Charges against Gloucester County supervisors dropped

A special prosecutor on Friday declined to pursue charges against four Gloucester County supervisors, saying there was insufficient evidence against them.

The action ends a saga that started in July when a grand jury accused supervisors Teresa Altemus, Bobby Crewe, Michelle Ressler and Gregory Woodard of violating state open-meetings law, unlawfully removing computers from two top county officials, and pressuring the county planning director to rule in favor of a politically connected developer.

Virginia Beach special prosecutor S. Catherine Dodson, who was appointed to handle the case after a judge removed Gloucester County Commonwealth's Attorney Robert Hicks, said the supervisors' actions were not criminal. She wrote that while the evidence presented to the grand jury showed the supervisors "deliberately acted to circumvent" open meetings law, it did not prove they violated the law.

She said that since the seized computers were county property, the supervisors did not break the law when they took them, and added that pressuring a county employee is not illegal.

"I am very happy that we have been exonerated of all the charges," Ressler said Friday afternoon. "This was politically motivated, and individuals tried to use the justice system to circumvent the political process."

Dodson wrote in her motion to dismiss the charges, "there is a natural tendency on the part of the public to believe that any 'wrong' must be a crime. However, the United States Constitution and Virginia law dictate otherwise."

Garr Johnson, who started a petition drive to recall the supervisors, said he was disappointed.

"Justice was not done," he said.

Aaron Applegate, (757) 222-5122, aaron.applegate@pilotonline.com