BAC Certificate Comes In, Despite Arrest Delay Claim

No ‘Lost Wages’ Claim for Plant Furlough

By Deborah Elkins
Published: July 19, 2011
Tags: Judge James W. Haley Jr., Virginia Court of Appeals, Workers' Comp

A claimant who was furloughed from work for a pre-defined and limited duration that applied to all manufacturing employees, whether or not they were work-restricted, is not entitled to lost wages, in the absence of evidence showing a causal relationship between his restricted capacity and the wage loss; the Court of Appeals reverses the commission’s [...]

New Counsel Cannot Argue Different Reason On Brief

By Deborah Elkins
Published: July 6, 2011
Tags: Criminal, Judge James W. Haley Jr., Virginia Court of Appeals

Defendant is not entitled to reversal of his conviction for second offense driving as a habitual offender for lack of sufficient opportunity to appeal his 1999 designation as a habitual offender; the Court of Appeals says defendant failed to raise this issue in his petition for appeal and his new counsel cannot reframe his argument [...]

Prosecutor Said Juror Strikes Were Not Race-Neutral

By Deborah Elkins
Published: June 6, 2011
Tags: Criminal, Judge James W. Haley Jr., Virginia Court of Appeals

Defendant is not entitled to reversal of his jury trial convictions for first degree murder and use of a firearm; the Court of Appeals says the trial court did not clearly err in finding that defense counsel’s peremptory strikes of two African-American veniremembers for alleged inattentiveness were not race-neutral under Batson. Defendant was charged with [...]

Lay Testimony Supports Property Valuation

By Deborah Elkins
Published: May 18, 2011
Tags: Criminal, Judge James W. Haley Jr., Virginia Court of Appeals

The Court of Appeals says a trial court did not err in convicting defendant of grand larceny of coins stored in two gallon-size glass jars, based on evidence that included testimony about the size and contents of the jars. A man broke the front-door glass to gain access to his brother’s house and discovered his [...]

Venue Not Proper Where Car Stolen

By Deborah Elkins
Published: April 28, 2011
Tags: Criminal, Judge James W. Haley Jr., Virginia Court of Appeals

Although a car was stolen from the victim’s home in Colonial Heights and there was evidence defendant had used the vehicle in Henrico, Chesterfield and Petersburg, the commonwealth had no evidence defendant had actually stolen the car, so venue was improper in Colonial Heights for conviction of defendant for unauthorized use of a vehicle, as [...]

Seizure OK After Defendant Walked Back to Talk with Police

By Deborah Elkins
Published: April 11, 2011
Tags: Criminal, Judge James W. Haley Jr., Virginia Court of Appeals

The Court of Appeals rejected the commonwealth’s appeal of the trial court’s suppression of marijuana discovered after defendant was stopped by a police officer working private security who observed defendant wearing a backpack in an area of reported thefts. Defendant was observed moving quickly between two vendor tents about 9:30 p.m. after a severe October [...]

PSA Covers Total Retirement Plan

By Deborah Elkins
Published: March 14, 2011
Tags: Domestic Relations, Judge James W. Haley Jr., Virginia Court of Appeals

The Court of Appeals rejects husband’s appeal of the trial court’s decision awarding wife half of husband’s self-funded retirement plan. Less than one month after the parties separated, husband’s counsel prepared a PSA giving wife “fifty percent (50%) of the value of HUSBAND’s retirement plan at Merck [husband’s employer] for the period starting on the [...]

PSA Not Drafted to Include Later Retirement Pension

By Deborah Elkins
Published: March 8, 2011
Tags: Domestic Relations, Judge James W. Haley Jr., Virginia Court of Appeals

Wife is not entitled to share in a retirement pension that did not exist at the time of the time of the parties’ PSA, and the Court of Appeals affirms the trial court judgment. The parties were married over 30 years; in 1988 they executed a PSA drafted by wife’s attorney. The PSA was incorporated [...]

Venue for Forgery Proper Where Defendant Resided

By Deborah Elkins
Published: March 8, 2011
Tags: Criminal, Judge James W. Haley Jr., Virginia Court of Appeals

A defendant convicted of forgery of a promissory note cannot overcome a strong presumption of venue for an offense committed in the county of prosecution, Mecklenburg, says the Court of Appeals. Defendant was convicted in 2009 for the 2004 forgery of her daughter-in-law’s signature as co-signor on a promissory note for $30,500. Chase City is [...]