Hearing set for man with board at Sandy Hook school in Virginia

Prosecutors drop charges in C’ville soccer bite case

By The Associated Press
Published: January 14, 2013

CHARLOTTESVILLE (AP) Assault charges have been dropped against a high school soccer player accused of biting an opponent during a game. Albermarle County Circuit Court Judge Cheryl V. Higgins granted the prosecution’s motion to not prosecute the case against Katrina Ditta on Wednesday. Ditta’s attorney said that a jury could have found reasonable doubt if [...]

Justices uphold Fairfax man’s death sentence

By The Associated Press
Published: January 10, 2013
Tags: Supreme Court of Virginia News

(AP) — The Supreme Court of Virginia has upheld a Fairfax County death row inmate’s convictions and sentence. The justices on Thursday unanimously rejected several claims raised by Mark E. Lawlor. He was sentenced to death for the 2008 sexual assault and murder of a woman in the apartment complex where he worked as a leasing [...]

Veteran Norfolk Circuit Judge Sherman retires

By The Associated Press
Published: January 7, 2013

NORFOLK (AP) A veteran judge in Norfolk has stepped down after serving nearly two decades in general district and circuit courts. Circuit Judge Louis Sherman retired Dec. 31. Sherman, 66, said that he knew growing up that he wanted to do something in the public sector. He was enamored with the Kennedy family’s dedication to [...]

Effort to exonerate man moves forward

By The Associated Press
Published: January 7, 2013

(AP) The effort to clear the name of a man who spent four years in a Virginia prison for a sexual assault he didn’t commit is moving forward. The Virginia Court of Appeals on Dec. 28 agreed to let Johnathan Montgomery’s petition for a writ of actual innocence move ahead. Despite being pardoned last month, [...]

FTC issues new interim “red flags” regulation

By Virginia Lawyers Weekly
Published: January 7, 2013

The Federal Trade Commission has issued an interim final rule narrowing the breadth of those covered under the anti-identity theft “red flags” rule. The rule was adopted in an effort to thwart identity theft at financial institutions and other entities where consumer credit information is obtained and stored in the normal order of business. It [...]

Three buildings at UR go on Virginia register

By The Associated Press
Published: January 7, 2013

(AP) Three buildings on the University of Richmond campus have been added to the Virginia Landmarks Register. The three additions to the state’s official list of significant places are North Court, Ryland Hall and Cannon Memorial Chapel. The Virginia Department of Historic Resources says the buildings reflect important aspects of the private university’s history. In [...]

Va court tosses out order to remove online reviews

By The Associated Press
Published: January 2, 2013

(AP) — The state’s highest court is reversing a judge’s order that a northern Virginia woman remove negative online reviews of a home contractor. The Virginia chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union and Public Citizen said Wednesday that the Supreme Court of Virginia has thrown out the preliminary injunction issued in Fairfax County Circuit [...]

Fertility pioneer Jones still telling his story

By The Associated Press
Published: December 31, 2012

NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — The Virginia scientist behind the country’s first in-vitro fertilization baby is turning 102 on Sunday. Dr. Howard Jones Jr. also is celebrating the publication of his latest book. It discusses the moral and legal implications of the in-vitro fertilization technique that once was considered radical but is commonplace today. Jones has [...]

U.S. law enforcement deaths down in 2012

By The Associated Press
Published: December 31, 2012

WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of law enforcement officers who died performing their duties in the U.S. declined by about 20 percent in 2012 after rising the two previous years, a non-profit organization reported Thursday. The National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund said in a report that 127 federal, state and local officers have died [...]