Criminal – Severance – Theft Charges 
By Deborah Elkins
Published: August 18, 2008
The Court of Appeals upholds defendant’s convictions for grand larceny, statutory burglary and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, despite his claim that the trial court erred in not granting his pretrial motion to sever the charges for separate trials.
The evidence established that three burglaries took place in Fairfax County during the course of a [...]
Domestic Relations – Custody – UCCJEA – Jurisdiction
By Deborah Elkins
Published: August 18, 2008
The Court of Appeals says a Virginia trial court did not lack jurisdiction to award custody of a child to her biological mother, over the objection of her maternal grandparents in Kansas who cared for the child under Letters of Co-Guardianship until they returned the child to her mother in Virginia, but who later objected [...]
Domestic Relations – Custody – Independent Expert – Therapist Testimony
By Deborah Elkins
Published: August 18, 2008
Although father contends the trial court should have given more weight to certain recommendations from a mental health professional concerning visitation, the Court of Appeals affirms the decision that included an award of sole legal and primary physical custody of the parties’ children to father.
The trial court did not abuse its discretion in awarding custody [...]
Domestic Relations – Equitable Distribution – Installment Payment
By Deborah Elkins
Published: August 18, 2008
Although husband was entitled to an automatic stay when he filed a bankruptcy petition, the divorce court, in enforcing husband’s obligation to pay wife installment payments of the monetary award owed by husband, did not take any action that affected husband’s property or his bankruptcy estate during the 30-day automatic stay, and the Court of [...]
Domestic Relations – Post-Nuptial Agreement – Spousal Support – Permanent Separation
By Deborah Elkins
Published: August 18, 2008
Although the parties separated within the marital home in August 2005 with the intention to permanently separate, they did not accomplish that permanent separation until September 2005, and under their post-nuptial agreement (PNA), husband did not owe wife support until October 2005, the Court of Appeals holds; however, the court did err in requiring husband [...]
Domestic Relations – Custody – Grandmother Petition – Rule 5A:18
By Deborah Elkins
Published: August 18, 2008
A grandmother’s general objection to a primary physical custody award of her minor daughter’s infant to the proposed adoptive mother was not sufficient to preserve other issues the grandmother seeks to raise on appeal, according to the Court of Appeals.
Grandmother argues that she objected to the entire order, and her objection was that she did [...]
Criminal – ‘Actual Innocence’ Writ – Certificate Of Analysis – ‘Firearm’ Definition
By Deborah Elkins
Published: August 18, 2008
The Court of Appeals grants a writ of actual innocence and vacates a defendant’s conviction of firearm possession as a convicted felon, because an after-discovered certificate of the Department of Forensic Science demonstrated that the item tested was not a “firearm” under Va. Code § 18.2-308.2(A).
We conclude the unique circumstances of this case make it [...]
Search & Seizure – Pocket Pat-Down – Scope Of Frisk – Public Housing Trespass
By Deborah Elkins
Published: August 18, 2008
A Newport News police officer’s seizure of defendant after an initial consensual encounter was legal after the officer questioned defendant and determined he was trespassing at a public housing project, the Court of Appeals holds, and police did not exceed the scope of a permissible pat-down.
The consensual nature of the encounter changed when the officer [...]
Domestic Relations – Custody – UCCJEA – ‘Home State’ Jurisdiction
By Deborah Elkins
Published: August 18, 2008
A circuit court did not err in ruling that it was not an “inconvenient forum” under the Uniform Child Custody & Jurisdiction Enforcement Act to determine custody and visitation over three children who had lived in Virginia but whose mother took them to Maine and obtained an ex parte protective order and temporary custody order [...]
Consumer Protection – ‘Lemon Law’ – RV Motor Home
By Deborah Elkins
Published: August 18, 2008
A buyer’s breach of warranty claim under Virginia’s “Lemon Law” alleging defects in its Four Winds motor home can go forward against defendant manufacturer because the Big Stone Gap U.S. District Court cannot determine at this time whether the claim was timely filed under Va. Code § 59.1-207.16.
The motor home was purchased May 30, 2005 [...]
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