The VLW Blog

We have noted some of the shenanigans exposed in recent Virginia elections, mostly involving anonymous mudslinging in violation of election laws. In Amherst County, however, the sheriff says things got physical. An unsuccessful candidate for supervisor is accused of putting knife blades on campaign signs that caused permanent injury to a man who tried to [...]

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After a house fire that took the life of a Blacksburg builder and severely burned his granddaughter, the community passed the hat to help the family. Now, the injured granddaughter is taking the builder’s widow to court, saying that the widow has kept all the donated money for herself. There are six theories of recovery, [...]

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The US Senate has confirmed Portsmouth chief circuit Judge Mark Davis for a federal district judgeship in Alexandria, according to the AP via WVEC. According to the report, Davis once worked as a lawyer for RMS Titanic Incorporated, the firm that salvaged artifacts from the wreck of the ill-fated cruise ship and is still fighting [...]

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Updating an April 30 blog entry, the Virginia Court of Appeals today granted rehearing en banc in Scialdone v. Commonwealth.
In its April 29 split panel decision, the appellate court reversed summary contempt, including jail terms, for two Virginia Beach lawyers and their law clerk. The lawyers, Claude Scialdone and Barry Taylor, were defending their client [...]

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Thieves used the Social Security number of a University of Virginia microchemistry professor to steal $22,000 from his credit card account, reports The Daily Progress. Patrick Grant’s personal information was among the data on U.Va. faculty that was breached twice within the past year.
By Paul Fletcher

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A Washington & Lee business professor studied those scratch ticket games run by the Virginia lottery and concluded that the state continues to sell tickets in a game even after the big prizes for that game have been won. Buying what he contends was a “stale” ticket last year, Scott Hoover now intends to challenge [...]

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The Salem-Roanoke County Bar Association has recommended veteran Roanoke Circuit Judge Clifford Weckstein for a pending seat on the Supreme Court of Virginia. As noted by WDBJ, Gov. Kaine gets to make the pick on who to succeed Salem’s Steven Agee, who will join the 4th Circuit later this summer.

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Hunton & Williams partner Robert J. Grey Jr. has joined the crowded race to succeed L. Douglas Wilder as Richmond mayor.
Grey, 57, is a former president of the American Bar Association and a longtime confidant of Wilder. He has never held or sought public office.
The Times-Dispatch has a list of the candidates.

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A judge erred in telling jurors that he could lower their sentencing recommendation but not increase it, the Supreme Court of Virginia ruled today.
The judge’s comment came in response the question, “Can the [judge] alter the sentence[?]” Justice Barbara Milano Keenan said the Supreme Court draws a distinction between instructions that further the goal [...]

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Failures to communicate were the keys to two medical malpractice cases decided today in favor oF plaintiffs by the Supreme Court of Virginia.
In one, Williams v. Le, a diagnostic radiologist never reported directly to the treating physician or his staff that a Doppler sonogram showed that a patient had a deep vein thrombosis in [...]

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