Fair. Trusted. Reporting in Rappahannock County and across Virginia’s Piedmont.

Donate

In partnership with the

Chester Brown fires attorneys — again — and will represent himself in murder trial

by | Aug 20, 2026

Chester Brown arrives at the Rappahannock County Courthouse Thursday morning, March 21, 2024. (Photo/Ireland Hayes)

Judge: ‘You’re making a terrible decision’

Chester Brown has yet again fired his attorneys and has chosen to represent himself in his upcoming trial for the murder and strangulation of Doris Critzer three years ago in her Washington home. 

Brown appeared in Rappahannock County Circuit Court last Wednesday with his attorney, public defender Paul Fore, and another attorney from the Public Defender Office after Fore filed over 20 pre-trial motions on Brown’s behalf. Brown is scheduled to stand trial Oct. 26.

The motions ranged from a request for DNA evidence to be released and retested by the defense to requesting Commonwealth’s Attorney Art Goff be replaced with a special prosecutor. 

In the midst of a nearly two-hour hearing, Brown whispered to Fore, after which Fore asked Judge Robert Smith for a brief recess to talk to his client. After several minutes, Brown and his attorneys returned, and Fore asked for the Public Defender Office to be dismissed. He announced to the judge that there had been a “breakdown in communication” with his client, and Brown had requested to represent himself. 

The judge noted that this is the second time Brown has dismissed his attorney in the case. The Public Defender Office was appointed after Brown’s former attorney Ryan Rakness, a seasoned trial attorney and former assistant commonwealth’s attorney in Orange County, asked to be dismissed from the case in December following requests in open court by Brown for new counsel.

“I’m not here to save you from yourself,” Smith said. He added that he’s “not supposed to” offer advice from the bench, but told Brown, “You’re making a terrible decision.”

Goff asserted that Brown was “being ably represented” by the public defenders and he could “see no reason” for them to be dismissed. 

Brown said although he agreed that his attorneys are qualified to represent him, he felt they were not putting enough effort toward his case.

“Both are quite qualified, and I’ve never doubted their abilities,” Brown said. “It’s the effort that determines [it].”

“[Fore] filed 21 motions, talk about effort,” Smith said. 

Brown will now represent himself in the trial, but Fore and co-counsel Ryan Ruzic — another public defender who was not present — will remain on the case as “advisory counsel.”

After the hearing, Brown was returned to Lunenburg Correctional Center in Victoria, Va., where he is being held awaiting trial.



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.
Republish License

Our stories may be republished online or in print under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. We ask that you edit only for style or to shorten, provide proper attribution and link to our website. AP and Getty images may not be republished. Please see our republishing guidelines for use of any other photos and graphics.

By Ireland Hayes

Read more articles by 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.