Portsmouth’s top public defender named a judge, months after police charged her in Confederate monument case

Portsmouth’s longtime chief public defender, Brenda Spry, will become the city’s newest Circuit Court judge after the General Assembly voted Tuesday night to appoint her to the bench.

Spry has been a public defender in the city for three decades, leading the office for nearly 13 of those years.

Along with state Sen. Louise Lucas, a School Board member and NAACP leadership, Spry was one of 19 people charged last year in the June protest and vandalism at Portsmouth’s Confederate monument. At the request of the city’s top prosecutor, who said she’d found insufficient evidence to take any of the defendants to trial, a judge dismissed all charges in the case in November.

Advocates for those charged have questioned the motivation and timing of the charges, which were announced a day before a special legislative session during which Lucas and others pushed for policing reform.

On Tuesday, 33 senators voted to approve Spry, including Lucas and state Sen. Mamie Locke, who represent Portsmouth. Sen. John Cosgrove, whose district includes part of Portsmouth, did not vote.

In the House, Spry got 51 votes, the minimum number needed to secure the job. Del. Don Scott, who represented Lucas in the monument case, voted in favor of approving Spry. Del. Steve Heretick did not vote.

Nearly all of those who voted for her were Democrats, though Republican Del. Todd Gilbert also voted yes. Most Republicans didn’t vote, and two delegates from each party abstained.

Spry did not return a call seeking comment Wednesday. Her eight-year term is set to begin Feb. 16.

Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee and House Courts Judicial Panel met together virtually in December to interview potential judges and those seeking reappointment across the state.

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When Spry went to law school, she wasn’t sure it was the career she’d want forever, but she ended up stumbling into a profession that was built for her, she told the legislators in her Dec. 11 interview.

She’s been in court as a public defender nearly every day for 30 years: “There’s no place like it.”

“I love the fact that the law is kind of fused with the community, that you get to see the law have a real-life application to people that come before you,” Spry said in her interview.

Spry took over as the city’s top public defender in 2008. She replaced John H. “Jay” Underwood III, who was named the city’s first public defender in 1986.

She has a criminal justice degree from Old Dominion University and a law degree from the College of William and Mary.

Also Tuesday night, the General Assembly reappointed several local judges to another term:

Norfolk Circuit Judge Junius P. Fulton III
Norfolk General District Judge Tasha D. Scott
Norfolk Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Judge Lyn M. Simmons
Virginia Beach General District Judge Vivian Henderson
Newport News General District Judge Tyneka L. D. Flythe
Newport News General District Judge M. Scott Stein
Hampton General District Judge Tonya Henderson-Stith

Margaret Matray, 757-222-5216, margaret.matray@pilotonline.com