Very likely.
Chris' lawyer likely has the "delay until barb dies or forgets" strategy.
It really all depends on what evidence they have on Chris, something that we will likely never know, but Chris and his lawyer do know. If the evidence is just "barb said" and a confession then they want to delay as long as possible.
They could, but that would be more leverage for a plea deal rather than something they'd do unilaterally. Fuck around too much and the prosecution can turn the screws.
1 year is the maximum PUNISHMENT for a misdemeanor, pretrial detention is not considered a punishment. All pretrial detention is, is a guarantee that you will show up to court and/or not disturb victims/public.
People have waited in jail for years voluntarily to try to get off from a misdemeanor, especially if it is a sexual offense.
Finally, I could be wrong but isn't Chris facing a "wobbler" offense? It could be a misdemeanor or a felony.
In most places you can't be held in remand longer than the maximum sentence.
Yes, it is a wobbler, however it would be odd to be held in Virginia for over a year without an indictment. It would mean that Chris is being held in jail longer than the maximum sentence that the court he's in could sentence him to.
The argument could be made that because it's potentially a felony, they can hold him longer even though he hasn't been indicted. There are a few places where this *does* happen. It seems to mostly happen in Mississippi, and it is a point of contention there.
I haven't been able to find an example of someone in Virginia held for longer than a year without an indictment. There was an example in neighboring West Virginia of a man held a few weeks longer, but it was considered a mistake and a judge fixed it quickly when he was made aware.
The other way they can keep him in jail longer than a year without an indictment is if they have brought more misdemeanor charges, on the grounds that they would be served consecutively, however by Virginia law that would require that the charges be for more than one distinct act (In Virginia you cannot sentence on multiple charges for one act, it's basically double jeopardy, but slightly stronger than the US constitution guarantee as it doesn't require that the requirements of one charge be entirely encompasssed by another. For instance, the Supreme Court of Virginia has ruled that you can't be charged for robbing a store and then also be charged for receiving stolen goods when the clerk hands them to you, even though the requirements do not completely overlap.)
I haven't found any information on a maximum for consecutively-served sentences for misdemeanors in Virginia. It's probably buried in the court rules rather than in statute. But as an example of how this could work, in neighboring North Carolina the rules are set such that you can't be sentenced consecutively for more than twice the length of the most serious misdemeanor.
Regardless of all this, based on the behavior of the court and the information we have from Chris, all indications seem to point to Chris getting out after one year unless Chris spectacularly fucks up his hearing.
