Virginia Lawyers Weekly VA Lawyers Weekly

The Court of Appeals found no error in a Fairfax County jury’s conviction of defendant of aggravated sexual battery of a 4-year-old when defendant was 32 years of age.  Though the trial occurred 20 years after the crime, and the ...

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

In this case of involuntary manslaughter resulting from a truck driving over a bicyclist at 10:56 p.m. on a four-lane-highway, the defendant truck driver’s testimony changed over the course of events. The Court of Appeals affirmed appellant’s conviction for involuntary ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge Mary Grace O'Brien Virginia Court of Appeals

A three-judge panel of the Court of Appeals, granted a petition for appeal for a defendant charged with robbery, attempted carjacking, and conspiracy to commit carjacking, it found that the trial court erred in denying defendant’s motion to strike all ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge Marla Graff Decker Judge Robert J. Humphreys Judge Wesley G. Russell Jr. Virginia Court of Appeals

The Court of Appeals confirms that a court order written by a Richmond Circuit Court judge be taken literally and that the order is final according to Rule 1:1 once 21 days pass from the date of entry. The order ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge Marla Graff Decker Virginia Court of Appeals

Alleged members of the Mad Stone Bloods gang request that a Roanoke U.S. District Court dismiss the counts in the superseding indictment charging them with the use and discharge of firearms during crimes of violence, in violation of 18 U.S.C. ...

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

Regardless of whether a particular photograph displayed “sexual parts,” a teacher who engaged in a series of provocative texts with an 11-year-old student was properly convicted under Code § 18.2-374.3(B) of using a cell phone for “purposes of procuring or ...

Tagged with: Criminal Justice Elizabeth A. McClanahan Supreme Court of Virginia

A Fairfax County circuit judge denies a motion to strike a jail sentence recommendation in a sex offender’s presentence report despite the fact that sentencing guidelines recommend probation. The defendant presents a challenge to the generalized authority of probation officers ...

Tagged with: Criminal Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge David Bernhard Virginia Circuit Courts

A Bedford County circuit judge will suppress or exclude statements made by a felony murder defendant subject to terms of an immunity agreement with prosecutors in Montgomery County, Maryland. The court first addressed whether the commonwealth is contractually obligated by ...

Tagged with: Bedford County Circuit Court Criminal Judge James W. Updike Jr. Virginia Circuit Courts

The en banc 4th Circuit overrules its prior precedent permitting pretrial restraint of a defendant’s innocent property under the federal criminal forfeiture statute, and joins other federal courts of appeal in holding that 21 U.S.C. § 853 does not authorize ...

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

A grand jury investigating defendant’s provision of a fraudulent document may not ask a criminal defense team “what did the witness tell you,” as the government did not show that the crime-fraud exception allowed it to obtain this protected attorney ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Criminal Per Curiam Opinion