Beach prosecutor candidate attacks former boss

VIRGINIA BEACH

Mark Hardman, who is running for commonwealth's attorney in Virginia Beach, has accused incumbent Harvey Bryant of being corrupt and weak-willed. But Hardman has saved his harshest words for his former boss, Portsmouth Commonwealth's Attorney Earle Mobley.

Besides accusing Mobley of cronyism, Hardman recently ripped him for allegedly turning a blind eye to illicit activity at work. In postings to his campaign Facebook page - under a note titled "Tyranny of Harvey Bryant and Earl Mobley" - and an e-mail complaint to the state bar, Hardman says Mobley knew one of his prosecutors

had sex with female prostitutes in the office but he took no action.

"We played along with it for a long time, but now it's getting to the point where we're thinking about hiring a civil attorney to sue him for slander," said Bill Prince, spokesman for the Portsmouth office, noting that Mobley was weighing whether to file a bar complaint against Hardman. "You know his motivation in all this is to sully Earle because he lost his job, and to get some free press for his pathetic campaign."

Mobley fired Hardman in March after Hardman announced he planned to run for the Beach's top prosecutor post.

Hardman, a 2007 graduate of University of Virginia's law school, worked five months in Portsmouth. He claimed Mobley infringed on his right to run for public office and that Mobley was protecting his friend Bryant.

Hardman has accused Bryant of lacking integrity and failing to file charges in some cases, including the April 19 crash that killed bicyclist Daniel Hersh. Bryant said filing charges without proper evidence would be unethical and unprofessional.

Meanwhile, the accusations of prostitution in the Portsmouth office infuriated Mobley, who said he had "absolutely no knowledge anything like that has ever taken place."

The Virginia State Bar does not release information about complaints unless disciplinary action is taken. But in a document dated June 30 and provided by Hardman, the bar responded that it would take no action on his claim of prostitutes in the Portsmouth commonwealth's attorney's office.

"Doesn't that tell you something right there?" Mobley said. "Yet I get dragged basically through the mud. That's amazing. I thought he was running against Harvey Bryant."

Bryant described Hardman's recent claim as "just outrageous."

"That is just wild, desperate stuff from a guy who can't get attention any other way," Bryant said.

Hardman has made the issue a part of his campaign. On his Facebook page, he offers this slogan: "When executive officials use government offices to sexually exploit women, I will not rest until justice is served."

He acknowledged he did not witness prostitution in the office but said he heard about it from other attorneys.

Two of the prosecutors he mentioned as knowing about the story were contacted for comment. One, a former Portsmouth prosecutor, denied hearing about it. Another, a Portsmouth prosecutor, referred questions to the office spokesman.

"It is an outrageous lie and unsubstantiated assertion," said Prince, the spokesman. "Never have we ever heard of anything like that."

Shawn Day, (757) 222-5131, shawn.day@pilotonline.com