The VLW Blog

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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Even the most even-tempered judge knows. Sometimes the lawyers in your courtroom are just going to yank your chain.
But a judge can be too quick to pull the trigger on a summary contempt citation under Va. Code § 18.2-456, as the Court of Appeals points out in Scialdone v. Commonwealth, decided yesterday.
In a 2-1 decision, [...]

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