The VLW Blog

Gov. Tim Kaine has denied a petition for clemency in the case of Aleck Carpitcher, a man serving a 38-year sentence for assaulting an 11-year-old girl who later recanted her testimony.
The Roanoke Times reports there was no explanation from the governor’s office.
The decision is a disappointment for a team of lawyers with the Innocence Project [...]

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A Roanoke bankruptcy lawyer whose practice collapsed amid a flurry of criminal charges and domestic strife was convicted today of misdemeanor disorderly conduct.  The plea agreement for Ann Marie Miller also included a no contest plea to misdemeanor assault.
Assuming no further troubles with the law, Miller will serve no additional jail time and the assault [...]

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The Supreme Court of Virginia reheard today the case of the duty of parents to supervise and care for a teenage guest.
In July, the court found such a duty for parents who allowed a 14-year-old girl to ride in a car driven by a 17-year-old youth despite the insistence of the girl’s parents that [...]

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Although a wife didn’t earn income on her college degree until after the parties separated, she used her college loans for living expenses, and the Court of Appeals agrees husband must pay $11,000 of her college loan debt.
Yesterday an appellate panel upheld a Montgomery County divorce court’s property split that gave the wife equity in [...]

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Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. wanted to use a case from Virginia to decide whether an anonymous tip is enough to stop a car on suspicion of drunken driving.
But the only colleague who agreed with him that the U.S. Supreme Court should take on the issue was Justice Antonin Scalia. Under the Supreme Court’s [...]

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Henry W. McLaughlin III is stepping down after almost 30 years as executive director of the Central Virginia Legal Aid Society.
McLaughlin, 69, announced his departure yesterday to the CVLAS board and staff.
James A. McCauley, president of the CVLAS board, said there were tears at the news. “One of the great joys of my law practice [...]

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A debate between the two candidates for Virginia lieutenant governor turned negative right out of the gate tonight, with Democrat Jody Wagner accusing incumbent Republican Bill Bolling of being a frequent no show for government meetings.  Bolling returned fire with accusations of inept financial forecasts by Wagner, a former state finance official under two governors.
The [...]

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In an update to a story in this week’s VLW, Shenandoah County Circuit Judge Dennis Hupp will not allow his jurisdiction to lapse before considering a sanctions motion against a political candidate and his lawyer.
Judge Hupp entered an order last week suspending the Sept. 29 “final order” that dismissed the underlying case.  The order states [...]

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Attorney General candidate Ken Cuccinelli hopes to shine a light into what he says is a state budget process so hidden from public view that it led to the flap over Del. Phil Hamilton’s state-funded college job.
The Republican state Senator was the only candidate to address a conference of the Virginia Coalition for Open Government, [...]

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The Virginia State Bar Council endorsed payee notification this afternoon on a 39-25 vote.
The vote was a sharp turnaround from a 54-7 rejection of the concept two years ago. That vote came before full disclosure of the extent of the thefts by disbarred Woodbridge lawyer Stephen Conrad, which one council member described as “a cosmic [...]

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