Virginia Lawyers Weekly VA Lawyers Weekly

Where the defendant argued his trial counsel rendered ineffective assistance by failing to move to suppress incriminating statements made in violation of Miranda, an evidentiary hearing was required to determine whether he was in custody at the time of his ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Criminal Judge Barbara Milano Keenan

Where there was trial testimony that appellant “forcibly” shook a store’s front doors after business hours, “smirked” at the store manager when told the store was closed and was armed with a handgun, there was sufficient evidence of appellant’s attempted ...

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

The trial court correctly determined that appellant was not entitled to a voluntary manslaughter jury instruction at his first-degree murder trial. The instruction was not supported by appellant’s assertions that he did not fire at a vehicle driving away from ...

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

Where a defendant who pleaded guilty in 2011 to a drug conspiracy count demonstrated that his sentence would have been about 50% shorter if he was sentenced today, based on his exceptionally lengthy adult criminal past and history of committing ...

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

Where the defendant sold approximately two pounds of methamphetamine, that substantial quantity of drugs in a single-buy transaction supported a reasonable inference of knowing participation in a distribution conspiracy. Background Kevin Thomas Seigler challenges his conviction and sentence for conspiracy ...

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

Where expert testimony was plausible, coherent, internally consistent and not contradicted by extrinsic evidence, the district court did not err in concluding a sexually dangerous person must comply with a regimen of medical, psychiatric or psychological care or treatment as ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Criminal Judge Paul V. Niemeyer

Where appellant sought a protective order against police officers who issued her a trespass citation, her subsequent perjury conviction for statements she made at the protective order hearing will not be reviewed on appeal under the “ends of justice” exception ...

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

Where appellant accepted a deferred disposition agreement, under which he would be convicted of a misdemeanor instead of a felony if he abided by certain conditions for a year, he cannot challenge the agreement’s legality on appeal after he violated ...

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

Where police arrested appellant on a capias that was issued for criminal contempt, this was sufficient to establish that appellant had been charged with a criminal offense when he was arrested. As a result, his conviction for escaping a police ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge Clifford L. Athey Jr. Virginia Court of Appeals

A declaration executed by a witness, but which was never filed in the litigation or relied on by the defendant, is the product of an attorney’s efforts in furtherance of a litigation strategy and is subject to disclosure only upon ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge Thomas T. Cullen U.S. District Court - Western District