Back in February, I predicted that the arrest of former Winchester Commonwealth’s Attorney Paul Thomson on five federal drug, witness and evidence-tampering charges would open the lid of the “tightly sealed Pandora’s box of cases he had won.” That may finally be happening. On Aug. 26, the Virginia State Bar’s Disciplinary Board revoked Thomson’s law license. The former prosecutor, who tested positive for cocaine, pleaded guilty and faces up to 38 months in federal prison when he is sentenced Sept. 26.
But one key question still hasn’t been answered: Since court records show that the 1994 arrest of Jeffrey Washington for the murder of Winchester drug dealer Carlos Marshall was clearly illegal, which an experienced prosecutor should have spotted immediately, was Thomson doing drugs when he sent Washington down the river?
