“In this case, we awarded Endalkachew Merid an appeal from the judgment of the Court of Appeals, which affirmed his convictions for first degree murder and abduction by force. See Merid v. Commonwealth, 72 Va. App. 104, 119 (2020). “We ...

Tagged with: Criminal Supreme Court of Virginia

The trial court correctly determined that testimony from state police special agent concerning blood spatter evidence had a proper foundation. A photograph of a bloodstain on one of appellant’s tennis shoes from which the special agent drew her conclusions was ...

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

Where appellant, in his first appeal, unsuccessfully challenged the court’s sentence after being convicted of fraud and a financial crime, he has waived consideration of issues raised in his second appeal petition from the same convictions, which was filed the ...

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

Where statutes were amended to prevent police officers from stopping vehicles solely for expired registrations and certain equipment violations, and provide that any evidence from such a stop must be suppressed, the change is procedural. As such, it will be ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge Charles N. Dorsey Roanoke Circuit Court Virginia Circuit Courts

Where a police officer asked two occupants in a stopped car whether there was “anything illegal” in the car, the motion to suppress firearms found in the car was denied because the question went to officer safety, given the time ...

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

A defendant charged with intent to distribute a substance containing a detectible amount of cocaine lacked standing to challenge the search of a residence because the house was used for dealing drugs and individuals present for a business expectancy do ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge Henry E. Hudson U.S. District Court - Eastern District

The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ordered a federal judge to grant a man’s Sixth Amendment ineffective assistance claim, giving the man his release from prison. In its ruling, the Fourth Circuit takes the Supreme Court of Virginia ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Criminal Ineffective assistance of counsel Sixth Amendment

Where the district court is alleged to have erred by failing to instruct the jury “to give such weight to the confession as the jury feels it deserves under all the circumstances” when it admitted a confession into evidence, the ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Criminal Judge Julius N. Richardson

Where a former elder law and estate planning attorney indicted for wire and mail fraud filed an affidavit with the state bar in which she consented to revocation of her license to practice law, that affidavit could be used to ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge Norman K. Moon U.S. District Court - Western District

Where the alleged leader of a Roanoke street gang argued that he should not be jointly tried with a gang member charged with murder because he was in jail at the time of the murder and thus could not have ...

Tagged with: Criminal District Judge Michael F. Urbanski U.S. District Court - Western District