Pro se Noncompliance Defeats Appeal

Nail Salon Lease is ‘Unconscionable’

By Deborah Elkins
Published: October 11, 2011
Tags: Fairfax County Circuit Court, Judge Lorraine Nordlund, Real Estate, Virginia Circuit Courts

A landlord on a commercial lease for a nail salon cannot enforce a guaranty signed by the lessee’s wife because the guaranty is unconscionable and unenforceable; a Fairfax Circuit Court says the guaranty effectively converts wife from a guarantor to a gratuitous surety with primary liability and little chance to defend against plaintiff realty company’s [...]

Wrongful Death Verdict Is ‘Excessive’

By Deborah Elkins
Published: October 11, 2011
Tags: Charlottesville Circuit Court, Judge Edward Hogshire, Negligence, Virginia Circuit Courts

In this wrongful death case, a Charlottesville Circuit Court finds plaintiff Isaiah Lester’s jury award of $6,227,000 as the beneficiary of his wife’s estate grossly disproportionate to the injuries actually suffered, and the court will remit $4,127,000, leaving him with an award of $2,100,000 adjusted for interest. The court also orders plaintiffs’ counsel to pay [...]

Residence Not Marital, Award Reversed

By Deborah Elkins
Published: October 11, 2011
Tags: Domestic Relations, Per Curiam Opinion, Virginia Court of Appeals

The Court of Appeals reverses and remands the trial court order awarding wife 45 percent of the marital residence, but affirms its findings as to husband’s waste of retirement funds, marital classification of jewelry in wife’s possession and award of spousal support to wife. Husband and wife were married 20 years before their separation in [...]

Spattering Deputy Was Assault

By Deborah Elkins
Published: October 11, 2011
Tags: Criminal, Judge Larry G. Elder, Virginia Court of Appeals

The Court of Appeals affirms defendant’s bench trial conviction for felony assault of a police officer based on evidence showing defendant threw liquid at an inmate within three feet of a deputy; spraying the deputy was the natural and probable consequence of defendant’s action and the statute does not require intentional selection based on law [...]

Flight & Resisting Not Obstruction

By Deborah Elkins
Published: October 11, 2011
Tags: Criminal, Judge Jere M.H. Willis Jr., Virginia Court of Appeals

Defendant wins reversal of his conviction for obstructing justice but his convictions for possessing cocaine and multiple offense habitual offender driving are affirmed by the Court of Appeals. One October evening, two city patrol officers observed defendant and a woman in a car with a license plate bearing an expiration date sticker that conflicted with [...]

Marijuana in Suitcases Supports Transport Conviction

By Deborah Elkins
Published: October 11, 2011
Tags: Criminal, Judge Jean Harrison Clements, Virginia Court of Appeals

The Court of Appeals affirms defendant’s bench trial conviction for transporting over five pounds of marijuana into Virginia in violation of Va. Code §18.2-248.01 based on circumstantial evidence surrounding the arresting officer’s discovery of the marijuana in suit cases during a consensual search. One December day, defendant was driving alone on the interstate in Virginia [...]

Circumstantial Evidence Proved Gun Possession

By Deborah Elkins
Published: October 11, 2011
Tags: Criminal, Judge Robert J. Humphreys, Virginia Court of Appeals

The Court of Appeals affirms defendant’s jury trial conviction for firearm possession by a violent felon based on circumstantial evidence surrounding a police officer’s discovery of a rifle after a masked man in camouflage clothing with defendant’s first name confronted two witnesses. Defendant’s son was beaten by twins one day in November. Around 8 p.m. [...]

Girlfriend Beating Is ‘Malicious’ Bodily Injury

By Deborah Elkins
Published: October 11, 2011
Tags: Criminal, Judge D. Arthur Kelsey, Virginia Court of Appeals

The Court of Appeals upholds defendant’s conviction for maliciously causing bodily injury by beating his girlfriend, leaving her with chronic pain; defendant can be convicted under the “malicious wounding” statute, Va. Code § 18.2-51, even though an injury did not involve shooting, cutting, stabbing or otherwise breaking the skin by external violence. Often labeled the [...]

Prefiling Review Sanction Upheld

By Deborah Elkins
Published: October 11, 2011
Tags: Domestic Relations, Per Curiam Opinion, Virginia Court of Appeals

The Court of Appeals affirms the trial court’s decisions rejecting a pro se father’s continuing challenges to a 2000 child custody order and upholds a pre-filing review sanction under Va. Code § 8.01-271.1 Son was removed from parents’ custody at a young age by the local Department of Social Services (DSS) due to parental violence [...]