Virginia Lawyers Weekly VA Lawyers Weekly

A sentencing court erred in applying the Rule 35(b) “substantial assistance” ground to reduce a sentence for distribution of child pornography from 96 months to one day; the 4th Circuit vacates the sentence reduction because it was based not on ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Criminal Judge Allyson K. Duncan

The Court of Appeals affirmed without considering the merits of defendant’s appeal of his bench trial conviction of grand larceny of a check; the lack of a complete trial transcript precludes appellate review without an agreed statement of facts approved ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge Larry G. Elder Virginia Court of Appeals

Defendant is not entitled to reversal of his jury trial conviction for forcible sodomy of a nine-year-old child based on a hearsay objection to a social worker’s testimony, the Court of Appeals said; the testimony was properly admitted under Va. ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge D. Arthur Kelsey Virginia Court of Appeals

A majority of the Court of Appeals affirmed defendant’s conviction for participating in a criminal street gang over his objections to the admissibility of evidence of prior criminal acts by two other individuals shown to be gang members by a ...

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

A defendant whose parole was revoked, in part, for a conviction and fine for causing a telephone to ring with intent to annoy in violation of Va. Code § 18.2-429 is not “detained” within the meaning of Va. Code § ...

Tagged with: Criminal Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge Dennis J. Smith Virginia Circuit Courts

A Fairfax Circuit Court grants a writ of habeas corpus on petitioner’s Strickland claim based on his assertion that he would not have pleaded guilty to misdemeanor drug possession had his lawyer not advised him the conviction would not affect ...

Tagged with: Criminal Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge Randy I. Bellows Virginia Circuit Courts

A Roanoke City Circuit Court dismisses an appeal from a juvenile and domestic relations court order finding defendant “not guilty” on a Show Cause Summons (Criminal) , as the appeal is barred by the double jeopardy provisions of the Fifth ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge Clifford R. Weckstein Roanoke Circuit Court Virginia Circuit Courts

After finding a defendant guilty at a bench trial of grand larceny from a Sears store, a trial court did not have “inherent authority” to defer charges and ultimately find the defendant guilty of a misdemeanor; the Court of Appeals ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge D. Arthur Kelsey Virginia Court of Appeals

A defendant who wants to pick and choose certain questions to answer with a lawyer present must make it clear to a reasonable officer which questions he’ll answer and which he’ll defer; here, a drug suspect did not clearly invoke ...

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

The trial court erred in granting defendant’s motion to suppress incriminating statements in a custodial investigation, the Court of Appeals said; defendant’s warrantless arrest was supported by probable cause under a totality of circumstances analysis that includes the arresting officer’s ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge Walter S. Felton Jr. Virginia Court of Appeals