Because the existing record gave the court no grounds to determine whether (1) the defendant was lawfully present in the U.S. at the time a firearm was found in his residence or (2) whether the conviction statute could satisfy Second ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge M. Hannah Lauck U.S. District Court - Eastern District

When a defendant directed officers searching his home to a gun under the couch, he was responding to their question to his wife, not to him. Therefore, no grounds existed to suppress his voluntary statements about the gun. No other ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Criminal Judge Paul V. Niemeyer

Because the existing record gave the court no grounds to determine whether (1) the defendant was lawfully present in the U.S. at the time a firearm was found in his residence or (2) whether the conviction statute could satisfy Second ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge M. Hannah Lauck U.S. District Court - Eastern District

When a defendant directed officers searching his home to a gun under the couch, he was responding to their question to his wife, not to him. Therefore, no grounds existed to suppress his voluntary statements about the gun. No other ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Criminal Judge Paul V. Niemeyer

After being released with a verbal warning for a broken brake light and driving on a suspended license, a reasonable person in the defendant’s position would have felt free to leave. Therefore, his consent for a vehicle search was valid, ...

Tagged with: Constitutional Criminal Judge Glen A. Huff Search & Seizure Traffic Offenses Virginia Court of Appeals

Attempted petit larceny qualifies as a felony recidivist “third or subsequent offense” under Code § 18.2-104, meriting an enhancement sentence. Background At trial, the Commonwealth presented evidence that Appellant Fred Coleman was attempting to steal a bicycle when the victim ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge Mary Grace O'Brien Sentencing Virginia Court of Appeals

The circuit court did not err in suppressing evidence stemming from an arrest that lacked probable cause. Despite the defendant’s proximity to the house at the time of arrest, the fact that his mother and brother lived there, the fact ...

Tagged with: Constitutional Criminal Judge Robert J. Humphreys Search & Seizure Virginia Court of Appeals

Like the petitioner in Currier v. Virginia, a defendant who voluntarily requested to sever and continue one of the charges against him for strategic reasons could not prevail on his claim that the second trial violated double jeopardy principles, either ...

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

By the unambiguous terms of a plea agreement, the government had discretion to determine whether the defendant had complied with his obligation under the agreement to give full and complete testimony when asked. Given this discretion, it was not required ...

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

After U.S. Supreme Court precedent invalidated one of the defendant’s three predicate convictions mandating a sentence enhancement under the Armed Career Criminal Act, his sentence could not be sustained by a “substitute” conviction that appeared on his pre-sentence report but ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Constitutional Criminal Due Process Judge Roger L. Gregory Sentencing