DISTRICT 5

Michael C. Lonchar

I am the Public Defender for the Town and County of Bedford, where I have been defending the indigent since 2005. I am a 1993 graduate of the University of Delaware and a 1996 graduate of the University of Richmond’s T.C. Williams School of Law. I have served two terms as the President of the Bedford Bar Association, as well as been a member of the Standards of Practice Enforcement Panel for the VIDC. I have been involved in both the Gideon’s Promise training and leadership programs. I have been a faculty member and a speaker at the VIDC Boot Camp and enjoy mentoring new public defenders. I have also served on the VACDL Board of Directors for the past six years as the representative for the 5th Congressional District. During that time, I have been on the CLE Committee and both planned and presented at the VACDL seminars.

I believe that this is a crucial time to be a criminal defense lawyer, as we are poised to make huge changes within the system. Our collective experiences make us uniquely situated to be leaders in the criminal justice reform movement. My experience in a smaller jurisdiction has been beneficial to the Board by providing perspective to those from larger jurisdictions about issues common in a small jurisdiction as well as shedding light on how systemic our common problems are. Additionally, as a career public defender, I am passionate about providing zealous and high-quality legal representation to those not able to afford to hire their own attorney. My involvement with Gideon’s Promise has instilled a passion for training new lawyers with a zealous client centered focus, a passion I have been able to share with other members of the VACDL through the annual conference with my work on the CLE Committee. I believe that my background and experiences make me an ideal candidate to continue for another term on the VACDL Board and I hope to have the honor of continuing to serve you as such going forward.

DISTRICT 6

Seth C. Weston

I am a sole practitioner operating my own law firm, the Law Office of Seth C. Weston, PLC, in Roanoke. I am a past President of the VACDL and a past Chair of the Criminal Bar Section of the Virginia State Bar. I have had a unique legal career that has seen me go from patrolling the streets around the U.S. Supreme Court as a police officer to presenting a case to the U.S. Supreme Court as a lawyer after it granted certiorari based upon my arguments during a criminal trial in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia. I was a police officer with the Metropolitan Police Department, Washington, D.C., for approximately 12 years, serving as a patrol officer, an investigator in the First District Gun Recovery Unit (a vice unit investigating illegal firearms), a patrol Sergeant, an Agent in the Office of Internal Affairs, the assistant in charge of all testing at the Police Academy, and ending my career as a detective Sergeant in the Seventh District. I received numerous honors and awards throughout his career, including being recognized as a “Top Cop” by the National Association of Police Organizations for investigative work in a pipe bombing case, which was featured on America’s Most Wanted. I accomplished all this while attending the George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School at night and working full time as a law enforcement officer. In 2003, I began my career as a lawyer as an Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney for the City of Roanoke, after which I opened my own law practice in 2006. I regularly try cases in all levels of federal and state courts throughout the greater Roanoke Valley and Southwest Virginia and have appeared before and argued cases at all levels of the Virginia and United States appellate courts. Lastly, and most importantly, I am blessed with an incredible wife and three beautiful children and am thankful every day for them as they are a blessing far outweighing any right I have to expect such a blessing.

DISTRICT 8

G. Rex Flynn, Jr.

DISTRICT 9

Vikram Kapil

Vikram Kapil is the Chief Public Defender for the Counties of Halifax, Mecklenburg and Lunenburg, Virginia. He has been the Chief Public Defender for the City of Martinsville, Counties of Henry and Patrick, Virginia. He practices and practiced law and criminal defense in Virginia, and North Carolina as a public defender, court-appointed counsel and in private practice. Vikram became a member of the Virginia State Bar in 1993.

Vikram was born in Youngstown, OH to immigrant parents from India and grew up in Richmond, VA. He attended the University of Virginia, College of Arts and Sciences for his undergraduate degree. After working as a molecular biology researcher at the University of Maryland at Baltimore, School of Medicine and the University of Maryland Cancer Center, Vikram attended Law School in Washington, DC. He obtained his Juris Doctor from the University of the District of Columbia School of Law in 1993.

Vikram has presented and served on planning committees at VIDC’s Bootcamps, SharkATAC (Advanced Trial Advocacy College), New Attorney Training for Court-Appointed Counsel; The Supreme Court of Virginia’s Advanced Indigent Defense Seminar (Former Chair); the Virginia State Bar’s Capital Defense Seminar and The Virginia Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers' Annual CLE program.

Vikram currently serves as a member of the Board for the Virginia Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. Vikram serves as the chairman of the Strike Force/JIRC Committee of VACDL.  He served as President of the Virginia Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers in 2017. He currently also serves as a member of the Board of Directors for the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

VACDL REGION E

(CONTESTED SEAT. Please read Region E description below to determine eligibility:

Region E [Western Virginia, including Charlottesville, Martinsville, Roanoke, Lynchburg, Blacksburg and surrounding areas including the 16th (Charlottesville, Albemarle, Culpeper, Fluvanna, Goochland, Greene, Louisa, Madison, Orange), 21st, Martinsville, Henry, Patrick), 22nd (Danville, Franklin, Pittsylvania), 23rd, Roanoke, Salem, Roanoke County), 24th (Bedford, Lynchburg, Amherst, Bedford County, Campbell, Nelson), 27th (Galax, Radford, Bland, Carroll, Floyd, Giles, Grayson, Montgomery, Pulaski, Wythe), 28th (Bristol, Smyth, Washington), 29th (Buchanan, Dickerson, Russell, Tazewell), 30th (Norton, Lee, Scott, Wise) Judicial Districts]

Thomas R. Scott, Jr.

I’ve practiced law with the Street Law Firm for 49 years in Grundy, Va. (Buchanan County), until June 15, 2026, when I established my own firm identified below my signature line. 

I’m licensed in Virginia and Tennessee. I practice primarily in far Southwestern Virginia and Northeast Tennessee. I’ve been a Super Lawyer every year since 2000, inductee in the Virginia Lawyers Hall of Fame, Av rated, Fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers, Leader in the Law, Fellow in the Va. Law Foundation, and two-time Chairman of the VSB Disciplinary Board where I served for 13 years. 

I’ve also taught (and continue to teach) law school at ASL for 25 years, where I’ve taught Evidence, Trial Advocacy, Criminal Practice, Professional Responsibility (Ethics), and Insurance Law. I’m not an adjunct; my title is Distinguished Visiting Professor of Law. 

I’m currently a LLM candidate in Trial Advocacy at the Beasley School of Law at Temple University in Philadelphia, PA. I plan to graduate in May of 2027. 

I was also the special prosecutor in Commonwealth v. Roger Keith Coleman, in 1982, which attracted national and international media attention in 1991- 1992, and is the subject of John Tucker’s book “May God Have Mercy.” Then Governor Mark Warner ordered post-execution DNA testing in 1996, which confirmed we got it right all along and Coleman was the rapist and killer. 

 M. Lee Smallwood, II

I’m Lee Smallwood, the deputy public defender for the City of Danville finishing up my 20th year with our office. I’m running in Region E. In my first two terms on the VACDL board, my focus has primarily been on the legislative and judicial committees. I have found participating in appellate judicial vacancy interviews to be particularly rewarding. I’m a native of Bluefield, WV and a graduate of Richmond Law.

AT LARGE SEAT 4

Shawn Stout

My name is Shawn Stout, and I am interested in representing YOU, "At Large", on the VACDL Board of Directors. I have been rabidly engaged in the practice of criminal defense for 14 1/2 years, first in private practice and for the last 6 years as a Senior Assistant Public Defender in Prince William County. I served on the VACDL board for more than half of my years in practice, until I was unceremoniously ousted due to so-called "term limits." VACDL has been a huge part of my journey as an attorney, and I would love to get back in there and help the organization continue to be an asset to our badass community in its fight against the forces of evil.

PRESIDENT-ELECT (2-year term; will serve as VACDL President 2029-2030)

David W. Anderson

Dave Anderson is the Deputy Public Defender for the Hampton Office of the Public Defender. He started his career with the VIDC in the Hampton Office, working his way from an Assistant, to Senior Assistant, to Chief Deputy. Throughout his career, he has represented thousands of clients and tried a wide variety of cases, ranging from trespassing to murder cases and mandatory life rape cases. Dave is the appellate supervisor for his office and has argued in front of the Virginia Supreme Court and Court of Appeals with several merits opinions including a published reversal on 4th Amendment grounds. He is also a repeat faculty member for the VIDC’s Bootcamp for new public defenders. Dave also serves as the vice president for the Virginia Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers helping advance the practice of criminal defense across the Commonwealth. He is excited to continue his work in leadership for VACDL.

---ALL VOTING IS CONDUCTED VIA ELECTRONIC BALLOT. Please contact VACDL's Executive Director at vacdlawyers@gmail.com if you are a member in good standing and did not receive the ballot link---