Nelson commonwealth's attorney preparing private practice

For 18 years, Phil Payne has served as the Nelson County Commonwealth’s Attorney, a job he said he has really enjoyed.

“I get to be the guy in the white hat going after the bad guy,” Payne said.

But Payne isn’t ready to hang up his hat just yet. In January, he’ll venture back into private practice as a general practice lawyer after Anthony Martin takes over as commonwealth’s attorney following the November election.

Payne said he would also pursue business cases, since he has had a lot of experience from the county, and even would be happy to continue taking criminal cases.

“When I made the decision to withdraw my candidacy, we gave the impression that I was retiring to the farm,” he said. “That’s far from it. It was just time to make a transition.”

In his four and a half terms in office, Payne has tried thousands of cases. He described criminal law as invigorating, rewarding, intense, emotional, interesting and competitive.

Of the cases that have come across his desk, he said a few stand out.

One was the 1984 case of Edward Honaker, who was sentenced to several life sentences on multiple counts of sex crimes.

Payne received the case four months into the job. DNA evidence later exonerated Honaker and the governor pardoned him, but Payne said authorities have never stopped working on the case and still receive leads from time to time. This case will be passed on to Martin.

However, Payne said this is not the hardest case he has dealt with.

That was a child molestation case in the 1990s. The trial lasted for five days.

Child molestation cases are hard for several reasons, Payne said. One reason is that defendants will almost never plead guilty because they are in a state of denial, he said.

“It’s such a heinous crime,” he said. “People will admit to murder but almost never will admit to molestation.”

He also said that children are not good witnesses because they often delay reporting, they don’t know what to do and some blame themselves. There is also little to no medical evidence and juries have a hard time believing someone could commit a crime like that.

One of the important things about being commonwealth’s attorney is to use discretion and judgment when looking at a case, Payne said. The job is more about what isn’t done to a defendant than what is.

An example he provided was a theft case.

Say a 19 year-old steals from his grandmother but later admits it was a stupid action and expresses remorse.

Contrast that with a 33 year-old who has a history of felonies and thefts.

It’s the same crime but with two different sets of circumstances.

“It’s important to not put everyone through the grinder and turn out hundreds of felons,” he said. “Does it do any good to limit life’s opportunities right off the bat?”

Payne was sworn in as the Nelson County Commonwealth’s Attorney in April 1993 after winning a special election. The seat was opened when Joseph Serkes left the position to become a general district court judge.

Payne decided to run because one of his friends was an assistant commonwealth’s attorney in Norfolk and had told Payne it was a position he would enjoy.

“At the time it seemed like the right step,” Payne said.

Payne developed an interest in law at an early age.

When he was 11, he became enthralled with the 1964 presidential election and developed an interest in politics, which evolved into an interest in law.

Payne graduated with a degree in history from the University of Virginia in Charlottesville in 1976. When his father had a stroke in Payne’s last year of college, Payne decided to wait on law school and return home to help out with the family’s car dealership in Lovingston.

He also served as an artillery officer in the army for two and a half years where he was stationed around the United States including Oklahoma and Georgia.

In 1982, the dealership closed and Payne enrolled in law school. He attended Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C. for a year and then transferred to Washington and Lee University, from which he graduated magna cum laude.

After graduating from law school in 1985, Payne joined 70 lawyers at a Roanoke firm.

One of the lessons Payne’s learned from the job is that he is unable to please everyone.

“You can’t make everybody happy,” he said. “You have to accept that and deal with it accordingly.”

He has been able to find humor in criminal court as well.

One of Payne’s favorite experiences was when Serkes, who the commonwealth’s attorney at the time, was questioning a defendant on the stand. When Serkes asked the defendant if the officer had lied, the defendant responded, “No, he’s telling the wrong truth.”

Other attorneys regard Payne as a thorough lawyer.

“He treats every case with upmost importance,” said David Thelen, an attorney at Eggelston & Thelen in Lovingston.

Thelen has known Payne since Payne began working in Lovingston. The two have faced off in court numerous times.

“He’s well respected and a fine attorney,” Thelen said

Payne said he has enjoyed his time as the Commonwealth’s Attorney. Some of his favorite aspects with the job were the independence and only answering to the voters.

“I appreciated the opportunity to do this,” Payne said. “I think I’ve made a contribution. I hope it’s perceived that way. The time just came to do something different.”