Charles E. Poston This is Me

Education

 Web References

1. 1. HAMPTON ROADS News

   www.pilotonline.com/news/nw052 - [Cached]

   Published on: 2/17/2001   Last Visited: 7/19/2001

   That's how many people who know Charles E. Poston describe the chief judge of Norfolk Circuit Court.
   
   ...
   Poston has been at the center of a high-profile legal battle over allegations of police brutality.
   ...
   So far , Poston hasn't been convinced by the prosecutors. He's acquitted two of the three officers.
   
   His unusually expansive comments during the first two trials prompted prosecutors -- and several community leaders -- to suggest that Poston might be better off stepping down from hearing the case against the third and final officer.
   
   On Wednesday , Poston rejected the request and will try former Norfolk police Officer Thomas E. Scotting on May 30.
   ...
   This year , Poston and his colleagues shook up the courthouse when they tightened restrictions on when and how lawyers can continue their cases. They had become alarmed that the number of criminal cases processed in 120 days -- the state's definition for swift justice -- dropped precipitously in Norfolk in recent years.
   
   Poston also presided over a series of sensational cases involving eight men charged with the 1997 murder of 18-year-old Navy wife Michelle Moore-Bosko.
   ...
   In June , Poston dismissed a request by the Hampton Roads Admirals to force the city of Norfolk back to the bargaining table on lease negotiations for Scope.
   
   And in October , Poston ruled that land speculator Edwin B. Lindsley Jr.had committed fraud when he claimed that he owned the Virginia Beach Oceanfront.
   
   Poston declined to be interviewed for this article.
   
   A native of South Carolina , Poston received his undergraduate degree from the University of Richmond and law degree from the Marshall-Wythe School of Law at the College of William and Mary.
   
   He practiced law for 14 years before his appointment in 1988 to the juvenile court bench in Norfolk. In 1994 , he was elevated to the Circuit Court.
   
   He's also one-half of a legal power couple. His wife , Anita O. Poston , is a partner in the Norfolk law firm of Vandeventer Black. She recently served as the president of the Virginia Bar Association and still leads the city's School Board.
   
   They have three children.
   
   Poston's demeanor on the bench is often reserved. He's not a judge known for his loquaciousness or quick temper. And his name has been mentioned frequently as a candidate for the state's Court of Appeals or Supreme Court.