Virginia Lawyers Weekly VA Lawyers Weekly

Where Norfolk police officers lacked any information about an anonymous tipster that would allow them to assess her reliability; did nothing to corroborate her assertion that the defendant had repeatedly brandished a gun; and did not see any gun, illegal ...

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

Appellant was not prejudiced when a courtroom clerk told the jury they had to sentence defendant in accordance with the judge’s instructions, rather than referring the question to the presiding judge. The jury sentenced appellant to the combined minimums for ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge Wesley G. Russell Jr. Virginia Court of Appeals

There was sufficient evidence for the trial court to convict appellant of attempted robbery, malicious wounding, and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony as a principal in the second degree. Overview O.M. offered to sell her ...

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

Attempted Hobbs Act robbery is not a “crime of violence” because it may be committed without the use or attempted use of physical force. This decision splits from three other circuits, which held that attempted Hobbs Act robbery qualifies as ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Criminal Judge Diana Gribbon Motz

Where DNA evidence was extracted from items obtained without a warrant from appellant’s trash, the evidence was admissible because he did not have a reasonable expectation of privacy in this abandoned property. Background In 1995, a man wearing a ski ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge Mary Bennett Malveaux Virginia Court of Appeals

Where the trial court entered a judgment of guilt on appellant’s written plea agreement, in which she gave up her right to withdraw her plea, the court properly denied her later request for a deferred disposition and to withdraw her ...

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

Although the court found parts of the complaining witness’s testimony incredible, the court was not required to find all of her testimony inherently incredible as a matter of law. As a result, there was sufficient evidence to support his unlawful ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge Glen A. Huff Virginia Court of Appeals

Appellant has procedurally defaulted his claim that the trial court incorrectly overruled his Fifth Amendment challenge to completing a sexual history disclosure form as part of his probation. The court made no such ruling, so there is no jurisdiction to ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge Glen A. Huff Virginia Court of Appeals

Where a driver engaged in highly suspicious behavior, including leading officers on a high-speed chase and fleeing on foot after crashing a car, had a zipper case inside the car within plain view and officers believed a case found in ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge James P. Jones U.S. District Court - Western District

Where a police officer entered appellant’s curtilage around 12:30 a.m. and knocked on a side door to speak with him about his vehicle’s involvement in a traffic accident 15 minutes earlier, the knock and talk was reasonable under the circumstances. ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge Wesley G. Russell Jr. Virginia Court of Appeals