Hearing set on Va. veteran’s license plate

Judge rejects death row inmate’s appeal

By The Associated Press
Published: April 1, 2013

(AP) — A federal judge has rejected an appeal by a Virginia death row inmate convicted of killing four people in Norfolk. Anthony Juniper was sentenced to death for the 2004 murders of ex-girlfriend Keisha Stevens, her two children and her brother, Ruben Harrison III. U.S. District Judge John Gibney in Richmond said Friday that [...]

Drug sale facts did not support felony murder conviction

By The Associated Press
Published: March 27, 2013
Tags: Judge Joseph W. Milam Jr., Virginia Court of Appeals News

(AP) — The Virginia Court of Appeals has reversed the felony murder conviction of a Danville man who sold the drug that led to a fatal overdose. Timothy Woodard sold 10 to 15 ecstasy pills that caused Kayla Beame’s death in November 2010. Virginia law allows a felony murder conviction when a person unintentionally kills another [...]

Judge dismisses much of torture suit against CACI

By The Associated Press
Published: March 25, 2013

ALEXANDRIA (AP) A federal judge has dealt a severe blow to a long-running torture lawsuit filed against military contractor CACI by four Iraqis who say they suffered abuse at the notorious Abu Ghraib prison. At a hearing in U.S. District Court March 8, U.S. District Judge Gerald Bruce Lee tossed out claims that CACI conspired [...]

State won’t privatize sex offender program

By The Associated Press
Published: March 25, 2013

(AP) Virginia has rejected bids by two companies to operate a state facility that detains violent sex offenders for treatment after their sentences are completed. Documents obtained by The Associated Press show that state officials who evaluated the proposals thought Florida-based GEO Group focused too much on incarceration and not enough on treatment. Pennsylvania-based Liberty [...]

Two Arlington execs plead guilty in $30M fraud

By The Associated Press
Published: March 25, 2013

ALEXANDRIA (AP) Chief executives at two Arlington contracting firms have pleaded guilty to more than $30 million in contract fraud by falsely presenting a company as a minority-owned business. Dawn Hamilton, the nominal president and CEO of Security Assistance Corp., pleaded guilty March 15 in federal court in Alexandria. Keith Hedman, CEO of Protection Strategies [...]

4th Circuit to consider whether inmates have right to visitation

By The Associated Press
Published: March 25, 2013

(AP) The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is set to consider whether prisoners have a constitutional right to visitation. A three-judge panel of the 4th Circuit was to hear oral arguments in a South Carolina case March 19. Jerome Williams’ visitation privileges were suspended for two years based on the suspicion that a visitor [...]

Virginia’s death row population down to 8

By The Associated Press
Published: March 18, 2013

(AP) Virginia’s death row population has dwindled to eight from a peak of 57 in 1995, and it’s not just because of the state’s efficiency in carrying out capital punishment. A couple of death sentences have been erased recently — one because of the inmate’s mental health issues, another because a star witness changed his [...]

Judge: Vet must appeal again for license plate

By The Associated Press
Published: March 18, 2013

CHESAPEAKE (AP) A Chesapeake judge says an Iraq war veteran must start anew to get personalized license plates that include a term deemed offensive by some Arab-Americans. Sean Bujno’s plate reads: “ICUHAJI,” which can be read to state: “I See You, Haji.” Some Arab-Americans object to that phrase. Bujno’s attorney says the use of the [...]

Two tapped for American College of Trial Lawyers

By Virginia Lawyers Weekly
Published: March 18, 2013

Two Virginia lawyers – Anthony P. Giorno of Roanoke and Terrence L. Graves of Richmond – have been inducted as Fellows of the American College of Trial Lawyers. The college was founded in 1950 and is an invitation-only professional association of trial lawyers experienced in the trial of cases and dedicated to maintaining and improving [...]