Virginia Lawyers Weekly VA Lawyers Weekly

Although defendant claims no one saw him break into neighbors’ homes or place stolen property from those homes inside his own shed, the Court of Appeals says there is sufficient circumstantial evidence to convict him of the break-ins. In addition ...

Tagged with: Criminal Per Curiam Opinion Virginia Court of Appeals

Although defendant’s sister and fiancee had a complicated story about picking up defendant when he was intoxicated and then leaving him, without the car keys, to sleep it off, defendant told police he had “17,000 beers” that night and there ...

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

The Court of Appeals reverses a defendant’s robbery, abduction and firearms convictions because the record shows the trial court abused its discretion in not allowing defendant to withdraw his waiver of a jury trial when plea negotiations broke down and ...

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

Defendant has waived a portion of his challenge to the trial court’s jurisdiction to revoke his probation on the ground the time within which to revoke his sentences had expired, but the Court of Appeals finds the record affirmatively demonstrates ...

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

The Court of Appeal rejects defendant’s claim that he cannot be convicted of both felony murder and lynching-by-mob for his role in the robbery and beating of three men, that led to the death of one of the victims. Defendant ...

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

A police officer who came to defendant’s apartment minutes after getting an anonymous tip that “‘a white male named Jimmy Smith and a black male named Bobby’ were inside the residence and Bobby was selling drugs to Jimmy,” and who ...

Tagged with: Judge James W. Haley Jr. Search & Seizure Virginia Court of Appeals

A defendant accused of taking indecent liberties with his girlfriend’s seven-year-old daughter, who wanted to introduce evidence of her alleged prior “sexually curious” behavior, did not demonstrate that he provided the necessary notice under the rape shield statute and the ...

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

Police who responded to a call about an assault in progress and saw an upset and disheveled woman who pointed to defendant as the person who had assaulted her could follow defendant and detain him, and the Court of Appeals ...

Tagged with: Search & Seizure Virginia Court of Appeals

There was sufficient evidence to convict defendant of grand theft of a Jeep Cherokee, as a principal in the second degree, even though he says he only rode in the vehicle, and the Court of Appeals upholds the conviction. A ...

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

A self-employed plumber who used a privately issued government identification document at TSA airport checkpoints, and admitted to a federal agent that he believed TSA agents probably assumed he worked for the government, is not entitled to a judgment of ...

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