by Kerry Dougherty

Good news for the soft-on-crime crowd: a suspected triple murderer is being freed in Norfolk because two witnesses didn’t show up for yesterday’s preliminary hearing.

And because it appears that prosecutors aren’t exactly breaking a sweat trying to get this case moving.

Antoine M. Legrande Jr.’s hearing was originally scheduled for September 6th – four months after he was arrested and charged with killing Virginian-Pilot reporter Sierra Jenkins as well as Marquel Andrews and Devon Harris. Two others were shot and injured. The victims were leaving Chicho’s Backstage on Granby Street in Norfolk on March 19th when they were gunned down outside.

Legrande was charged with three counts of second-degree murder, five counts of use of a firearm and two counts of malicious wounding.

Legrande’s September preliminary hearing was postponed after prosecutors whined that they needed more time to subpoena a witness and to review evidence including cell phone records, shell casings and bullets retrieved from the victims.

At the time, defense attorney Eric Korslund accused prosecutors of not doing their jobs:

“So basically they still have a lot of work to do and they can’t get a witness subpoenaed so the case has to be continued,” Korslund said. “He wants to have his day in court and I think it could be easily accomplished if people did their job.”

Prosecutors told the court, they need to subpoena a key witness who identified LeGrande as the shooter.

At yesterday’s court appearance two of the three witnesses who allegedly can place LeGrande at the scene of the shooting were no-shows.

Unacceptable. A subpoena is not a gentle invitation. It’s an order to appear. A show-cause order was issued for both of the AWOL witnesses to appear in court later this month to explain their absences.

Worse, the judge refused to continue the case again because a different judge at the September hearing said there would be no more postponements.

Odd.

Someone needs to tell Norfolk’s prosecutors that there’s more to dragging witnesses into court than issuing subpoenas. They need to essentially babysit witnesses, by driving them to court if necessary and escorting them into the courtroom.

That’s doubly true of reluctant witnesses, which looks like the case here.

One would think that the case of an accused TRIPLE MURDERER in a high-profile case would be a top priority for the Norfolk’s prosecutor’s office. It certainly doesn’t appear that way.

It’s worth remembering that Norfolk Commonwealth’s Attorney Ramon Fatehi is a George Soros-backed prosecutor.

Soros is a 92-year-old Hungarian immigrant worth an estimated $8.6 billion. He’s known for his efforts to remake the American justice system by getting left-wing, lenient prosecutors elected.

In 2021, he funneled $200,000 into Fatehi’s campaign through two of his PACs. Fox News reported on Soros’ interest in the Norfolk prosecutor:

Fatehi is the latest in a string of prosecutor candidates Soros has backed to reshape the Virginia criminal justice system. In 2019, Soros provided a significant cash infusion to three winning progressive candidates, Parisa Dehghani-Tafti in Arlington County (nearly $1 million from Soros); Buta Biberaj in Loudon County ($850,000 from Soros); and Steve Descano in Fairfax County ($600,000 from Soros). Soros also pushed $5,000 to Jim Hingeley in Albemarle County. However, unlike the other areas, most of that race’s funds did not come from Soros, but rather Sonjia Smith, a Democratic megadonor in Virginia politics.

Soros views prosecutors, who decide what crimes to prosecute and let slide, as a significant component of overhauling the criminal justice system. For years he has funded far-left prosecutor candidates in multiple areas, including Larry Krasner in Philadelphia, Kim Foxx in Chicago, and Kim Gardner in St. Louis. His cash frequently boosts the furthest left candidates running in Democratic primaries.

Fatehi’s office has some explaining to do.

The families of the three victims have a right to expect that the killer of their loved ones will be brought to justice. And soon. Likewise, the accused has a right to a speedy trial.

All charges against Legrande were dropped yesterday because it appears the prosecutor’s case was not ready.

If Legrande is guilty, the city — already besieged by crime — is about to be even less safe with his release.

This is an outrageous situation.

Once again we’re reminded that elections have consequences. At a minimum, Norfolk needs to elect a prosecutor who can run a competent office that will be prepared for court appearances.

Looks like it may be time for Virginia’s Attorney General to step in to make sure justice is served for the three innocent people shot to death on a Saturday night in Norfolk.

This column has been republished with permission from Kerry: Unemployed & Unedited.