Where appellant was given a 10-year suspended sentence for possessing substances with the intent to manufacture methamphetamine, the sentence is void ab initio because it exceeds the statutory maximum for this crime. In Jones v. Commonwealth, 293 Va. 29 (2017), ...

Tagged with: Criminal Supreme Court of Virginia

Appellant’s conviction for defrauding a restaurant is reversed because the applicable statute requires that a person have the intent to defraud when the “food is obtained,” and there is no evidence that appellant intended to defraud the hotel when she ...

Tagged with: Criminal Justice LeRoy F. Millette Jr. Supreme Court of Virginia

Where appellant admitted he had received a methadone treatment before a fatal traffic accident and his blood tested positive for Valium and Xanax, this was sufficient evidence to find the drugs were “self-administered” and to sustain convictions for aggravated involuntary ...

Tagged with: Criminal Justice Charles S. Russell Supreme Court of Virginia

Where a sentencing order was incorrectly dated, appellant’s 30-day period in which to appeal began to run on the corrected date, and not the date on which the court entered an amended order correcting the date. Analysis “In the criminal ...

Tagged with: Criminal Supreme Court of Virginia

Where appellant was authorized to repair the brakes on a vehicle, he exceeded the scope of consent when he drove the vehicle at least 20 miles and used it to tow his own vehicle. There is sufficient evidence to sustain ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge B. Elliott Bondurant Virginia Court of Appeals

Where appellant asked the court for deferred disposition of a controlled substance fraud charge, the request was untimely because the court had already twice pronounced her guilty of the offense. Background Appellant, a nurse at a medical facility, was charged ...

Tagged with: Criminal Virginia Court of Appeals

Where the circuit court ordered that appellant be removed from the Department of Juvenile Justice and placed in the Department of Corrections Youthful Offender Program, this did not violate the terms of appellant’s plea agreement. Plea agreement “The question before ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge Randolph A. Beales Virginia Court of Appeals

Where appellant sought to suppress a gun discovered in a backpack while the police were searching his car, the trial court correctly concluded that the search was an invalid inventory search but erred by admitting the evidence under the inevitable ...

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

Where defendant injured a police officer’s arm as she tried to unlawfully force her way into his residence, resulting charges of assaulting a police officer and obstruction of justice are dismissed. Background Officer Jennifer Baron and adult protective services personnel ...

Tagged with: Criminal Norfolk Circuit Court Virginia Circuit Courts

A delay in conducting defendant’s trial due to emergency orders issued in response to the COVID-19 emergency is excluded from the time period in which he must be brought to trial under Code § 19.2-243. The COVID-19 emergency is a ...

Tagged with: Criminal Fairfax County Circuit Court Virginia Circuit Courts