Jailed Virginia Del. Joe Morrissey was ready to get down to business after winning re-election Tuesday, despite having resigned his seat in the state legislature following his conviction in a teen sex scandal.
Morrissey talked to TPM on Thursday by phone, and was coy when asked about Henrico County police’s eleventh-hour raid on his law office. The raid took place on Monday, the night before polls opened for the special election to replace himself.
“That story is going to play out, and there will be consequences,” he told TPM.
The raid suggested that another investigation has been opened in connection with a sexual relationship Morrissey allegedly had with his teenage former receptionist.
A special grand jury indicted the lawmaker last summer on felony charges that could have put him behind bars for more than 40 years. Then in December, Morrissey entered an Alford plea — meaning that he did not admit wrongdoing, but did admit that prosecutors had enough evidence to convict him — on a single misdemeanor charge of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
Morrissey was subsequently sentenced to six months in jail. A work-release agreement had allowed him to leave for 12 hours a day, seven days a week to practice law and to campaign — and now to legislate. This latest legal snag, though, has cast a shadow over Morrissey’s first days back in the Capitol.
The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported that detectives searched Morrissey’s office for allegedly fraudulent documents entered into court when the lawmaker was convicted in December, citing a search warrant.
An affidavit by Henrico police Detective Coby Kelley, also obtained by the Times-Dispatch, alleged that Morrissey’s legal team submitted fraudulent documents to the court showing that the father of the teenage receptionist owed child support payments.
The father, Coleman Pride, told local TV station WWBT that the support document was a “fabricated lie.”
Morrissey was vague when asked what action he’d take in the wake of the detectives’ visit. He told TPM that he has since met with the defense attorneys who represented him in court that day.
“What they’ve done is beyond shocking — listen, there’s gonna be consequences and we’re gonna follow this up,” he said. “That’s all I can say right now.”
The Washington Post reported the vast majority of Morrissey’s colleagues avoided speaking with him when the legislative session opened Wednesday. Morrissey was given no committee assignments, either.
The lawmaker had a rosier view of his first day back at the Capitol in his conversation with TPM.
“People were very kind, nobody had a mean word,” he said. “I’m just buckling down to do what I do best, and that’s to provide constituent service.”
After Morrissey, who ran as an independent, was declared the winner of the special election, members of both the majority and minority House leadership said they intended to explore their options for ousting the former Democrat. But many lawmakers privately acknowledged to the Washington Post that Morrissey’s re-election would make it difficult to expel him.
“I don’t think they can expel him based on crimes committed prior to being elected,” state Sen. J. Chapman Petersen (D) told the newspaper. He added that Morrissey’s successful re-election carried weight “legally and politically.”
Asked about the potential for censure or expulsion, Morrissey told TPM that he wouldn’t engage in speculation.
“I believe when that situation, if and when it arises, I will deal with it,” he said.
