Circuit Court removes Commonwealth's Attorney office from case

This articles states that "A Halifax County judge . . . removed the Halifax commonwealth's attorney's office from a case after the defendant's attorney argued that a prosecutor made threatening comments" concerning the defendant. To be fair, the conversation at issue appears to have been between the Deputy Commonwealth's Attorney and "a former co-worker and friend," but that friend is now an employee of the defendant's attorney. The alleged comments were : if the defendant was not convicted, the prosecutor was going to "get" him for something; that the Deputy CA would "put out the word that [the defendant] was a snitch, and indicated that he should be dead"; and while making "a hand gesture resembling an aimed gun [he] stated, 'Right between the eyes,' and made a sound indicating the firing of the gun." The defense attorney did not contest the Deputy CA's assertion that he made the comments in jest, but, stuck between a rock and a hard place, she believed that filing the motion to disqualify "was necessary."