Soros-funded Virginia county prosecutor shrinking caseload for certain domestic violence crimes

An inside source told The Post Millennial that "nothing has caused this lack of resources," explaining that the Commonwealth's Attorney's office has "always been this way and managed under previous administrations to fully staff courtrooms."

Described as "the most underfunded Commonwealth's Attorney's office in the Commonwealth of Virginia," Fairfax County's chief prosecutor Steve Descano and his team are in dire need of funding, staff, and review for thousands of hours of body camera video, ABC7 reported.

While a majority of child abuse prosecutions are classed as misdemeanors, the office is only tackling some of the most serious misdemeanors, such as stalking and sexual battery. Commonwealth's Attorney's offices are also only obligated to prosecute felony cases in Circuit Court and appeals to Circuit Court from the Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court.

"We were so understaffed that prosecutors were showing up to court without even having taken a look at the evidence and certainly not talking to victims and they are continuing on these cases for months, maybe even years," Descano told ABC7 Northern Virginia Bureau Chief Tim Barber.

"What resources do you need in order to take these cases back on?" Barber asked him.

"The resources that we need are bodies. We need prosecutors and staff members in our office," said Descano. "We are talking about-- quite frankly, we are talking about dozens Tim."

Fairfax County and Fairfax City have a population of approximately 1.2 million, but Descano asserts that his budget is only $4.3 million, which is purportedly lower than other jurisdiction's.

Under current caseload capacity on the county website, the DA's office will be involved in all felony cases in the Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court (JDR), General District Court (GDC), and Circuit Court (Circuit), felony probation violations and attendant programs such as Drug Court.

With respect to misdemeanor cases, the lead prosecutor will handle matters for Driving Under the Influence (DUI), Intimate Partner and Domestic Violence (IPDV), stalking, sexual battery, violation of protective orders, traffic fatalities, marijuana possession dated prior to Jul. 1, veterans treatment docket, mental health docket, and any case of significance or public importance as determined by Descano.

To date, there are 68 pages of backlogged cases due to the COVID-19 crisis with dates set as far back as Jul. 13.

"[T]his Office must deploy its limited resources with the objective of prosecuting the largest number of cases possible while maintaining the ability to give each case the individual time and attention it deserves and our community expects," Descano's site stipulates. "There are no shortcuts to justice—only injustice in the absence of thorough and ethical prosecutorial work."

"We are making sure that every single case that my office touches from now on is going to get the proper time," said Descano. "It is going to reach the right result and the victim and the community are actually going to get justice instead of just window dressing."

Fairfax County Board Chairman Jeff McKay told ABC7 that the board is working with Descano's office to provide relief, but noting that as an elected official, "the Commonwealth's Attorney makes decisions about expenditures and office operations independent of the Board of Supervisors."

In September, McKay's board requested funding from the General Assembly during their special session and will consider funding an additional 15 positions in Descano's office to support the expansion of the body-worn camera program.

"This is an important program as we work to strengthen trust and increase transparency in our community," McKay stated.

Descano was elected last year and took office in January when he ousted longtime incumbent Democrat Ray Morrogh by 1,454 votes and a 2.1 percent margin in an upset victory, according to the Virginia Department of Elections.

As a former Justice Department employee, Descano was backed by liberal billionaire George Soros, who provided the vast majority of his campaign financing. The DC suburbs of Virginia were the latest area Soros injected with his money in recent years in a bid to "overhaul" the criminal justice system, funneling over a million dollars into the local Democrat primaries.

Descano received $459,210 from the Justice & Public Safety PAC, $32,341 from the New Va Majority, and $10,000 from the Real Justice PAC. Meanwhile, Morrogh only had individual contributions, Townhall reported.

Fairfax was already a liberal-majority neighborhood with 65 percent voting for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton over President Donald Trump in 2016.

Some have questioned why Soros meddled financially in a local prosecutorial election, arguably a blue jurisdiction, when it appears that real change under his now-elected candidate has yet to occur.