Criminal – Sentencing Guidelines – Statutory Maximum – Judicial Review 
By Deborah Elkins
Published: May 26, 2008
Although defendant contends the 43-year sentence imposed on his multiple felony convictions exceeded the recommended sentence under Virginia’s advisory sentencing guidelines, the sentence did not exceed the applicable statutory maximum and the Court of Appeals has no authority to review a judge’s sentence for failure to follow the guidelines.
The sentences imposed by the trial court [...]
Criminal – Murder – Pregnant Girlfriend
By Deborah Elkins
Published: May 26, 2008
A murder victim’s earlier casual statements to others that she was pregnant and that defendant, her boyfriend, was the father, were not testimonial statements under Crawford v. Washington, 541 U.S. 36 (2004), and the Court of Appeals holds the trial court did not err in admitting the statements at defendant’s trial for first-degree murder.
The statements [...]
Domestic Relations – Marital Property – Wife’s Business – Goodwill Value
By Deborah Elkins
Published: May 26, 2008
Although the divorce court did not list wife’s insurance business itself as marital property, the court did include all its assets in equitable distribution, and the Court of Appeals rejects husband’s claim the trial court did not adequately value goodwill.
Goodwill does not exist in every business, nor is goodwill easy to value without expert testimony. [...]
Domestic Relations – Appeals – Rule 5A:18 – Marital Home
By Deborah Elkins
Published: May 26, 2008
Although wife contends she has three agreements signed by husband promising that if they divorced, he would continue to pay the mortgage on the marital home and she would own it, she never argued in the trial court that the agreements were enforceable contracts and the Court of Appeals upholds the trial court decision that [...]
Domestic Relations – Spousal Support – Interior Design Business – PSA – Scrivener’s Error
By Deborah Elkins
Published: May 26, 2008
A wife is entitled to $10,000 in monthly spousal support at the end of the parties’ 26-year marriage, based on her evidence as to her monthly expenses and husband’s stipulation that he could support her in the lifestyle she enjoyed during the marriage, but the parties’ correspondence does not support husband’s contention that the property [...]
An electronic ‘leash’
By Peter Vieth
Published: May 26, 2008
A case involving a convicted embezzler could resolve whether a sentencing judge has any say about the early release of a state inmate for home electronic monitoring.
Judith Brumfield of Gretna was convicted in 2006 of stealing from her employer, a local contractor. Sentenced to three years in prison and ordered to repay $80,000, she asked [...]
Administrative – Driver Training School – Teaching For Pay
By Deborah Elkins
Published: May 26, 2008
A commercial school for truck drivers regulated by the Department of Motor Vehicles did not violate DMV regs when it used a mechanic who was training to be an instructor to teach a class of five drivers, when DMV agents inspected a class in progress; the Court of Appeals reverses the judgment against the driving [...]
Environmental – Facility Classification – Materials Recovery
By Deborah Elkins
Published: May 26, 2008
A circuit court properly upheld a classification of a business park’s proposed facility by the Department of Environmental Quality as a materials recovery facility, not a recycling center, under DEQ’s waste management regulations; the Court of Appeals affirms the circuit court decision.
The first issue presented is whether the trial court erred in finding that DEQ’s [...]
Criminal – Felony Eluding – Suspected Drunken Driver
By Deborah Elkins
Published: May 26, 2008
A driver first clocked at 72 mph in a 35-mph zone, who continued to drive erratically and ignored an officer’s emergency lights for two miles, can be convicted of felony eluding under Va. Code § 46.2-817(B), the Court of Appeals holds.
The statute forbids a person, after seeing or hearing a police officer’s command to stop, [...]
Richmond judges prep for changes
By Alan Cooper
Published: May 26, 2008
Richmond Circuit Court was unique in two respects.
It operated out of two courthouses, and seven of the eight judges typically heard only civil or criminal cases.
The first distinction ended last year, when all circuit court operations in the Manchester Courthouse in South Richmond moved to the John Marshall Courts Building at Eighth and Marshall streets.
On [...]
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