Embracery charges against lawyer dismissed

A circuit judge yesterday dismissed embracery charges against a Charlottesville lawyer, reports The Daily Progress.

Deborah C. Wyatt has been accused of improperly attempting to influence a grand jury. In December 2004, she contacted members of a grand jury investigating whether to charge one of her clients, offering herself as a witness. Prosecutors charged her with embracery, a common-law offense.

But Judge William H. Ledbetter Jr. said it would be a “grave injustice” for the case to go to trial. He noted that her actions were out of the ordinary, but not illegal.