Virginia Lawyers Weekly VA Lawyers Weekly

The Court of Appeals upholds suppression of ammunition and a controlled substance discovered when police made a warrantless entry into defendant’s home, claiming justification under the “emergency doctrine” because defendant’s wife had called for assistance. When a deputy arrived at ...

Tagged with: Judge William G. Petty Search & Seizure Virginia Court of Appeals

An Albemarle County Circuit Court sets aside two Civil Investigative Demands filed by the Virginia Attorney General against a U.Va. professor because the Attorney General has not sufficiently stated, under an objective standard, the “nature of the conduct” that gives ...

Tagged with: Albemarle County Circuit Court Search & Seizure Virginia Circuit Courts

The Court of Appeals affirms defendant’s convictions despite his contention that the commonwealth did not prove he knew the check he used to open a bank account was forged. Defendant opened a new checking account with a check drawn on ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge Rudolph Bumgardner III Virginia Court of Appeals

The Court of Appeals reverses defendant’s conviction of failure to return rental property within 10 days of the expiration of the rental agreement, in light of the stipulation that two of the items – a brake and handle – were ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge Jere M.H. Willis Jr. Virginia Court of Appeals

Although defendant contractor had not ordered kitchen cabinets when he told a homeowner that he needed a $1,500 draw from her construction loan because the cabinets were on order, this false statement was not sufficient to prove the contractor had ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge Robert P. Frank Virginia Court of Appeals

A police officer had an objectively reasonable basis to conclude he had been invited onto the curtilage of a rental home by people with authority to grant such access, where the officer was responding to the landlord’s complaint that he ...

Tagged with: Judge Leonie Brinkema Search & Seizure U.S. District Court - Eastern District

The 4th Circuit orders vacatur of a South Carolina defendant’s conviction for use of a firearm under 18 U.S.C. § 924(c), as a 1995 high-court case undercuts his conviction for “use” of a firearm based on his allegedly having reached ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Criminal Per Curiam Opinion

The 4th Circuit denies rehearing and rehearing en banc in this appeal by an inmate in prison on drug offenses who was then sentenced to death after being convicted of strangling his cellmate with a towel. Judges Gregory, Davis and ...

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

A passenger in a car has no standing to challenge the search of the car by police, and the Court of Appeals affirms convictions for possession of both heroin and a gun. The defendant was a right rear passenger when ...

Tagged with: Judge Robert P. Frank Search & Seizure Virginia Court of Appeals

Where a defendant sentenced to two years in prison for a weapons offense became a fugitive, there is a sufficient nexus between his appeal and his fugitive status to apply the Fugitive Disentitlement Doctrine and dismiss his appeal, the Court ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge Robert P. Frank Virginia Court of Appeals