Addison Reflects on 20 Years in Commonwealth's Attorney's Office

By Sam Thrift Tuesday, January 03, 2012

Eileen Addison concluded her tenure as York-Poquoson Commonwealth’s Attorney last week, after 20 years of working in the office. During that time Addison worked every homicide and estimates she handled about 20,000 cases.

Beginning as an Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney in 1991, Addison had three years to understand the intricacies of the position before being elected as the York-Poquoson Commonwealth's Attorney in 1994. She lost her bid for re-election to Ben Hahn, her former deputy who challenged her in the Republican primary.

“I had a pretty good idea of what the job would demand [when I was elected],” Addison said. “But over the years, the complexity and number of cases increased dramatically.”

Addison said her most memorable case was the abduction, robbery and murder of Eric Nesbitt, an airman from Langley Air Force Base. It was a case that spanned over 12 years, resulting in a death penalty verdict that was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court and later commuted by a local judge to life in prison, and ending with the Virginia State Bar charging Addison with misconduct.

In August 1996, Daryl Atkins and William Jones abducted the 21-year-old airman from a convenience store and forced him to withdraw money from an ATM. They then took Nesbitt to a deserted field in Yorktown, where Atkins shot the victim eight times, killing him.

Atkins was tried and sentenced to death in 1998. Appeals took the case through the state Supreme Court, then to the U.S. Supreme Court to determine whether executing someone who had a low I.Q. - like Atkins - constituted cruel and unusual punishment. In Jan. 2008, a York County judge commuted Atkins' death sentence to life in prison because of accusations that prosecutors coached Jones to produce testimony against Atkins that would match the evidence.

Misconduct charges later brought by the Virginia State Bar against Addison and another attorney were dropped in July 2010 because of a lack of evidence supporting the claim.

“To have it drag on for that many years was cruel to the family,” Addison said.

Addison faced charges of professional misconduct a second time, with the Virginia State Bar agreeing to publicly reprimand the attorney in August 2011 for failing to disclose evidence to the defense in another murder trial. (Read about the case here.) Addison said she did regret that she let a friend’s terminal illness distract her during the case, leading to the miscommunications and misunderstandings that resulted in the reprimand.

The misconduct hearings were mentioned multiple times by Addison’s successor Ben Hahn during the run-up to the Republican primary in August. (Click here to read more about the election.)

Addison said the political aspect of the position was something that she didn’t expect to be as difficult as it was.

“I was never crazy about the political parts of this job, especially for this election,” Addison said. “It was full of personal attacks and the Daily Press was particularly one-sided. I had to demand that they interview me and then they wouldn’t run what I said.”

After 20 years in the Commonwealth’s Attorney's office, Addison said a big disappointment for her was the negative publicity she received in her final months in office, which overshadowed many of the positive things the office had accomplished.

Addison said the hardest, but also most gratifying, part of her job was working with the victims and victims' families.

“No matter what you do in the judicial system you will never bring a loved one back or undo the harm that’s been done to them,” Addison said. “That is the most difficult thing.”

Hahn will take over cases this week. Addison said he is prepared and she wishes him the best.

“He’s going to have his hands full, but I will be available to help if he needs,” Addison said. “But he’s been there and knows how to do it. I hope he supports his staff and they will support him.”

Although Thursday was Addison’s last day as the Commonwealth’s Attorney, she will continue to practice law with the Williamsburg Law Group as a criminal defense attorney.

“It’s been a privilege for me and I’m certainly grateful,” Addison said.