Court Suppresses Teenager’s Statement on ‘Rape’

Civil death penalty imposed

By Peter Vieth
Published: April 8, 2013
Tags: Judge G. Carter Greer, Martinsville Circuit Court, Medical Malpractice

A doctor who allegedly gave false sworn testimony in a medical malpractice case has lost his right to deny liability, as a Virginia trial judge invoked the court’s inherent authority to punish “fraud on the court.” Such a harsh penalty by a Virginia judge is unusual if not unique, but the circumstances that drove the [...]

Abuse Conviction for Group-Home President

By Deborah Elkins
Published: November 5, 2012
Tags: Criminal, Judge G. Carter Greer, Martinsville Circuit Court, Virginia Circuit Courts

The president of a corporation that operated a group home for incapacitated adults is guilty of felonious abuse and neglect of a resident who suffered second- and third-degree burns from scalding bath water, as defendant ordered recall of the van that was taking the victim to the hospital and instead required his treatment by group [...]

Conviction stands in group home death

By Peter Vieth
Published: November 5, 2012
Tags: Civil Procedure, Criminal, Judge G. Carter Greer, Martinsville Circuit Court

Turning to civil law for a proximate cause standard, a circuit judge has upheld a jury’s conviction of a group home operator for the death from neglect of a disabled burn victim. Richard C. Wagoner Jr. of Martinsville ordered that a resident with obvious severe burns should be treated at his group home rather than [...]

Claim for Accounting ‘Negligence’ Dismissed

By Deborah Elkins
Published: June 6, 2011
Tags: Judge G. Carter Greer, Martinsville Circuit Court, Tort, Virginia Circuit Courts

Plaintiff trusts who are suing defendant CPA for $25 million for allegedly providing “negligent tax advice, preparation of tax returns and relating accounting services” over a 12-year period are claiming accounting malpractice, and a Martinsville Circuit Court says accounting malpractice, like legal malpractice, is a contract claim, not a tort claim. It is well settled [...]

‘Consent’ Invalid After Police Accusation

By Deborah Elkins
Published: March 31, 2011
Tags: Judge G. Carter Greer, Martinsville Circuit Court, Search & Seizure, Virginia Circuit Courts

A Martinsville Circuit Court suppresses drug evidence found in the car of a woman whose husband, a former police informant, alerted police who stopped the car; in view of the police accusation that the woman was transporting illegal drugs in her vehicle, no reasonable person in the woman’s position would have felt free to withhold [...]