Gerald G. Poindexter
By LINDA Mc NATT and DAVE FORSTER
SURRY COUNTY - Gerald G. Poindexter and the 7,000 or so county residents he helps protect aren't used to much attention from outsiders.
They mostly live among farm fields and along rural lanes, mid way between South Hampton Roads and Richmond. When a serious crime or dispute does arise, Poindexter, the county's part-time and lone commonwealth's attorney, seeks justice in Circuit Court, which usually convenes one or two times a month.
Lately, Surry's chief prosecutor has felt the kind of pressure he's not used to. On Poindexter's plate is a whopper by almost any political yardstick.
NFL superstar and Newport News native Michael Vick is entangled in a suspected dog fighting operation at a home he is now selling on Moonlight Road in Surry.
Critics charge that Poindexter, who is black, is dragging his feet because of Vick's status as a popular black celebrity. Poindexter says he refuses to be bullied by outsiders or pressured to bring unwarranted charges.
"There is a tendency, probably in the white community more than the other, to criticize Gerald," said Frank V. Emmerson, clerk of the Surry Circuit Court for 35 years and now retired. "I can't remember a time I've seen him fail to prosecute somebody who should be prosecuted. He's probably just feeling his way, very cautiously."
The 66-year-old Poindexter, who wore a yellow golf shirt to work Friday, and sunglasses hooked on a gold chain around his neck, has been hounded by national and local media wanting to know the latest on the dog fighting case. Sometimes he talks; sometimes he won't answer his phone. But when he does speak publicly, his quotes launch over the Internet and news wire services, providing bloggers, sportscasters and pundits with grist for the mill.
Poindexter, one of only two attorneys in Surry County, has inadvertently taken center stage as he, the local sheriff and dog fighting experts probe whether they have enough evidence to charge Vick - or anybody for that matter. Poindexter stoked the blaze this week by refusing to execute a search warrant at the 15-acre Vick-owned property. The warrant said there was reliable evidence that as many as 30 dogs were buried on the property. Poindexter said he didn't like the wording in the warrant.
"I'm not looking for publicity, and I don't want this," Poindexter said in a recent interview with The Virginian-Pilot. "There is nothing I have done that should focus on me."
Others would disagree.
In media reports, Poindexter has appeared to contradict himself. He says reporters have exaggerated and misinterpreted his words. Last week he told The Pilot that he lacked solid evidence linking anyone to dog fighting. On Friday, he reiterated that he still lacks evidence, and although people have come forward who said they can place Vick at dog fights, it's all still under investigation.
"It's all hearsay right now," he said. Investigators are looking into a multitude of leads.
No charges have been filed in the case, now in its sixth week. People, especially those in Surry County, are beginning to wonder why.
"Here it's like, they've got the evidence, but they don't know what to do with it," said Mary Taylor, who works just down the road from Poindexter's law office at Edwards Virginia Ham Shop.
Poindexter was at the house the day of the search.
"It appeared, from everything I saw, that dogfights had been fought there," he said.
Sheriff Harold D. Brown said this week that he hoped the investigation would conclude "shortly." When asked when that might be, he said the work is past the halfway mark.
It's not the first time in his career that Poindexter, a native of Louisa County, has investigated dog fighting in Surry. A few years ago, on another property, police found dogs, training equipment and weight scales - all typical dog fighting paraphernalia. They searched the property. Then they got a search warrant.
A judge dismissed the case, saying the search had violated the rights of the defendant, Benjamin Butts. Poindexter has said he considered it a mistake in moving too quickly, and he doesn't want to do that again.
Others criticized Poindexter for not accepting help on what they described as a large and complicated case, much like the Vick investigation.
"He was extremely resistant from input, not just from us, but from other experts in the field," said Daphna Nachminovitch, a case worker with Norfolk-based People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, who followed the Butts investigation.
Mark Kumpf, a dog fighting expert who helped on the Butts investigation as president of the Virginia Animal Control Association, said at the time that such a large investigation would be difficult for even large districts to handle, yet Surry County officials still wouldn't take the help.
John M. Seward, chairman of the Surry County Board of Supervisors, said the board has supported Poindexter in his handling of the Vick case.
"How often do we get something like this in Surry?" Seward asked. "Thank goodness, not very often."
But, Seward said, he's beginning to hear concerns expressed by county residents that Poindexter is dragging his feet.
"I support what he's done so far," Seward said. "But I do think it's time now to take action " by bringing charges.
Vick, quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons, bought property several years ago in Surry. He put a double- wide mobile home on the 15 acres first, then built a palatial white brick house. Vick let a cousin live there and seldom visited, he told reporters.
Late in April, law enforcement officials went to the secluded home with a search warrant related to a drug investigation involving Vick's cousin, Davon Boddie. While there, they found evidence, they say, of dog fighting. They hauled away 66 dogs. Most were pit bulls, a breed commonly used for entertainment and gambling as they sometimes battle to the death.
"Do you know they kill those dogs if they don't perform?" Poindexter asked recently. "They kill them if they get hurt in the ring, and they think they might not live? I've learned a lot about dog fighting."
Neither Vick nor his attorney will comment on the investigation now, but previously Vick has said he had no knowledge of any dog fighting at the house and blamed relatives that "haven't been doing the right thing."
Vick owns various properties in the area, including a home in Suffolk's posh Riverfront subdivision where his mother lives. He's also building a home in Governor's Pointe, an upscale neighborhood on the Nansemond River. The land he owns there is valued at $473,800. The house is under construction.
Several county officials say they've heard concerns that Poindexter is protecting Vick because he is black. They say it all dates back to a decades-old racial rift in Surry, and that's when Poindexter was first hired as county attorney in 1972.
In a local civil rights movement, blacks in Surry organized, held voting registration drives and restructured county government, said Frank W. Jones, a former member of the county's Board of Supervisors. Back then, Jones, one of two whites left on the county board, didn't believe Poindexter was qualified for the county attorney job.
"I was the only board member who voted against him, and he's always held it against me," Jones said.
Poindexter and his wife, Gammiel, met at a training program in Atlanta after both had graduated from law school. They have two children together.
She opened her practice across the street from the historic courthouse. About four years later, she was elected commonwealth's attorney and then appointed General District Court judge in 1995. Gammiel Poindexter is a General District Court judge for the 6th Judicial Circuit and sits in the city of Hopewell and Sussex County. She doesn't hear cases in Surry.
Poindexter followed his wife as commonwealth's attorney in Surry and continued as county attorney as well - being paid for both jobs - until a few years ago.
Poindexter's term is up this year, and he is running for re-election in November. The previous two terms, he was unopposed.
Poindexter works in the same ramshackle wooden building he and his wife took over more than 30 years ago. Sitting along Rolfe Highway, the office has no sign to announce that the commonwealth's attorney resides inside.
Although the structure appears old, its faded green paint fits well with the rest of the small town. The main intersection is controlled only by flashing yellow and red lights.
Inside Poindexter's office, paintings of African animals such as elephants, zebras and lions, as well as photos of Poindexter's family, are everywhere.
"People here have been good to me," Poindexter said. "They know I'm fairly liberal, especially to young kids. I think, when they get in trouble, I don't want to mar them for life. The judges have been very compassionate.
"I have supporters and detractors, people involved with me and my wife. We've been treated fairly and thoughtfully. This is home."
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