IN THE NEWS
LOUISA — Douglas Ramseur, one of Murphy’s lawyers, said Thursday that Circuit Court Judge Timothy K. Sanner dismissed the murder, robbery, breaking and entering and firearm charges on a defense motion to strike the evidence as insufficient.
The case had earlier gained attention because of efforts by Murphy’s lawyers to have a large portrait of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee removed from the courtroom.
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LOUISA — Long before George Floyd died at the hands of Minneapolis police and racial unrest spilled into small towns nationwide, Doug Ramseur walked into the circuit courtroom in Louisa to be appointed as an attorney for Darcel Murphy, a 33-year-old Black man facing a capital murder charge. To his surprise, a towering homage to Lee stared back.
In 2018, Ramseur filed a motion arguing that Murphy should be tried in a courtroom without images “that could be interpreted as glorifying, memorializing, or otherwise endorsing the efforts of those fought on behalf of the Confederate cause or its principles.”
Judge Sanner granted the motion writing, “Given the significantly prevalent image of Robert E. Lee as a figure of racial hatred and prejudice, the Court is compelled to conclude that such image is unwelcoming to many of the African Americans, and others, who are compelled to appear in our courtroom as litigants, witnesses, jurors, attorneys, and judges."
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NORFOLK — As the area's chief public defender in capital murder cases, Douglas Ramseur says there is no such thing as winning when a life hangs in the balance.
In his three years heading the Capital Defender Office for Southeastern Virginia, Ramseur, 41, has gained a reputation as a courtroom crusader who is convinced that everyone is entitled to an effective defense, that not even the most heinous of criminals deserves to die.
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LOUISA — A lawyer for an African-American man charged with capital murder in Louisa County asked the judge last Thursday to have a large portrait of Robert E. Lee removed from the courtroom prior to trial.
“The Civil War was really fought primarily over slavery and the racial supremacy of whites,” Douglas Ramseur, told Louisa County Circuit Judge Timothy K. Sanner.
“They painted him in his uniform to send a message ... to venerate the [Lost] Cause,” the lawyer added.
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CHARLOTTESVILLE — Matthew did not speak in court at length, but his attorney, Douglas Ramseur, read a statement from his client. “He’s very sorry for what happened,” Ramseur said. “He loves his family very much.”
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