Virginia Lawyers Weekly VA Lawyers Weekly

A defendant who’d agreed to plead guilty to murder could not withdraw his plea, fairly negotiated, based on the subsequent discovery of a witness with potentially exculpatory testimony. Background Appellant Franklin Thomason was at his home with his girlfriend and ...

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

In prosecuting a security worker who used a Taser to commit sexual battery, the Commonwealth did not need to prove it was a “deadly” weapon, only that it was a “dangerous” one. Evidence of the victim’s injuries satisfied that burden. ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge Mary B. Malveaux Virginia Court of Appeals

A sentencing court properly considered a written statement and testimony by the victim of a defendant who engaged in a multi-year campaign of death threats against the victim and her family members. Her statements regarding the defendant’s prior convictions for ...

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

Evidence was sufficient to convict the defendant of abduction, sex trafficking, and conspiracy when he stayed in a hotel room rented with the victim’s prostitution earnings and coerced her to return after she’d decided to leave. Background The victim, R.S., ...

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

In dismissing the Commonwealth’s civil-commitment petition, the trial court misapplied Code § 37.2-905.1. Moreover, dismissal was not supported by the evidence. Background Appellee Troy Giddens was convicted of carnal knowledge and attempted carnal knowledge in violation of Code §§ 18.2-26 ...

Tagged with: Administrative Criminal Justice Stephen R. McCullough Supreme Court of Virginia

A defendant who murdered two victims within three years was subject to conviction and sentencing for both crimes under the statutory provision addressing such successive murders. Although the separate indictments merely changed the order in which victims were named, the ...

Tagged with: Constitutional Criminal Justice D. Arthur Kelsey Sentencing Supreme Court of Virginia

Even valid appeal waivers in plea agreements do not necessarily bar claims that the factual basis for a guilty plea is insufficient. In this case, however, the stipulated factual basis and other affirmations by the defendant provided enough support for ...

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

At a revocation hearing, a district court asked to reconsider imposing the maximum sentence based on hardship to the defendant’s family did in fact consider that mitigating factor, as shown by the court’s response of “all right” and a subsequent ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Criminal Judge Paul V. Niemeyer Sentencing

The district court did not err in convicting and sentencing two U.S. citizens who engaged in online fundraising activities for a foreign terrorist organization. The evidence supporting the convictions – obtained through ex parte, in camera FISA review – was ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Criminal Judge Paul V. Niemeyer

A former CIA officer convicted of four counts of selling state secrets to China won judgment of acquittal on two of those counts. Although the defendant lives in Virginia, there was no evidence he was in the state when he ...

Tagged with: Constitutional Criminal Judge T.S. Ellis III U.S. District Court - Eastern District