Virginia judge sets aside guilty verdict against former school superintendent

A judge on Wednesday set aside a guilty verdict against a former Virginia school system superintendent who was convicted of a retaliatory firing of a teacher who reported that an elementary school student inappropriately touched her. The judge ordered a new trial for ex-Loudoun County Superintendent Scott Ziegler, who was convicted last year on a misdemeanor count of violating the state’s conflict of interest laws for allegedly firing the teacher in retaliation for her testimony to a special grand jury that was investigating him. Judge Douglas Fleming's ruling eliminates the only conviction obtained by Republican Attorney General Jason Miyares in a high-profile investigation of the Loudoun County school system.