Virginia Lawyers Weekly VA Lawyers Weekly

Where appellant scuffled with the police officer attempting to arrest him for shoplifting, there was sufficient evidence that he intended to strike or harm the police officer. His conviction of assault and battery of a police officer is affirmed. Intent ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge Junius P. Fulton III Virginia Court of Appeals

Criminal “Slate asserts that the trial court erred by finding that he entered his guilty plea freely, voluntarily, and intelligently because the record is ‘devoid of any evidence’ that he was cognizant of ‘the relevant collateral consequences of his plea.’” ...

Tagged with: Criminal Virginia Court of Appeals

Where the government obtained the defendant’s historical cellular site location information, or CSLI, in good-faith reliance upon then-existing law, the defendant’s counsel did not render ineffective assistance by failing to move to suppress the information. The motion likely would not ...

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

Where substantial evidence showed that the decedent ingested a dose of fentanyl sufficient to cause death, even if taken on its own, and that she, in fact, died from the fentanyl, the defendant’s conviction for distribution of fentanyl resulting in ...

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

Where a detainee argued that the district court ignored the particulars of his medical conditions and disqualified him from compassionate release solely because he had received the COVID-19 vaccination, but the record showed the district court considered a variety of ...

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

The trial court correctly granted the prosecution’s motion in limine at appellant’s murder trial to exclude any mention of his civil suit against the police on the grounds that “evidence of the suit was irrelevant, would be unduly prejudicial, and ...

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

Where appellant moved for a continuance on the morning of his rape trial to follow up on information the prosecution provided eight months earlier, the trial court correctly denied the motion. Further, the record belies appellant’s argument that he was ...

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

There was sufficient evidence that appellant intentionally and with malice fired shots at a car, which was being driven toward a group of cars waiting at a traffic signal. Two bullets entered a car waiting at the light, showering the ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge Mary Bennett Malveaux Virginia Court of Appeals

Where appellant argues that his 15-year active sentence resulted from “(1) improper and prejudicial testimony by the victim’s father and (2) the Commonwealth’s improper closing argument that called for him to be punished for uncharged conduct, he did not preserve ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge Mary Bennett Malveaux Virginia Court of Appeals

Sufficient circumstantial evidence support appellant’s conviction for grand larceny of a motor vehicle. Evidence Schafer argues that the trial court erred in convicting him of grand larceny because the evidence was insufficient to prove that he was the one who ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge Clifford L. Athey Jr. Virginia Court of Appeals