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Chester Brown assigned attorney in murder case

by | Jun 11, 2025

Chester Brown arrives at the Rappahannock County Courthouse for a hearing in January. (Photo/Ireland Hayes)

Chester Brown made his first court appearance via video from prison Tuesday after being charged last week with first-degree murder and strangulation of Doris Critzer, 74, a Washington resident who was found dead in her home in August 2023. 

Brown, 64, formerly from Washington, was arraigned on both charges and assigned a court-appointed attorney, Ryan Rakness, from Charlottesville, to represent him. Rakness served as an assistant commonwealth’s attorney in Orange County from 2010-2012. 

Brown said he specifically requested a pro bono attorney — a privately-practicing attorney who volunteers their services — rather than one from the public defender’s office, who is employed and paid by the government, because of the “seriousness of this case.” District Court Judge Jessica L. Foster assured Brown that Rakness fit his criteria. 

Brown is being held in the Lunenburg Correctional Center in Victoria, Va., about three hours from Rappahannock, serving a sentence on several gun charge convictions related to the theft of a revolver owned by Critzer. He will return to court, this time in person, on Aug. 5 for a preliminary hearing.

Author

  • Ireland Hayes

    Ireland joined Foothills Forum as a full-time reporter in 2023 after graduating from the University of Georgia’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication with a degree in journalism and minor in music. As a student, she gained valuable experience in reporter and editor positions at The Red & Black, an award-winning student newspaper, and contributed to Grady Newsource and the Athens Banner-Herald. She spent three years as an editorial assistant at Georgia Magazine, UGA’s quarterly alumni publication, and interned with The Bitter Southerner. Growing up in a small town in Southeast Georgia, Ireland developed a deep appreciation for rural communities and the unique stories they have to tell. She completed undergraduate research on news deserts, ghost papers and the ways rural communities in Georgia are being forced to adapt to a lack of local news. This research further sparked her interest in a career contributing to the preservation of local and rural news.

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By Ireland Hayes

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Ireland joined Foothills Forum as a full-time reporter in 2023 after graduating from the University of Georgia’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication with a degree in journalism and minor in music. As a student, she gained valuable experience in reporter and editor positions at The Red & Black, an award-winning student newspaper, and contributed to Grady Newsource and the Athens Banner-Herald. She spent three years as an editorial assistant at Georgia Magazine, UGA’s quarterly alumni publication, and interned with The Bitter Southerner. Growing up in a small town in Southeast Georgia, Ireland developed a deep appreciation for rural communities and the unique stories they have to tell. She completed undergraduate research on news deserts, ghost papers and the ways rural communities in Georgia are being forced to adapt to a lack of local news. This research further sparked her interest in a career contributing to the preservation of local and rural news.