Posted in Criminal Cases on Sep 14th, 2012
Even though the unconstitutional use of GPS tracking led police to follow a suspected sex offender, allowing police to testify about the man’s activities was harmless error since the victim’s own testimony was sufficient to convict the suspect of violent sexual assault, the Supreme Court decided Friday. The decision affirms a life sentence for David [...]
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A man who shot back at armed invaders could not suppress drugs found in his home when police executed a search warrant for firearms and ammunition related to the shoot-out. Armed men invaded the apartment Derrick Wilson shared with a roommate. Wilson was upstairs at the time of the invasion. He got his gun from [...]
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Posted in Criminal Cases, Writs Granted on Dec 28th, 2011
The Supreme Court of Virginia has granted review in the case of Mario Turner, the defendant convicted with his former defense lawyer’s testimony. Turner’s case surprised some criminal defense lawyers last July, when the Virginia Court of Appeals approved the use of the lawyer’s testimony against his former client. In Turner’s malicious wounding trial in [...]
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A Loudoun County motorist who claimed he was sleep-driving after taking Ambien has lost his DWI appeal in the Supreme Court of Virginia. In an unpublished order, the high court rejected Joshua K. Shortt’s appeal of his conviction for driving while intoxicated in violation of Virginia Code § 18.2-266. The Court of Appeals affirmed Shortt’s [...]
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The Supreme Court of Virginia today rejected appeals by two defendants who couldn’t stay out of trouble after initially getting a break with a suspended sentence. In each case, what the trial judge didn’t know in an earlier hearing later came back to bite the defendant. In Canty v. Commonwealth, Kevin Canty argued the trial [...]
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Posted in Civil Cases, Criminal Cases on Jul 11th, 2011
You won’t find those Facebook and Twitter symbols on the Supreme Court of Virginia’s homepage that could be used to remind you of such events as the court’s writ panel sessions. Because the dockets are in flux until the last minute, they don’t go up until a day or two before the date of the [...]
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Posted in Criminal Cases, Justices on Apr 1st, 2011
Two 27th Circuit judges have made a late entry into the competition for a seat on the Supreme Court of Virginia just as more statewide bar groups are sending their evaluations of a second round of candidates to legislators. Judges Colin R. Gibb of Pulaski County and Josiah T. Showalter Jr. of Wythe County are [...]
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Posted in Civil Cases, Criminal Cases on Mar 4th, 2011
The Supreme Court of Virginia reversed today the order that 40 Gloucester County residents had to pay $2,000 each in sanctions because they signed a petition to remove four members of the board of supervisors. The court ruled unanimously in Johnson v. Woodard that such sanctions can only be imposed against an attorney or party, [...]
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Posted in Criminal Cases on Jan 13th, 2011
Resolving a sometimes heated debate between prosecutors and defense lawyers in Virginia, the Supreme Court of Virginia ruled Thursday that courts have the inherent authority to take a criminal case under advisement to consider dismissal instead of conviction, even after finding enough evidence to prove guilt. The opinion in Hernandez v. Commonwealth overturns the holding [...]
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Posted in Civil Cases, Criminal Cases on Dec 3rd, 2010
If one of your colleagues is missing on Tuesday, you might find that he’s in Richmond before a three-justice panel of the Supreme Court of Virginia. For the first time, the Supreme Court has published the list of cases at which the losing side will get a 10-minute argument to tell a panel why it [...]
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