Virginia Lawyers Weekly VA Lawyers Weekly

Counsel incorrectly advised the defendant that if he pleaded guilty to fraud charges he would be preserving all his appeal rights, including the ability to appeal the denial of a motion to suppress. The trial judge’s colloquy did not correct ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Criminal Judge Diana Gribbon Motz

Where a judge presiding over a criminal trial had prosecuted the defendant for bank robbery in 1989, mandamus was denied because it was not certain that the prior conviction would be relevant. The judge could preside over the case and ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Criminal Judge Pamela A. Harris

Where the defendant argued her trial counsel was constitutionally ineffective in multiple ways, for example, by recommending she plead guilty to one charge and not challenging venue and during sentencing, her counsel achieved “frankly the best outcome for which she ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge James P. Jones U.S. District Court - Western District

Where appellant told his girlfriend “‘not to show up’ for court and that ‘he didn’t want [her] to come[,]’” he was correctly charged with felony obstruction of justice. Further, the commonwealth established venue for the obstruction charge. Facts A Charles ...

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

Appellant was not entitled to a claim-of-right jury instruction in connection with robbery charges because the money he sought to recover was the proceeds from drug sales. Background Appellant Pinedo (referred to as Pena) was convicted of first-degree felony murder, ...

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

Where the child victim testified that appellant, his mother, repeatedly beat his buttocks with a belt and hit other parts of his body when he tried to avoid the blows, this was sufficient evidence to convict appellant of child abuse. ...

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

Where appellant was found guilty as a principle in the second degree on four counts of uttering, there is sufficient evidence to sustain the convictions. Background Pierce raised suspicions when he attempted to cash a check at a credit union. ...

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

Where appellant ordered three bank employees to lie on the floor during the course of his robbery, this restriction of movement was sufficient to support independent charges of, and convictions for, abduction. Restricting the employees’ movements was not an element ...

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

Where the sex offender statute required a jury to determine if a defendant who pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography violated its terms, the statute was not a mere “sentence enhancement,” but instead sets out a separate criminal offense, ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Criminal Judge Albert Diaz

Defendants convicted of using a firearm in a crime of violence resulting in murder failed in their arguments that statements by co-defendants violated the Confrontation Clause and/or were generally inadmissible under the Federal Rules of Evidence. Moreover, given the scope ...

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