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Obituary: Judge Robert ‘Bob’ T.S. Colby
Virginia Lawyers Weekly//May 3, 2024//
Longtime Alexandria General District Court Judge Robert “Bob” T.S. Colby died April 16. He was 95.
Judge Colby was born in New York on May 13, 1928. He attended Jamaica High School and went on to earn his law and undergraduate degrees from Georgetown University.
He served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War and retired with the rank of Brigadier General in the Army Reserves.
Among the roles he held before becoming a sole practitioner in the early 1960s, Judge Colby worked with the U.S. attorney’s office in Norfolk and his father’s law firm. In 1967, Judge Colby was appointed to the bench and retired in 1992.
Judge Colby served on several boards and was a member of the Advisory Council Board with the Alexandria Chapter of The Salvation Army for several years.
Judge Colby is survived by his wife, Lynn Julia; his daughters, Susan, Wendy, Alyce, Angela and Ellen; 11 grandchildren; and several great-grandchildren.
Verdicts & Settlements
- Motor Vehicle Negligence Rear-seat passenger injured when car hits telephone pole
- Motor Vehicle Negligence- Car crash after back surgery causes additional injuries
- Medical Malpractice – Jurors side with cardiologist over treatment of strokes
- Negligence and Tort- Ice pack use during tattoo removal causes frostbite
- Workers’ Compensation Struck by metal door at workplace, plaintiff sustains subdural hematoma
- Motor Vehicle Negligence Woman struck by vehicle loses senses of taste, smell
- Motor Vehicle Negligence – Pedestrian struck by car while in parking lot
- Motor Vehicle Negligence- Driver fractures right leg in tractor-trailer collision
- Motor Vehicle Negligence- Motorcyclist hit by car suffers two broken wrists
- Medical Malpractice – Young patient commits suicide while on psychoactive drugs
- Motor Vehicle Negligence- Art teacher’s hand injured in collision
Opinion Digests
- Criminal – Sentence for ‘unusually heinous’ conduct is affirmed
- Criminal – Sentence wasn’t unreasonable despite deportation consequences
- Appeals – Waiver in plea agreement forecloses most arguments on appeal
- Appeals – Appellant’s informal brief forfeited appellate review
- Employment – Failure to exhaust administrative remedies dooms Title VII suit
- Jurors – Dishonest juror didn’t violate defendant’s Sixth Amendment rights
- Criminal – Motion to suppress backpack denied where defendant abandoned item
- Civil Rights – Officer denied immunity in fatal shooting case
- Civil Rights – No qualified immunity on excessive force police K-9 claim
- Criminal – Probable cause includes dog’s positive alert for narcotics
- Criminal – Evidence supports obstruction of justice conviction
- Search & Seizure – Inventory search exception applies to warrantless search
