One Pistol, Three Possession Convictions 
By Deborah Elkins
Published: November 7, 2012
Tags: Criminal, Justice Cleo E. Powell, Supreme Court of Virginia
A defendant who stole a pistol, showed it to the person who picked him up after the burglary, displayed it and offered it for sale to another person several weeks later and then offered to sell it in a controlled buy arranged by a detective, can be convicted of three counts of possession of a [...]
City Has Easement Over Beach, Must Pay Riparian Owner
By Deborah Elkins
Published: November 7, 2012
Tags: Justice Cleo E. Powell, Real Estate, Supreme Court of Virginia
A local ordinance authorized the city of Virginia Beach to bring a condemnation action against a condo association involving property used in a project to replenish Cape Henry Beach, and the Supreme Court of Virginia affirms the trial court decision granting the petition, as the city had acquired a recreational and maintenance easement; however, the [...]
Rebutted Presumption Does Not ‘Disappear’
By Deborah Elkins
Published: November 6, 2012
Tags: Justice Cleo E. Powell, Supreme Court of Virginia, Wills & Trusts
In this challenge to the testamentary capacity of a woman who left most of her estate to three charities, by a cousin whose share under the later will was reduced to the testator’s dog and a fund for its care, a trial court did not err in instructing the jury on the presumption of testamentary [...]
High court hears record wrongful death appeal
By Deborah Elkins
Published: October 31, 2012
Tags: Albemarle County Circuit Court, Judge Edward Hogshire, Justice Cleo E. Powell, Justice Donald W. Lemons, Million-Dollar Verdicts, Sanctions, Social Media, Supreme Court of Virginia News
A man should not keep a jury award for his wife’s death when he and his lawyer conspired to remove photos from his Facebook page and then lied about it to the court, a defense lawyer told the Supreme Court of Virginia on Oct. 30. Probing for prejudice the defendant might have suffered, several justices [...]
Tort Claim OK Against Supplier, Not Contractor
By Deborah Elkins
Published: June 18, 2012
Tags: Justice Cleo E. Powell, Negligence, Supreme Court of Virginia
In litigation arising from the worksite death of a construction laborer, his non-dependent wife who cannot collect workers’ comp benefits may bring a negligence action against the drywall supplier who delivered a load of drywall that allegedly caused the structural collapse that killed the laborer, but the workers’ comp bar prevents her from suing the [...]
Van-fire plaintiff can cite other fires
By Deborah Elkins
Published: June 14, 2012
Tags: Albemarle County Circuit Court, Justice Cleo E. Powell, Justice Cynthia D. Kinser, Justice Elizabeth A. McClanahan, Justice S. Bernard Goodwyn, Supreme Court of Virginia News, Wrongful Death
A Waynesboro family can use evidence of other fires in Ford Windstar minivans to sue Ford Motor Company for the wrongful death of their three-year-old daughter after their minivan caught fire in their driveway. Earlier, an Albemarle County Circuit Court said the family could not use evidence of other van fires they alleged had put [...]
Claim Waived, When No Ruling on Motion
By Deborah Elkins
Published: June 13, 2012
Tags: Civil Procedure, Justice Cleo E. Powell, Supreme Court of Virginia
A Section 8 tenant cannot challenge retention of her security deposit by her landlord for rent she did not owe; the Supreme Court of Virginia says she failed to give the trial judge a chance to rule on her argument here, which she made in a written motion for reconsideration, by seeking a ruling on [...]
‘Civil death penalty’ is OK by high court
By Peter Vieth
Published: June 12, 2012
Tags: Judge Margaret P. Spencer, Justice Cleo E. Powell, Justice Donald W. Lemons, Supreme Court of Virginia News
A trial court can impose a “civil death penalty” for discovery abuse, but taking away the right to cross-examine witnesses on damages was “too harsh,” the Supreme Court of Virginia has ruled. The ruling in Nolte v. MT Technology Enterprises LLC (VLW 012-6-103), gives the defendants another chance to defend damages claims in a case [...]
New zoning cases ‘reconcilable,’ land use lawyer says
By Virginia Lawyers Weekly
Published: May 7, 2012
Tags: Judge Mary Grace O'Brien, Justice Cleo E. Powell, Justice Cynthia D. Kinser, Justice Donald W. Lemons, Justice Elizabeth A. McClanahan, Justice S. Bernard Goodwyn, Justice William C. Mims, Prince William County Circuit Court, Supreme Court of Virginia News, Zoning
The Supreme Court of Virginia’s recent resolution of a zoning case by unpublished order has caused confusion both on the high court and among observers, where none is warranted. In its unpublished order in Town of Occoquan v. Elm Street Development, Inc. (VLW 012-6-062), the high court upheld a decision in favor of a developer [...]
‘Mirror-Image’ Will Not Binding Contract
By Deborah Elkins
Published: May 1, 2012
Tags: Justice Cleo E. Powell, Supreme Court of Virginia, Wills & Trusts
A couple’s reciprocal wills providing each testator left the entire estate to the surviving spouse and each testator’s child from a previous marriage would get one-half the estate at the death of the surviving spouse, was not a binding contract and the widow was free to change her will and leave everything to her daughter, [...]
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