Donnie Poe EDA criminal charges dropped – but could be re-filed

On Thursday, January 9, Rockingham County Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Michael Parker filed a motion to nule prossed (drop) charges brought by a Warren County Special Grand Jury against Earth Right Energy principal Donald F. Poe, at least for the time being.

The Special Grand Jury was empanneled to investigate potential criminality tied to the $21.3 million Economic Development Authority (EDA) financial scandal. Parker was appointed special prosecutor for EDA criminal cases in December following the announced recusal of incoming Warren County Commonwealth Attorney John Bell and his staff and the withdrawal of Acting Commonwealth’s Attorney Bryan Layton as his tenure in the department drew to a close.

Earth Right Energy principal Donald Poe outside the Warren County Courthouse following a recent hearing – Royal Examiner File Photos/Roger Bianchini

During previous hearings related to the EDA civil and criminal litigations it has been noted that the EDA financial scandal and consequent investigations has generated an unusually large amount of documentation, cited at between 700,000 and one-million pages.

In the prosecutor’s motion to drop the charges at this point Parker wrote, “The Commonwealth received its portion of discovery, purportedly containing all evidence that has been considered by the special grand jury to date, via hard drive on 12/30/2019. Initial review of that hard drive indicates that it may be missing a substantial number of exhibits considered by the grand jury.

“It would be imprudent for the Commonwealth to prosecute any criminal matter for which the investigation has not concluded.

“Even if the ongoing investigation reveals nothing further with respect to Defendant, the Commonwealth cannot prepare for trial when its existing evidence remains unclear.”

Of the decision not move forward with the Poe prosecutions with a motions hearing and possible three-day trial on the perjury charge against Poe looming on January 22, Parker told Royal Examiner in a Thursday afternoon email, “This decision was not made lightly. As the gatekeeper of criminal charges, it is my responsibility to determine whether to prosecute and how to prosecute. Making those decisions requires a thorough grasp of the evidence supporting any allegation. Unfortunately, I am not fully caught up with the ongoing special grand jury investigation, thus I do not have a thorough grasp of the evidence that might pertain to Mr. Poe’s charges. I believe it would be unethical to attempt a prosecution under these circumstances.”

Motions hearings for Poe and other EDA criminal and civil defendants are scheduled for Friday afternoon, January 10. Parker said the motion for the nolle prosequi dropping of the charges against Poe will be heard during those hearings on the 1 p.m. Warren County Circuit Court docket.

“If the motion is granted by the Court, the charges will be dropped without prejudice to the Commonwealth. This would not prevent the Commonwealth from prosecuting the same charges in the future,” Parker explained in a Thursday afternoon email.