Virginia Lawyers Weekly VA Lawyers Weekly

The court rejected defendant’s objection to his sentence, finding prior Virginia convictions for possessing heroin with intent to distribute fell within the definition of crimes involving “controlled substances,” thus implicating the career-offender provision of the sentencing guidelines. Background Timothy A. ...

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

The court denied the defendant’s motion for a hearing at this stage and found, based upon a Bureau of Prisons psychiatric report, that defendant had a substantial probability of regaining competency if medicated another 120 days. Background Defendant was charged ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge Raymond A. Jackson U.S. District Court - Eastern District

In considering a sex offender’s bid for remittance of treatment expenses, the court found the statute allows remittance of “fines and costs,” but does not extend to costs associated with sex offender treatment class, polygraph tests or a GPS monitor. ...

Tagged with: Chesterfield County Circuit Court Criminal Judge David E. Johnson Virginia Circuit Courts

Although the trial court may have erred in admitting the defendant’s Facebook posts during the sentencing phase of his murder trial, the defendant’s failure to present the precise arguments to the court foreclosed his ability to raise the issue on ...

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

While the defendant’s requested jury instruction was a correct statement of the law, the court found the instructions that were actually given fully covered the legal principle at issue and properly advised the jury that unexplained possession of stolen property ...

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

Although a jury acquitted the defendant of murder, it could convict him of using a firearm in the commission of a murder where the evidence supported that charge. Background Appellant was tried by a jury for the murder of Leon ...

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

In considering the defendant’s appeal of a circuit court order continuing forced medication to render him competent to stand trial, the court concluded that the determination of competency is “part of [a] purely criminal process,” and the appeal is criminal ...

Tagged with: Criminal Per Curiam Opinion Supreme Court of Virginia

The court rejected the defendant’s argument that, because he was inside the car when he shot its occupant, he could not be guilty of firing shots “at” an occupied vehicle. The court found this argument contrary to the straightforward meaning ...

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

The defendant’s attack on a prior removal order failed because he waived his right to challenge that order, failed to show he suffered prejudice from the alleged defects in the proceedings and the order complied with the regulations. Background On ...

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

The district court did not err in increasing the sentence of a defendant who argued that the good behavior requirement of his prior sentence is not a “criminal justice sentence” because it lacks a custodial or supervisory component. Virginia law ...

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