Judge D. Arthur Kelsey « Virginia Lawyers Weekly

Potential Caregivers Not ‘Relatives’

By Deborah Elkins
Published: February 7, 2012
Tags: Domestic Relations, Judge D. Arthur Kelsey, Virginia Court of Appeals

A woman whose child was removed from her custody cannot proffer as “relatives” a couple whose daughter was the girlfriend of the woman’s brother; the Court of Appeals says such a tenuous connection does not make the couple “relatives” of the child.
On appeal, the mother argues the trial court erred by terminating her parental rights [...]

Fear of Firing Not Reason to Quit

By Deborah Elkins
Published: February 2, 2012
Tags: Judge D. Arthur Kelsey, Unemployment Comp, Virginia Court of Appeals

Although a truck dispatcher said she did not receive sufficient training and she quit her job because she feared she would be fired, her apprehension was not good cause to leave her job, and the Court of Appeals affirms the denial of unemployment compensation.
The Virginia Employment Commission found claimant’s reason for quitting was not – [...]

Serial Felon Molested Teen

By Deborah Elkins
Published: January 17, 2012
Tags: Criminal, Judge D. Arthur Kelsey, Virginia Court of Appeals

The Court of Appeals affirms defendant’s bench trial conviction for taking indecent liberties with a child in his custody and revocation of an unrelated felony sentence to run concurrently; the trial court credited 13-year old victim’s testimony and did not abuse its sentencing discretion.
In late May 2010, defendant visited with his next-door neighbor, her five [...]

Conviction Reversed for ‘Fatal Variance’

By Deborah Elkins
Published: December 16, 2011
Tags: Criminal, Judge D. Arthur Kelsey, Virginia Court of Appeals

A defendant who was indicted for failing to register or reregister as a sex offender, but who was convicted on a theory that he provided false information about his residence address in his reregistration forms, wins reversal by the Court of Appeals of his conviction under Va. Code § 18.2-472.1 for a fatal variance between [...]

Letter Opinion Insufficient on Spousal Support

By Deborah Elkins
Published: December 13, 2011
Tags: Domestic Relations, Judge D. Arthur Kelsey, Virginia Court of Appeals

The Court of Appeals remands a trial court order awarding permanent spousal support to wife for failure to provide sufficient written findings and conclusions as required by Va. Code § 20-107.1(F); merely reciting statutory factors and stating the parties were married 22 years and enjoyed a “high middle class” standard of living are not sufficient.
Husband [...]

Attack on Sleeping Boyfriend Malicious

By Deborah Elkins
Published: November 21, 2011
Tags: Criminal, Judge D. Arthur Kelsey, Virginia Court of Appeals

The Court of Appeals affirms defendant’s bench trial conviction for malicious wounding; the record evidence shows defendant’s attack on a sleeping victim was malicious.
After 2:00 a.m. one morning, defendant and a friend drove to the trailer home of victim suspected of “fooling around” with defendant’s girlfriend. Defendant found them sleeping in bed. He [...]

Computer Record Admissible Hearsay

By Deborah Elkins
Published: November 21, 2011
Tags: Criminal, Judge D. Arthur Kelsey, Virginia Court of Appeals

Defendant is not entitled to reversal of his jury trial conviction for obtaining and attempting to obtain money by false pretenses, based on the hearsay status of credit union computer records, the Court of Appeals says; the branch supervisor’s testimony passes the “final test” of iiiSmith v. Commonwealth,iii 280 Va. 178 (2010), for admissibility of [...]

Claimant Should Have Presented ‘All Issues’

By Deborah Elkins
Published: November 3, 2011
Tags: Judge D. Arthur Kelsey, Virginia Court of Appeals, Workers’ Comp

Although claimant amended his initial claim alleging injuries to his shoulder, back and hips and was granted a continuance to pursue his additional claim for injuries to his head and leg, he did not heed the commission’s warning to address “all issues” at the first hearing, and the Court of Appeals upholds the commission’s application [...]

Store-Bought Tag Prompts Pickup Stop

By Deborah Elkins
Published: October 17, 2011
Tags: Judge D. Arthur Kelsey, Traffic Offenses, Virginia Court of Appeals

A defendant who was driving a pickup truck at 10:00 p.m. on a February night, with three people in the cab and a store-bought farm use tag, gave a state trooper reasonable suspicion to stop the truck to determine if in fact it was being used as a farm vehicle, and the Court of Appeals [...]

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 malicious [...]

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