Virginia Lawyers Weekly VA Lawyers Weekly

In a case of first impression, the term “another person” in the federal aggravated identity theft statute was held to include deceased victims of identity theft, based on the plain language of the statute, its context and legislative history. Background ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Criminal Judge Henry F. Floyd

In a case of first impression, where a defendant’s motion to represent himself in his criminal trial for child pornography was denied, the collateral order doctrine does not provide means for immediate appellate review and there is no subject-matter jurisdiction. ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Criminal Judge Henry F. Floyd

Where the state failed to turn over Brady materials and the state court appeared to apply an incorrect standard when reviewing a petitioner’s post-conviction application, there was another ground sufficient to sustain the decision to deny his application. In addition, the ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Criminal Judge Julius N. Richardson

Where the magistrate judge failed to advise the defendant of his potential exposure to a 15-year mandatory minimum sentence by pleading guilty to possession of a firearm by a felon, and the defendant demonstrated there was a “reasonable probability” he ...

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

Where a defendant charged with kidnapping and other counts who was previously found incompetent to stand trial and refused to take oral medication for diagnosed schizophrenia, an antipsychotic regimen of injected drugs was ordered, as it would likely relieve his ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge Raymond A. Jackson U.S. District Court - Eastern District

Where a 16-year-old defendant was sentenced to life without parole for murder and robbery and resentenced to life suspended after 91 years following the decision in Miller v. Alabama, 567 U.S. 460, 465 (2012), the sentences are constitutional. Miller held ...

Tagged with: Criminal Order Supreme Court of Virginia

Where appellant was found guilty of being a violent felon in possession of a firearm, a police detective did not have to be qualified as an expert to testify about the gun. Background When Snelgrow, a police detective on uniformed ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge Robert J. Humphreys Virginia Court of Appeals

There was sufficient evidence to convict appellant of receiving a stolen firearm. However, his conviction for possession of marijuana is reversed. The results of a field test were inadmissible because the Department of Forensic Science had not approved the test ...

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

There was sufficient evidence for the trial court to convict appellant of two hit-and-run accidents. Although both arose from the same incident, each accident had a separate causation and there “was a sufficient temporal interval between the two collisions.” Background ...

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

Even though photos of appellant were, according to the trial court, “practically useless,” a store clerk who observed him was able to verify his identity, and thus, there is sufficient evidence to sustain appellant’s convictions of statutory burglary, petit larceny ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge Robert J. Humphreys Virginia Court of Appeals