After a $114 million judgment was entered against the defendant and he was ordered to deposit funds from bank accounts with the court, a challenge by his three children arguing the money belonged to them was premature. No effort had ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Criminal Per Curiam Opinion

Appellant’s failure to cooperate with an expert, who would determine whether he was a sexually violent predator, justified the trial court’s decision to bar two prior evaluations by another expert who determined he was not. Background Appellant Ferrara was given ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge Stephen R. McCullough Virginia Supreme Court

Where appellant was convicted of sex crimes, including custodial sexual abuse, involving a 7-year-old child, “child pornography titles” found on his computer were properly admitted as evidence. The probative value of this evidence regarding “conduct or attitude towards the victim, ...

Tagged with: Criminal Justice Cleo E. Powell Virginia Supreme Court

The trial court correctly convicted appellant of fraudulently failing to return rental property based on the rental agreement, a demand letter and circumstantial evidence showing appellant’s “evasive and uncommunicative conduct.” Background Taking the evidence in a light most favorable to ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge Mary Grace O'Brien Va. Court of Appeals – Published

Where a caller told the police two men and a woman were blocking his driveway with a car and brandished a firearm, a responding officer correctly made a protective search of the car after seeing appellant apparently concealing something under ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge Marla Graff Decker Va. Court of Appeals – Published

Although the trial court erred by ruling that the minor child’s age, in and of itself, made her incapable of consenting to appellant’s video recording of her while she undressed, the error was harmless because there was ample other evidence ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge Wesley G. Russell Jr. Va. Court of Appeals – Published

Where a defendant failed to show, after a Franks hearing, that a detective was “seeking to mislead” when she omitted facts in her affidavit in support of a search warrant, his motion to suppress was denied. Background Craig Leon Pulley ...

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

Because it is uncertain whether the Supreme Court of Virginia would conclude that common law robbery can be committed by means of threatening to accuse the victim of sodomy, and that question is determinative on whether the defendant qualifies as ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Criminal Judge Barbara Milano Keenan

Where the record showed a surgeon purchased nearly 10,000 tablets of various controlled substances over a 28-month period by making material misstatements, his convictions and 20-month sentence for fraud were affirmed. Background Appellant is a surgeon who was registered with ...

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

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals Inc. had standing to challenge how a zoological park was treating eight animals because the park’s conduct led the group to submit complaints to government agencies, compile and publish information about its treatment ...

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