No Proffer for Guilty Plea Withdrawal 
By Deborah Elkins
Published: December 16, 2011
Tags: Criminal, Judge James W. Haley Jr., Virginia Court of Appeals News
The Court of Appeals says a trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying defendant’s motion to withdraw his guilty plea to a felony charge of abduction with intent to defile of a woman whom he had followed and offered a ride to work, as defendant offered no reasonable basis for contesting his guilt. [...]
Appeals court grants writ of innocence
By The Associated Press
Published: December 12, 2011
Tags: Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, Criminal, Judge Larry G. Elder, Judge William G. Petty, Virginia Court of Appeals News
(AP) A Richmond man who had been imprisoned nearly 30 years for at least one sexual assault he didn’t commit has been exonerated in two other rape cases. A divided Virginia Court of Appeals on Tuesday granted a writ of actual innocence and vacated Thomas Haynesworth’s rape and abduction convictions in two sexual assaults in [...]
Courts speak, lawyers listen
By Deborah Elkins
Published: December 12, 2011
Tags: Criminal, Federal Courts, Intellectual Property, Municipal, Real Estate, Supreme Court of Virginia News, Tort, Virginia Court of Appeals News
A Virginia Supreme Court case that struck a noncompete clause used by a pest control company – the same clause upheld by the high court over 20 years ago – caused the most buzz during 2011 among Virginia lawyers who track legal developments through their blogs. Court watchers were charmed by the facts in Home [...]
Appeal examines lawyer testimony against client
By Peter Vieth
Published: December 7, 2011
Tags: Criminal, Judge C. Peter Tench, Justice LeRoy F. Millette Jr., Newport News Circuit Court, Supreme Court of Virginia News, Virginia Court of Appeals News
A Virginia Supreme Court panel is considering whether to allow an appeal in a case where a Newport News man was convicted of a shooting based largely on the testimony of his former defense attorney. If interest by a justice at a writ panel hearing is any indication, Mario Turner should get a hearing by [...]
‘Actual harm’ not the standard for mom’s move
By Deborah Elkins
Published: December 2, 2011
Tags: Domestic Relations, Frederick County Circuit Court, Judge John R. Prosser, Judge Sam W. Coleman III, Virginia Court of Appeals News
A mother gets another chance to prove her move to Pennsylvania was good for her seven-year-old son, after the Virginia Court of Appeals reversed a custody change to the father. The trial court applied the wrong legal standard when it used the “actual harm” test instead of the “best interests of the child” test to [...]
Lawyers question logic of attorney testimony case
By Peter Vieth
Published: August 15, 2011
Tags: Ethics, Judge C. Peter Tench, Newport News Circuit Court, Virginia Court of Appeals News, Virginia State Bar
In a case that surprised some criminal defense lawyers, the Virginia Court of Appeals approved the use of a lawyer’s testimony against his former client in a decision released earlier this month. In a malicious wounding trial in Newport News, a key witness suddenly became forgetful about whether he saw defendant Mario Turner shoot the [...]
Powell, McClanahan likely for Supreme Court
By Alan Cooper
Published: July 26, 2011
Tags: General Assembly, Gov. Bob McDonnell, Judge D. Arthur Kelsey, Judicial Selection, Supreme Court of Virginia News, Virginia Court of Appeals News
Virginia Court of Appeals Judges Cleo E. Powell and Elizabeth A. McClanahan appear to be set to move up to the Supreme Court of Virginia under an agreement between House Democrats and Senate Republicans. The General Assembly will convene Friday to elect the judges, and House Courts Chairman David Albo, R-Fairfax, said the agreement includes [...]
MySpace lyric post prompts conviction
By Peter Vieth
Published: June 13, 2011
Tags: Criminal, Judge Frederick B. Lowe, Judge Larry G. Elder, Virginia Court of Appeals News
A Norfolk man who posted menacing lyrics on his MySpace page can be convicted of communicating written threats, even if the alleged victim didn’t have a computer, the Court of Appeals ruled last Tuesday. John Holcomb used online rhythm and rhyme to broadcast his animosity toward his former girlfriend during a custody battle over the [...]
Judicial elections in Assembly go down to the wire
By Alan Cooper
Published: May 2, 2011
Tags: General Assembly, Gov. Bob McDonnell, Judge D. Arthur Kelsey, Judgeships, Supreme Court of Virginia News, Virginia Court of Appeals News
Members of the House and Senate were still negotiating at press time to settle on candidates to fill two vacancies on the Supreme Court of Virginia, with Court of Appeals Judges Elizabeth A. McClanahan and Cleo E. Powell apparently acceptable to the majority caucuses of each house. Senate Democrats had been distracted by redistricting, and [...]
Supreme Court deal in the works
By Alan Cooper
Published: April 22, 2011
Tags: General Assembly, Judgeships, Supreme Court of Virginia News, Virginia Court of Appeals News
A deal may be in the works to elevate two Virginia Court of Appeals judges to the Supreme Court of Virginia and replace them with Gov. Bob McDonnell’s former law partner and a Portsmouth circuit judge. Judges Elizabeth A. McClanahan and Cleo E. Powell would go to the Supreme Court and Glen A. Huff, a [...]
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