Virginia Lawyers Weekly VA Lawyers Weekly

In denying defendant’s motion to withdraw his guilty plea to distributing heroin, the court noted his claim that the trial judge erred in accepting the plea without determining he was competent was first raised on appeal, he did not object ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge William G. Petty Virginia Court of Appeals

Where the commonwealth provided eyewitness testimony and fingerprints as evidence, the defendant’s convictions for burglary, conspiracy and larceny were affirmed. Background Cobb testified that, while she was walking home from school, she saw a man carrying a “box full of ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge William G. Petty Virginia Court of Appeals

A defendant who succeeded in persuading a trial court to sever her firearm charge from drug possession charges cannot then argue that prosecution for the firearm charge, on which she was convicted, constituted double jeopardy. Background Appellant was indicted for ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge Randolph A. Beales Virginia Court of Appeals

Noting that excluded portions of a victim’s criminal record did not establish violent behavior and were cumulative of additional evidence, the court rejected claims by a defendant convicted of voluntary manslaughter that the exclusions would have supported his argument that ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge Teresa M. Chafin Virginia Court of Appeals

Because a tip that the defendant possessed heroin came from a reliable informant who never had provided police with inaccurate information, the officers had probable cause to stop and search for drugs. Background On the morning of March 23, 2016, ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge Robert P. Frank Virginia Court of Appeals

Even if a trial court erred in admitting the government’s expert in a DUI trial, there was overwhelming evidence that the defendant drank enough alcohol to be found guilty of driving while intoxicated. Background On Nov. 29, 2015, appellant’s vehicle ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge Robert P. Frank Virginia Court of Appeals

Where the trial court did not consider the nature of the offense and the potential threat to others before setting bond at $25,000, the defendant,  a man accused of raping and sodomizing his granddaughter, did not overcome the statutory presumption ...

Tagged with: Criminal Per Curiam Opinion Virginia Court of Appeals

Where an inmate claimed he was denied effective counsel because his lawyer met with him only twice, the court rejects the habeas writ  because there is no minimum number of meetings required of to provide effective representation. Other claims had ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge Michael F. Urbanski U.S. District Court - Western District

Where the government and defendant jointly request that the defendant’s 132-month prison term was eligible for reduction to 102 months under the 2018 U.S. Supreme Court decision Hughes v. United States, the request is granted. Background Defendant was previously charged ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge Glen E. Conrad U.S. District Court - Western District

Claims by a defendant convicted of conspiracy in a luxury car scheme that a judge’s jury instruction constructively amended the indictment against him in violation of the Fifth Amendment, was rejected, as the instruction did not alter the element of ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Criminal Judge Pamela A. Harris