Virginia Lawyers Weekly VA Lawyers Weekly

An optometrist lost his appeal challenging his conviction for sexual battery after a trial on allegations he inappropriately touched more than one complaining witness. Background Three women testified that appellant, a licensed optometrist, inappropriately touching them during eye exams. Appellant ...

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

Where the commonwealth failed to prove the date of a video purporting to show the defendant at an ABC store and failed to prove that the defendant willfully concealed a bottle with the intent to steal from the store, the ...

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

A defendant granted a habeas review of his life sentences for capital murder and robbery was given a fair hearing and properly sentenced to 99 years in prison. Background In 1999, appellant was convicted, pursuant to a guilty plea, of ...

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

A man with two firearms convictions was required to serve his sentences consecutively, not concurrently, according to the plain language of statute. Background On Aug. 1, 2016, Botkin was indicted by a grand jury for two counts of possession of ...

Tagged with: Criminal Justice S. Bernard Goodwyn Supreme Court of Virginia

Where a money-laundering defendant brought a claim that her lawyer was ineffective, at sentencing she has asked if she had been satisfied with his services, answering yes, her ineffective assistance claim is denied. Background On Aug. 30, 2016, petitioner pleaded ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge Claude M. Hilton U.S. District Court - Eastern District

The jury found the testimony of the victim, who was a minor when defendant initiated sexual relations, credible enough to sustain his conviction for rape, forcible sodomy and related crimes. Background J., the victim in the present case, was born ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge Teresa M. Chafin Virginia Court of Appeals

Cell phone data and victim identification established that a defendant, a drug dealer who repeatedly shot a purchaser as part of an attempted robbery, was guilty of aggravated malicious wounding. Background On Feb. 5, 2016, David Johnson bought heroin from ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge Teresa M. Chafin Virginia Court of Appeals

A defendant challenging his firearms conviction failed to show that admission of evidence of his prior felonies was harmful error. Background On Aug. 7, 2016, Lieutenant Carson Altizer and Officer Rene Fonseca of the Christiansburg Police Department responded to a ...

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

A defendant’s claim that jury instructions in his trial for forcible sodomy and sexual battery were confusing was speculation. Background On Oct. 2, 2015, the victim met the appellant at a bar in Fredericksburg around 11:30 p.m. The victim had ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge Jean Harrison Clements Virginia Court of Appeals

A woman convicted of child abuse and neglect successfully argued that the trial judge impermissibly lengthened her sentence by three years. Background Following her conviction for felony child abuse and neglect, a jury fixed a maximum sentence of seven years ...

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