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Eric Clingan, the former lead prosecutor who helped build the Fairfax County murder case against Brendan Banfield and Juliana Peres Magalhães, is speaking publicly about the drinking-in-public citation that preceded his removal from the case and eventual firing.

Clingan, 57, said mounting anxiety from his workload—particularly the Banfield prosecution—and pressures at home contributed to the August incident. The misdemeanor charge was later dismissed, but his career inside the Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office still came to an end shortly before Banfield went to trial.

Clingan is now preparing for a different role in the courtroom: defending people accused of crimes.

Building the Banfield case

Clingan served as a senior deputy commonwealth’s attorney and became the lead prosecutor after Fairfax County police investigated a fatal stabbing and shooting inside Banfield’s Herndon home in February 2023.

Eight months later, Peres Magalhães, a Brazilian au pair, was charged with fatally shooting Joseph Ryan inside the house. Clingan said prosecutors initially believed they could prove she shot Ryan while he was lying prone and no longer posed a threat.

About a year later, Banfield was indicted on aggravated murder charges in the deaths of Ryan and Banfield’s wife, Christine.

Prosecutors alleged that Banfield, who was having an affair with Peres Magalhães, impersonated his wife on a fetish website to lure a man to the home. Their theory was that he intended to kill Christine and Ryan, then portray the deaths as the result of an interrupted home invasion.

Clingan said investigators and prosecutors believed they understood what happened, but converting that theory into a provable case required laboratory work, expert analysis and additional evidence.

Banfield was found guilty last week of two counts of aggravated murder, using a firearm in the commission of a felony and child endangerment. Clingan, however, was not at the prosecution table.

A citation in a Centreville parking lot

Police cited Clingan for drinking alcohol in public, a Class 4 misdemeanor, in August after responding to an animal hospital in the 5000 block of Westfields Boulevard in Centreville.

A caller reported seeing a man drinking beer and smoking cigarettes in the parking lot. Police body-camera footage showed Clingan acknowledging that he had been drinking from a beer bottle resting on the hood of his vehicle.

An officer who recognized him drove him home and allowed him to sit in the cruiser’s front passenger seat at his request.

Court records show the case was dismissed in October. Clingan said he was not present in court, but his attorney, Christopher Leibig, obtained the dismissal.

Clingan said Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano removed him from the Banfield prosecution on Oct. 15, 2025.

Looking back, Clingan said his anxiety had risen to a level he had not fully recognized. Within days of the citation, he visited his doctor and began working with a mental health professional to understand how he reached that point.

He said therapy helped him revisit the episode and learn to recognize when his anxiety is escalating so he can intervene earlier.

Watching the body-camera footage forced him to confront the incident’s reality, Clingan said. He added that people interacting with officers should remain respectful and professional regardless of whether a camera is recording.

Fired days before the trial

Clingan said he was fired several days before Banfield’s trial began on Jan. 12, 2026. He described the termination as wrongful and unfair and said he is pursuing litigation.

A spokesperson for Descano’s office confirmed the termination date but declined to address Clingan’s characterization, citing the matter’s status as a personnel issue.

Despite his firing, Clingan attended the trial. He compared his position to that of a head coach watching from outside the sidelines after assembling the team and its playbook.

Clingan said he felt compelled to see the case through from the courtroom because of the central role he had played in developing the prosecution and seeking justice.

A return to criminal defense

Before spending 25 years as a prosecutor, Clingan worked as a defense attorney and public defender. He has now launched Fairfax-based Clingan Law, where he expects to focus primarily on criminal defense and DUI cases.

Clingan said his prosecutorial experience taught him both how cases are constructed and how they can be challenged. As a defense lawyer, he said, his responsibility will be to test whether the government handled a case properly and identify weaknesses in its prosecution.

He also wants to help clients recover from isolated mistakes that, in his view, should not define the rest of their lives.