The VLW Blog

Amelia County Commonwealth’s Attorney Lee Harrison was injured along with two others when a criminal defendant became violent at the Amelia County courthouse Thursday. Harrison came to the aid of a sheriff’s deputy who was attacked by an accused burglar, according to a news release from the county sheriff’s office. Harrison was taken to a [...]

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Someone didn’t get the memo. The commonwealth forfeited its right to appeal a suppression order when it styled its appellate claims as “Questions Presented” instead of “Assignments of Error.” The appellant had hit the preliminary marks: Timely notice of appeal? Check. Transcript of suppression hearing filed? Check. Petition timely filed? Check. But the original petition [...]

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An Abingdon lawyer has been charged with public intoxication, assault, trespassing and a half-dozen traffic charges. Berry Leslie Conway II was arrested three times in the past two weeks, accused of being drunk in public, threatening a couple and later urinating in their yard, reports the Bristol Herald Courier. His troubles began on June 3, [...]

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Former Richmond lawyer Bradley D. Wein has been handed a 45-month prison sentence based on phony letters he created to legitimize his use of a client’s money. Wein was hired by an elderly woman in 2005 to handle legal and financial matters. Authorities accused him of using her credit cards without authorization to pay his [...]

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A Fairfax County prosecutor received a public admonition yesterday from a Virginia State Bar three-judge discipline panel for allegedly withholding evidence about prosecution witnesses. As The Washington Post reports, the judges rejected license suspension for Fairfax County Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Mark Sullivan, but admonished him for allowing two co-defendants to testify they were not offered [...]

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A former Falls Church lawyer who admitted stealing from the assets of an elderly Arlington couple received a suspended four-year prison sentence last month. Erin Weber Anderson – now known as Erin Marie Weber – was ordered to repay more than $275,000 she was accused of taking while she served as guardian and conservator for [...]

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Calling the exoneration of Thomas Haynesworth a “wake up call” for many in Virginia, state Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli sounded a note of caution Tuesday about prosecutors who fail to balance mercy with the desire to punish. He also called for a rewrite of the state’s actual innocence statute. Haynesworth – who otherwise had no [...]

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A prosecutor may have to make an earlier disclosure of exculpatory evidence under Virginia ethics rules than is required under the Brady standard, under a new draft legal ethics opinion. The Virginia State Bar is seeking comment on draft LEO 1862, which covers a controversial topic for criminal defense lawyers: What is a “timely disclosure” [...]

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A group of 34 former judges, prosecutors and law enforcement officials is urging a federal appeals court to reject the state’s effort to reinstate the capital murder conviction of Justin Wolfe. Wolfe was convicted in Prince William County of hiring a man to kill a rival drug dealer in 2002. The evidence against him came [...]

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Culpeper County Commonwealth’s Attorney Gary Close has announced he is resigning in the wake of harsh criticism from a federal judge of his handling of a capital murder case against a teenaged suspect. U.S. District Judge James C. Turk criticized both Close and police detectives who prepared the case against Michael Wayne Hash, who was [...]

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