The VLW Blog

A drunken driver who killed a nun in a 2010 car crash was found guilty of felony murder yesterday by a Prince William County circuit judge.
The case may be the first reported instance in which a traffic fatality prompted a murder conviction, reports the Associated Press.
Carlos A. Martinelly-Montano pleaded guilty to a [...]

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The execution of death row inmate Paul Warner Powell has been scheduled for tomorrow.
The Prince William County Commonwealth’s Attorney will be among the witnesses, reports the Associated Press.
Powell’s lawyers have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to block the execution until it can decide whether his second capital murder charge violated his protection against double jeopardy. [...]

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Media organizations protested, but a Prince William County judge has not commented on the closing of a key hearing for a 17-year-old charged with capital murder.
According to Inside Nova, the News & Messenger, along with the Washington Post and WJLA/News Channel 8, sent Judge Janice J. Wellington a letter in March, protesting her decision.
Virginia law [...]

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A Woodbridge man is now fit to be tried for murder, after being found incompetent to stand trial in March.
Keith Baskerville, charged in the abduction and death of an Alexandria woman, completed treatment last month at a state mental hospital and was sent to the Prince William-Manassas Regional Jail after his discharge, reports the News [...]

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Prince William County Attorney Ross Horton will retire next month after 31 years of service.
The Washington Post reports that Horton began his career as the assistant county attorney in 1974. He later left for the private sector but returned to serve Prince William in 1987. He was named the county’s lead attorney in March 2006.
Horton’s [...]

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Gov. Tim Kaine appointed Prince William Circuit Judge LeRoy F. Millette Jr. today to fill the Virginia Court of Appeals vacancy created by the retirement of Judge James W. Benton Jr.
Millette, who has a background as a law firm associate and partner, a sole practitioner and a state prosecutor, was named a general district judge [...]

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Narrow legal analysis may be a more effective way to attack Virginia’s civil remedial fees than broad constitutional and public policy arguments.
That could be a lesson from the case of Rajesh Cherkukuri, an Indian national who was convicted earlier this month of drunken driving in Prince William County.
Cherukuri has a Virginia driver’s license and has [...]

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