The VLW Blog

Is it proper for a judge to reveal a jury verdict to lawyers before it is announced in open court?
The Daily Press puts this practice into question after a recent criminal trial in Hampton Circuit Court.
After the verdict was handed down in Deshawn Goodwin-Godfrey’s second-degree murder trial, a reporter observed the deputy commonwealth’s [...]

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A defendant who spoke no English and relied on a telephone translation to explain the felony charges against him has been allowed to withdraw his guilty plea.
Harrisonburg U.S. District Court Judge Michael F. Urbanski allowed Raul Tronco-Ramirez to withdraw his guilty plea to gun and drug charges after reviewing a transcript that revealed “numerous [...]

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Troubles abound for those accused of trying to make a quick buck off the foreclosure crisis.
Virginia AG Ken Cuccinelli has announced a third settlement with a company that allegedly charged illegal advance fees for “foreclosure rescue” services. A Virginia Beach firm has agreed to refund $7,800 to five customers and to pay $5,000 to the [...]

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A former attorney in Henrico County has been indicted for an alleged embezzlement that already had cost him his license to practice law.
William O. Smith, 70, appeared briefly today in Henrico Circuit Court and is expected to enter a plea on the charges on Sept. 28, according to Deputy Richmond Commonwealth’s Attorney Tracy Thorne-Begland, [...]

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York County Commonwealth’s Attorney Eileen M. Addison accepted today a public reprimand from the Virginia State Bar for failing to acknowledge a tentative plea agreement with a key witness during a murder trial in April 2007.
That resolution of allegations that she had violated Rules of Professional Conduct had been pending since March 14, when [...]

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A prosecutor can use a criminal defendant’s former lawyer to authenticate  previous incriminating court testimony when witnesses become forgetful, the Virginia Court of Appeals has ruled.
It’s a common affliction for witnesses in tough neighborhoods. Even though they may have fingered an accused bad guy in a preliminary hearing, their memories grow foggy at the later [...]

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Former Richmond lawyer Bradley Wein has been arrested on criminal charges that he raided funds of an elderly client, buying coins and other items for his personal use.
According to a federal indictment, Wein was hired by the woman to handle certain financial matters. He used her credit cards to purchase more than $27,000 worth of [...]

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A 20-year career connecting accident victims to lawyers, which included helping fabricate and exaggerate claims, has ended with a 26-month prison sentence for a Maryland man.
Kenny Williams was sentenced Friday by U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis for his role in a personal injury operation that included at least one dishonest lawyer and a complicit chiropractor.
Williams [...]

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A former account manager and bookkeeper at a Virginia Beach law firm pleaded guilty today in federal court in Norfolk to forging firm checks totaling $567,075.
Diana L. Farmer-Forston, 54, of Virginia Beach, forged the signature of a principal of Bennett and Zydron PC on 210 checks between July 2007 and February 2011, according to the [...]

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A Virginia Beach lawyer has been indicted on federal charges related to the alleged theft of life insurance proceeds that were intended to benefit the minor children of a man who died in 2006.
Brian Gay, 52, was scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court in Norfolk today, when the indictment was made public. The grand [...]

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