Tag: Commonwealth’s Attorney Buta Biberaj

Soros-Backed Virginia Prosecutor Who Jailed Parent of Bathroom Assault Victim Loses Reelection by Just 300 Votes

Tom Pappert

Election officials determined on Tuesday that Loudoun County Commonwealth’s Attorney Buta Biberaj (D) narrowly lost her re-election.

Biberaj lost her bid for a third term to challenger Bob Anderson, a Republican who served in the position from 1996 through 2003, by exactly 300 votes. Anderson received 68,068 votes, or 49.92 percent of the total, compared to Biberaj, who received 67,768 votes, or 49.7 percent of the total. A total of 518 voters wrote in a candidate for their ballots.

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Loudoun Schools Fires Superintendent Ziegler

Eric Burk

The Loudoun County School Board voted unanimously to fire Superintendent Scott Ziegler without cause after a grand jury report blamed Ziegler and his administration for much of the district’s mishandling of two 2021 sexual assaults.

The board spent much of the Tuesday evening meeting in closed session and didn’t publicly discuss Ziegler’s termination; there is an emergency meeting schedule for Thursday to appoint Chief of Staff Daniel Smith to be interim superintendent.

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Court Recuses Commonwealth’s Attorney Biberaj in Criminal Case Against Parent Arrested at 2021 Loudoun School Board Meeting

Eric Burk

Loudoun County Circuit Court Judge James Plowman recused Commonwealth’s Attorney Buta Biberaj from prosecuting a criminal case against Scott Smith, a parent who faces a disorderly conduct charge after being arrested at a June 2021 Loudoun County School Board meeting. While Plowman disagreed with Smith’s defense’s argument that there was a conflict of interest mandating removal of Biberaj, he granted the motion to recuse her and wrote in an order, “The concerns about the public confidence in the integrity of the prosecution as well as the Defendant’s concerns regarding the impartiality of the Commonwealth’s Attorney are sufficiently grounded.” In May 2021, one of Smith’s children was allegedly assaulted on school property; the school board’s handling of that situation has generated frustration among Republicans and a grand jury investigation. A month later, Smith was arrested at a rowdy school board meeting where officials seemed to deny the existence of assaults in district bathrooms and locker rooms. He faced an obstruction of justice charge and a disorderly conduct charge. In May 2022, Smith and his attorney State Senator Bill Stanley (R-Franklin) announced that a court had dropped the obstruction charge. In May, Stanley also argued that Biberaj should be recused; Plowman’s September…

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General Assembly Leaves Vacancy on State Corporation Commission, Senate Republicans Object to Judge with Ties to Loudoun Prosecutor

Eric Burk

RICHMOND, Virginia — The General Assembly reconvened for one day on Wednesday to elect four judges to circuit, district, and juvenile courts, but didn’t fill a vacancy on the three-member State Corporation Commission. Senate Republicans abstained on one vote to appoint current District Court Judge Matthew Parke Snow to the Twentieth Judicial Circuit Court. Senator Mark Obenshain (R-Rockingham) criticized Snow’s links to Loudoun County Commonwealth’s Attorney Buta Biberaj.

Snow and Biberaj used to practice criminal defense and civil law together in Leesburg. Biberaj has come under fire from Republicans for embracing a progressive prosecutorial philosophy.

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Circuit Court Dismisses One of the Convictions Against Father Arrested at June 2021 Loudoun School Board Meeting

Eric Burk

The Loudoun County Circuit Court dismissed one of the convictions Scott Smith was facing after being arrested at a June 2021 Loudoun County School Board meeting. Smith, represented by State Senator Bill Stanley’s (R-Franklin) legal firm, asked the judge to recuse Loudoun County Commonwealth’s Attorney Buta Biberaj from the case; a written opinion from the judge is pending after Monday’s court appearance.

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