Criminal – Mistrial Motion – Murder – Polygraph Questions 
By Deborah Elkins
Published: July 21, 2008
The Court of Appeals says that at defendant’s murder trial, the trial court did not err in refusing to declare a mistrial after repeatedly sustaining defense objections to a persistent prosecutor’s attempts to suggest to the jury that federal drug agents never asked the cooperating witness to take a polygraph exam because they believed his [...]
Domestic Relations – Spousal Support – Military Pension
By Deborah Elkins
Published: July 21, 2008
A retired military man who objects to paying $500 in monthly spousal support to the wife he married in Korea, in addition to her share of his military pension, wins remand of the spousal support award by the Court of Appeals because the trial court failed to issue written findings of fact and conclusions of [...]
Creditor’s Rights – Foreclosure Sale – Newspaper Ad Notice – Va. Law
By Deborah Elkins
Published: July 21, 2008
A Charlottesville U.S. District Court upholds the foreclosure sale of a woman’s Nelson County property even though she claims the newspaper notice of the sale in the Nelson County Times for the sale was deficient under Va. Code § 55-59.3 because the notice did not carry the street address of her son’s double-wide trailer in [...]
Negligence – Negligent Hiring – Independent Contractor – Truck Driver
By Deborah Elkins
Published: July 21, 2008
On post-trial motions, a Roanoke U.S. District Court holds that plaintiff injured in an accident with a tractor-trailer presented sufficient evidence to support the notion that the deceased driver’s inexperience and incompetence as a driver was a significant contributing factor to the accident without which the head-on collision with the plaintiff’s tractor-trailer would not have [...]
Insurance – Policy Coverage – Vehicle Theft – Cooperation
By Deborah Elkins
Published: July 21, 2008
A Roanoke U.S. Magistrate Judge says a policyholder who filed an insurance claim for the theft of a van breached his insurance contract’s requirement that he cooperate with the insurance company when failed to respond to correspondence and insisted on undergoing an examination under oath in Arlington County, where the vehicle was garaged, rather than [...]
Civil Rights – Warrantless Entry – Noise Complaint – Trespass
By Deborah Elkins
Published: July 21, 2008
A deputy sheriff who suspected an underage drinking party and entered plaintiff’s home with the stepparent of a girl whose car was parked outside, after knocking 25 times, does not have qualified immunity from the homeowner’s civil rights suit, and the deputy’s warrantless entry was not excused under the emergency or community caretaker doctrine, a [...]
Criminal – Sentencing – Bank Robbery – Firearm Use
By Deborah Elkins
Published: July 21, 2008
In sentencing a defendant apprehended and convicted in 2007 for a bank robbery committed in 1989, an Abingdon U.S. District Court applying the federal sentencing guidelines in effect in 1989 for a four-level enhancement finds defendant “otherwise used” the gun by cocking it and pointing it at bank tellers as he ordered them to give [...]
Insurance – Life Insurance Proceeds – ERISA – Preemption
By Deborah Elkins
Published: July 21, 2008
An Alexandria U.S. District Court remands to Virginia state court this dispute between a woman whose divorce decree required husband to maintain their minor child as the beneficiary under his employee life insurance policy, and the husband’s brother who was made the policy beneficiary prior to husband’s death.
The mother filed suit in state court on [...]
Civil Procedure – Complete Diversity – LLC Joinder
By Deborah Elkins
Published: July 21, 2008
A Massachusetts citizen who is suing individual members of a Virginia LLC that operates a Fairfield Inn (Mariott) Hotel in Chester, Virginia, has her suit alleging civil conspiracy and fraud dismissed by the Richmond U.S. District Court because the LLC must be joined as a party, thus destroying complete diversity.
The court notes that the complaint [...]
Employment Discrimination – National Origin – Race – VDOT Manager
By Deborah Elkins
Published: July 21, 2008
A black male naturalized U.S. citizen of Nigerian origin has his employment discrimination claim against the Virginia Department of Transportation dismissed by the Richmond U.S. District Court, as plaintiff failed to reapply for the position after VDOT posted it a second time and employer had a legitimate business reason for its choice.
The pro se plaintiff, [...]
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