Attack on Sleeping Boyfriend Malicious

Missing Receipt Proves Theft

By Deborah Elkins
Published: June 6, 2012
Tags: Criminal, Judge D. Arthur Kelsey, Virginia Court of Appeals

Defendant is not entitled to reversal of his bench trial conviction for grand larceny by asserting he paid for department store items, the Court of Appeals says: defendant failed to produce a receipt for new household goods found in his car and the trial court was free to reject his testimony in view of his [...]

Murder Two for Shooting Boyfriend

By Deborah Elkins
Published: April 6, 2012
Tags: Criminal, Judge D. Arthur Kelsey, Virginia Court of Appeals

A woman who repeatedly told police her boyfriend “messed with her head” and took her car and did not return it cannot suppress those statements voluntarily made before and after she had received Miranda warnings and the Court of Appeals affirms her conviction of second-degree murder and use of a firearm in the fatal shooting [...]

Indictment After Nolle Prosequi OK

By Deborah Elkins
Published: March 28, 2012
Tags: Criminal, Judge D. Arthur Kelsey, Virginia Court of Appeals

Although a trial court denied the prosecution a continuance when a cooperating witness failed to appear, and the prosecution then noll prossed the case, the commonwealth nevertheless can later indict defendant on identical charges of fraudulent use of a credit card; the Court of Appeals rejects defendant’s argument that the commonwealth did not show “good [...]

Larceny by False Titles

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

The Court of Appeals affirms ex-wife’s jury trial convictions of grand larceny and unlawfully obtaining titles for a boat and trailer; the record shows in the two months following her former husband’s death, she unlawfully obtained title documents to a boat and trailer the divorce decree gave to husband and took them from his former [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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. [...]