Virginia Lawyers Weekly VA Lawyers Weekly

Where a defendant was informed that he could face deportation by pleading guilty to a charge of conspiracy to distribute cocaine but did not realize, and was not told, that pleading guilty to the charge subjected him to mandatory deportation, ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Criminal Judge Stephanie Dawn Thacker

Although defendants are not categorically barred from obtaining resentencing pursuant to Rule 36 over a clerical error, the defendant was not entitled to this relief because the clerical error in his pre-sentence report only affected one of his prior convictions ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Criminal Judge James A. Wynn Jr.

Any error relating to the prosecutor’s proffer of evidence at appellant’s probation revocation hearing was harmless. The proffered evidence, a newspaper article that quoted the victim’s description of appellant’s actions, was not the only evidence of the nature of the ...

Tagged with: Criminal Justice Cleo E. Powell Justice S. Bernard Goodwyn Justice Stephen R. McCullough Justice William C. Mims Supreme Court of Virginia

Where indigent respondents are sexually violent predators who violated the terms of their conditional release, they had no due process right to an appointed psychological expert to assist them at the hearing. Ruling “The purpose of the [Code § 37.2-913] ...

Tagged with: Criminal Justice Stephen R. McCullough Supreme Court of Virginia

A defendant who was involved in the theft of property from different rooms of the house, by different people and at different times, could not argue the thefts constituted a single felony. Background Tateana A. Wells was convicted of grand ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge Mary B. Malveaux Virginia Court of Appeals

Where a passenger of a vehicle was found guilty of possession after nearly a kilogram of cocaine was found inside the vehicle and his request for a deferred sentence was denied, the denial was upheld because he failed to assign ...

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

An en banc court held that because defendant touched or grabbed the victim’s breasts against her will and twisted as hard as he could for about a minute, a rational factfinder could conclude the “force” requirement was met, thus elevating ...

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

Where a defendant and three codefendants arrived and left the victims’ home in the same vehicle and, during the larceny, one of the codefendants took game consoles and other consumer goods from the house and, a short while later, the ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge Mary B. Malveaux Virginia Court of Appeals

Where a defendant was charged with, among other things, sexual battery, the trial court was not required to strike jurors whose family members had experienced sexual abuse because there was no indication that the jurors could not remain impartial, and ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge Rudolph Bumgardner III Virginia Court of Appeals

A defendant who was involved in the theft of property from different rooms of the house, by different people and at different times, could not argue the thefts constituted a single felony. Background Tateana A. Wells was convicted of grand ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge Mary B. Malveaux Virginia Court of Appeals