Charlottesville Circuit Court

Feb 11, 2014

Charges Dropped for Arrest Outside Jurisdiction

A Charlottesville Circuit Court dismisses two felony charges against defendant arising from an alleged hit and run that occurred in Albemarle County, but was charged after police apprehended defendant in the city of Charlottesville; the apprehension and arrest were improper because Albemarle County police were beyond their territorial jurisdiction to arrest defendant. The alleged hit […]

Sep 9, 2013

Court considers ‘good cause’ for courtroom cameras

A Charlottesville Circuit Court offered “mere speculation” to justify its decision to bar cameras from the courtroom when it sentenced George Huguely V to 23 years in prison for killing his former girlfriend, Charlottesville lawyer Gregory S. Duncan told the Supreme Court of Virginia on Sept. 9. The Virginia statute that governs cameras in the […]

Jul 29, 2013

Ambulance driver was texting shortly before fatal collision – $800,000 Settlement

On Jan. 6, 2012, the decedent was a passenger in a private transport ambulance. The decedent was 82 years old and had undergone an aortic valve replacement at the University of Virginia Medical Center several weeks earlier. On the morning of the accident, the decedent was discharged from the hospital to a nursing home in […]

Jul 9, 2013

Sanctions paid, Murray now faces bar discipline

After paying a sanction award of nearly $600,000 for what a judge called an “extensive pattern of deceptive and obstructionist conduct,” former Charlottesville attorney Matthew B. Murray now faces Virginia State Bar disciplinary charges for his actions in the wrongful death case that led to a record jury verdict in 2010. The charges include hiding […]

May 22, 2013

Insurer wants out of civil lawsuit against Huguely

George W. Huguely V, the former University of Virginia lacrosse player who was convicted in February 2012 of killing his former girlfriend, is being sued in Maryland federal court by his mother’s insurance company. Chartis Property Casualty Co., a New York-based member company of American International Group Inc., filed suit in U.S. District Court in […]

Apr 26, 2013

Virginia high court to weigh cameras in courtrooms

The Supreme Court of Virginia has agreed to look at whether judges have an unfettered right to reject news cameras in their courtrooms, or whether they need a good reason to block access. The issue comes in the appeal arising from the emotion-laden trial of George Huguely V, the University of Virginia student convicted last […]

Apr 22, 2013

Officer Has Sovereign Immunity for Accident

The Charlottesville Circuit Court grants a plea of sovereign immunity to a police officer who was responding to another officer’s call for assistance in handling traffic after a two-vehicle collision on a dark, rainy night; defendant officer was engaged in a governmental function when he was attempting to position his vehicle to divert traffic. Officer […]

Mar 18, 2013

Defendant claimed pedestrian was drunk, not in crosswalk – $190,000 Verdict

This case stemmed from a motor vehicle versus pedestrian collision. Plaintiff and eyewitnesses placed the plaintiff in a marked crosswalk with a “walk” signal at the time of the collision. Defendant testified that the plaintiff ran out in front of his vehicle about 50 yards beyond the crosswalk. Defendant also argued that the plaintiff was […]

Feb 25, 2013

Announcer settles claim after ‘Crushtation’ accident – $675,000 Settlement

Plaintiff was the announcer at a monster truck show, and was run over by the front left wheel of a truck called “Crushstation” (shaped like an oversized lobster on huge wheels). Plaintiff alleged that he was caught in a pinch when the spotters employed by the production company negligently directed the monster truck to move […]

Jan 10, 2013

High court reinstates full verdict in ‘Lester’

The Supreme Court of Virginia has reinstated the full jury verdict of $6,227,000 on Isaiah Lester’s wrongful death claim based on the loss of his wife in a car accident in 2007. The court’s ruling closes the book on a high-profile, high-dollar personal-injury case in Albemarle County. The trial judge had reduced the jury’s award […]

Sep 10, 2012

No Brady Hearing on Planned Civil Suit

A Charlottesville Circuit Court denies defendant George Huguely V’s motion for an evidentiary hearing on his claim that the commonwealth violated Brady v. Maryland by withholding information about plans by the family of the victim, Huguely’s fellow UVa student and former girlfriend, to file a civil suit for wrongful death. The defense is seeking a […]

Sep 10, 2012

Former U.Va. athlete gets 23 years for slaying ex

CHARLOTTESVILLE — A former University of Virginia lacrosse player who killed his ex-girlfriend in a drunken rage received a 23-year prison sentence Aug. 30 in a case that forever changed the school’s attitudes toward relationship violence and made it easier for abuse victims in the state to obtain restraining orders. George W. Huguely V had […]