Virginia Lawyers Weekly VA Lawyers Weekly

A commonwealth’s attorney is not entitled to a writ of mandamus to compel the circuit court to dismiss marijuana possession cases. Overview Two men were convicted in district court of misdemeanor possession of marijuana. Both appealed to the circuit court. ...

Tagged with: Criminal Supreme Court of Virginia

Where a defendant appeared at a removal proceeding despite being served with a defective notice to appear that did not specify the time or date of the proceeding and was subsequently deported from the United States, the defendant could be ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge John A. Gibney Jr. U.S. District Court - Eastern District

A defendant did not have a right to a trial by jury under the standard of beyond a reasonable doubt at his supervised release revocation hearing, and any sentence imposed by the court, should it find that the defendant violated ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge Rebecca Beach Smith U.S. District Court - Eastern District

An individual who received grand jury subpoenas seeking financial records for his companies, and who then provided false records to a United States Attorney, could not argue he intended merely to influence the U.S. Attorney’s Office, and not the grand ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Criminal Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III

Where a defendant was incorrectly sentenced as a career criminal based on a drug conviction that did not support the application of the enhancement, the career criminal designation could not be upheld based on the defendant’s state robbery conviction because ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Criminal Judge Roger L. Gregory

A defendant who made furtive actions regarding a firearm, while running from a law enforcement officer, triggered a sentencing enhancement because his conduct could have resulted in injury to him or another person. Background A grand jury indicted Kevin Lee ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Criminal Judge G. Steven Agee

A defendant charged with conspiracy to defraud numerous individuals by pitching investment opportunities in various business entities was unable to subpoena documents from two business entities because he failed to demonstrate that the requested documents would be admissible, could not ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge Mark Davis U.S. District Court - Eastern District

A trial court’s goal of sentencing a defendant for, essentially, time served was thwarted because the sentence exceeded the maximum that could be imposed under the statute. Background Appellant and two other persons assaulted another teenager as he walked to ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge Rosemarie Annunziata Virginia Court of Appeals

Where a defendant repeatedly purchased heroin from a single dealer and the dealer was aware of the defendant’s redistribution of the heroin and had an interest in keeping defendant as his customer, the defendant was properly convicted of a conspiracy ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge Richard Y. AtLee Jr. Virginia Court of Appeals

A defendant who admitted he fired multiple gunshots into rooms occupied by two persons was properly convicted of two counts of shooting into an occupied building. Although he argued the shots were part of one continuous act and could not ...

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