating Redman-Lollobrigido.
• The dismissal in November of a conspiracy to commit first-degree murder charge against

• in the fatal shooting of Najat Chemlali-Goode on Dec. 30, 2021. Saying the prosecution’s case was overly speculative, Plowman dismissed the case before a jury could hear it. Earlier, Plowman ruled two prosecution witnesses couldn’t offer expert testimony because a prosecutor missed a deadline to turn over information about them to the defense.
• What Lancaster called a “mind-boggling” personnel turnover of 125% in the commonwealth’s attorney’s office since Biberaj took office which Lancaster said drained competence and experience. Biberaj, who didn’t return a call or email on Monday, previously said the turnover was primarily due to being unable to offer competitive salaries.
• A nearly 40% drop in prosecutions and 80% less jury trials despite budget increases in Biberaj’s office.
• The decision earlier this month to have

• such as public intoxication, petty larceny and reckless driving under 90 mph. Biberaj previously said the move would allow prosecutors to focus on the most serious crimes, but Lancaster asked “who will be the voice of the victim” in those crimes.
• A policy that began on Jan. 17 requiring defense attorneys to copy discovery evidence in misdemeanor cases at the commonwealth’s attorney’s office rather than receiving it electronically as they did during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. In a series of tweets about the switch, Biberaj said the change was necessary due to an increase in cases and noted that was the policy when Plowman was commonwealth’s attorney. However, Lancaster said the change causes “unnecessary roadblocks” for defendants and was done because judges were dismissing too many prosecution cases due to delays in providing discovery to the defense.

Lancaster added that she’s looking forward to having conversations with voters before the primary on June 20. Avram “Avi” Fechter, Loudoun Democratic Committee chairman, said in an interview that party bylaws don’t allow the committee to endorse partisan candidates during a contested primary.

“Individual committee members can do whatever they want in any given race, but they are doing so as individuals, not as whatever position in they have in the party,” Fechter said. “The fact that we have the most contested primaries in our recent political memory is a sign of energy, enthusiasm and excitement that Loudoun Democrats have.”