Virginia Lawyers Weekly VA Lawyers Weekly

Because the defendant had been required by the State of Idaho to register with the state’s sex-offender and crimes-against-minors registry, Virginia law classifies him as a sexually violent offender who must re-register every 90 days. Background In 2004, Appellant Thomas ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge Teresa M. Chafin Virginia Court of Appeals

The trial court did not err in abating the defendant’s probation term during her active incarceration for an unrelated crime, without following the notice and hearing requirements of Code § 19.2-304. Background On May 31, 2013, Appellant Lanikki Edwards entered ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge Teresa M. Chafin Sentencing Virginia Court of Appeals

A defendant convicted of second-degree murder, malicious wounding, and two counts of using a firearm in the commission of a felony showed that his trial counsel never conveyed a favorable plea deal that had been offered by the Commonwealth, despite ...

Tagged with: Attorneys Criminal Judge Robert E. Payne Sentencing U.S. District Court - Eastern District

The Board of Immigration Appeals erred in concluding that Virginia’s obstruction-of-justice offense qualified as a “crime involving moral turpitude” that heightened the burden on an immigrant petitioner challenging his removal. Background Petitioner Jose Ramirez, a citizen of El Salvador, first ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Administrative Criminal Immigration Judge Roger L. Gregory

A defendant’s intent to maim, disfigure, disable, or kill could be inferred solely from the act of pistol-whipping his victim before stealing the victim’s money. Background On March 4, 2014, Otis White Jr. went to visit Appellee Marquez Perkins’s mother, ...

Tagged with: Criminal Evidence Published Order Supreme Court of Virginia

By repeatedly violating a no-contact order to guilt his partner into refusing to testify against him, a domestic-abuse defendant forfeited his Sixth Amendment right to exclude her testimonial hearsay statements to law enforcement. Background Appellant Kevin Cody and Rebekka Weingarten ...

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

Although the defendant advised a federal witness to just “tell the truth,” a jury reasonably found that her motives were criminal when she met the witness at the request of their mutual friend who was facing trial. Background In 2014, ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Criminal Judge Dennis W. Shedd

The district court did not err in finding that a developmentally disabled individual, civilly committed as a sexually violent predator, no longer met the criteria for continued commitment and must be released. Background Appellant Walter Wooden was born in 1956 ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Criminal Judge William B. Traxler Jr.

Officers’ search of a defendant’s bag while he was speaking with officers in another room was not incident to lawful arrest, as there was little chance he could reach the bag or control its contents at the time. The firearm ...

Tagged with: Constitutional Criminal Evidence Judge Raymond A. Jackson Search & Seizure U.S. District Court - Eastern District

The court of appeals correctly held that convictions for both common-law and statutory involuntary manslaughter under Code § 18.2-154 amounted to unconstitutional double convictions for the same offense. Background A jury convicted Appellee Carroll Gregg of both common law involuntary ...

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