Virginia Lawyers Weekly VA Lawyers Weekly

Circumstantial evidence and reasonable inferences, including the appellant’s shifting explanations and the fact that his driver’s permit, cellphone and the victim’s belongings were found in a stolen car, supported his larceny conviction. Background On April 9, 2016, at about 4:15 ...

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

The court could not determine if the trial court erred in denying appellant’s motion to suppress his statements to police regarding the marijuana found in his backpack and his residence because he failed to include a transcript or an agreed ...

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

A driver who maintained that he believed he only hit a deer, but who actually hit and killed a person, had his conviction of felony hit and run affirmed. Background At 7:00 a.m. on Aug. 4, 2016, Trooper Dustin Eggleston ...

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

Where a defendant acknowledged touching his co-worker’s shoulders during a dispute, and the co-worker and other witnesses testified that the contact was intended to prevent the co-worker from leaving the room, the defendant’s self-serving testimony that the contact was minimal ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge Henry E. Hudson U.S. District Court - Eastern District

Although evidence obtained during a military search of the defendant’s cellphone was inadmissible because it violated the Military Rules of Evidence, the good-faith exception to the exclusionary rule and “fruit of the poisonous tree” doctrine nonetheless allowed the government to ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Criminal Judge Stephanie Dawn Thacker

A defendant who sent gift cards to an undercover agent he believed was a member of ISIS was guilty of attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization where his collection of Nazi paraphernalia suggested a predisposition to ...

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

The commonwealth charged defendant with falsely making or embossing a fraudulent credit card. At trial, however, it demonstrated only the defendant tried to use a fraudulent card. The conviction was reversed because the commonwealth failed to prove the crime charged ...

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

Where defendant petitioned for a writ of actual innocence based on nonbiological evidence, the Court of Appeals abused its discretion by dismissing the petition without ordering an evidentiary hearing. The appeals court concluded defendant did not prove the truth of ...

Tagged with: Criminal Justice William C. Mims Supreme Court of Virginia

A defendant is not entitled to relief from mandatory three-year minimum sentences for his  convictions of cocaine distribution offenses because the evidence showed he possessed a firearm during the time that controlled buys were made at his home. Overview Under ...

Tagged with: Criminal Published Order Supreme Court of Virginia

Defendant was not entitled to a continuance under a statute that provides the court “shall” grant a reasonable continuance when a defendant represented by a court-appointed attorney becomes financially able to retain private counsel. The statute does not confer a ...

Tagged with: Criminal Justice William C. Mims Supreme Court of Virginia