If facts could be gleaned from the existing record, a father seeking to modify support obligations wasn’t necessarily required to put on evidence of his children’s current needs, since the Child Support Guidelines include a rebuttable presumption of such needs. ...

Tagged with: Domestic Relations Evidence Fairfax County Circuit Court Family Law Judge David Bernhard Virginia Circuit Courts

Evidence was sufficient to conclude that a Spanish-speaking defendant waived his Miranda rights prior to a police interview. He was given the written warning in Spanish, asked by an interpreter if he understood it, and read it back to officers. Background Detective ...

Tagged with: Constitutional Evidence Fifth Amendment Justice S. Bernard Goodwyn Supreme Court of Virginia

At a defendant’s probation revocation hearing, the circuit court properly admitted information about the defendant’s most recent convictions as reported in a news article read by the prosecutor. The article was written to inform the public, not in anticipation of ...

Tagged with: Constitutional Evidence Judge Richard Y. AtLee Jr. Sentencing Virginia Court of Appeals

In a grand larceny trial relating to stolen jewelry, printouts from LeadsOnline, which stores resellers’ purchase records for cooperation with law enforcement agencies, were admissible under the business-records exception to the hearsay rule. Background Appellant Joseph Melick was convicted in ...

Tagged with: Criminal Evidence Hearsay Judge Wesley G. Russell Jr. Virginia Court of Appeals

A plaintiff needed to produce an expert to prove her former attorneys failed to exercise reasonable care, skill, and dispatch. She said counsel had caused her personal injury claim to become time-barred by suing the wrong entity. Background Plaintiff Gigi ...

Tagged with: Attorneys Civil Procedure Evidence Legal Malpractice Per Curiam Opinion Personal Injury Supreme Court of Virginia

The “Important Opinions” that appear each week on the front page of Virginia Lawyers Weekly are those chosen by our editors as the most likely to impact law practice or a given subject area of law. Below is a listing, ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Administrative Banking Bankruptcy Civil Procedure Civil Rights Commercial Constitutional Consumer Protection Contract Corporate Criminal Domestic Relations Employment Evidence Federal Jurisdiction First Amendment Government Immigration Intellectual Property Personal Injury Real Property Search & Seizure Supreme Court of Virginia Traffic U.S. District Court - Eastern District U.S. District Court - Western District Virginia Circuit Courts Virginia Court of Appeals Wills & Trusts

No Virginia precedent sets forth specific types of evidence that must be proven to show lascivious intent in a sexual battery case. Such intent may be proven with any evidence that establishes such intent beyond a reasonable doubt. Background Four-year-old ...

Tagged with: Criminal Evidence Judge Robert J. Humphreys Virginia Court of Appeals

An award of nearly $38 million to a truck operator, who was severely injured when one of his tires blew out, was for the most part not excessive. The verdict was supported by the evidence, except for approximately $67,500 to ...

Tagged with: Evidence Judge Robert E. Payne Personal Injury U.S. District Court - Eastern District

A written agreement between a corporation and the government preserved the company’s attorney-client privilege and work-product protection for information that the general counsel of a subsidiary entity disclosed to the government. Background Several years ago, federal prosecutors opened a grand ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Business Law Contract Criminal Evidence Judge Roger L. Gregory

Evidence was sufficient to convict the defendant of possession of heroin with intent to distribute when he sped away from police in his car and fled into the woods, where police later found a bag of heroin. The defendant also ...

Tagged with: Criminal Evidence Judge Rossie D. Alston Jr. Virginia Court of Appeals