This was a rear-end collision that resulted in minimal damage to both vehicles. The defendant stipulated to liability. The defendant was un­able to appear at trial because of age-related health problems and testified by deposition that she was travel­ing about ...

Tagged with: Judge C. Peter Tench Newport News Circuit Court Personal Injury

On June 8, 2011, at approximately 8:00 p.m. at the intersection of Lucas Creek Road and Cabell Drive in Newport News, the defendant, while in an intoxicated state, took his eyes off the road to check his cell phone, crossed ...

Tagged with: Judge C. Peter Tench Million-Dollar Verdicts Newport News Circuit Court Personal Injury

A middle school teacher who was severely injured by a drunken driver has been awarded $3.5 million by a Newport News jury. The verdict included $1 million in punitive damages against the defendant, who was 17 years old at the ...

Tagged with: Judge C. Peter Tench Million-Dollar Verdicts Newport News Circuit Court Personal Injury

A closely watched case about a lawyer who testified against his ex-client has been remanded – but not on the grounds that observers were expecting. In Turner v. Commonwealth (VLW 012-6-089), the high court said that a trial judge in ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge C. Peter Tench Justice Donald W. Lemons Justice William C. Mims Newport News Circuit Court Supreme Court of Virginia News

A Virginia Supreme Court panel is considering whether to allow an appeal in a case where a Newport News man was convicted of a shooting based largely on the testimony of his former defense attorney. If interest by a justice ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge C. Peter Tench Justice LeRoy F. Millette Jr. Newport News Circuit Court Supreme Court of Virginia News Virginia Court of Appeals News

A Newport News judge has set aside a multimillion dollar personal injury award against electronics retailer Best Buy on the grounds the verdict was excessive. In August, a seven-member jury awarded $5,225,000 to Michael Chavis, who was injured after a ...

Tagged with: Judge C. Peter Tench Million-Dollar Verdicts Newport News Circuit Court Personal Injury

On Aug. 17, 2008, a John Doe defendant sideswiped the plaintiff’s vehicle, causing him to crash into a concrete Jersey wall on I-64 in Newport News. John Doe did not stop and was never identified. Plaintiff was 57 years old ...

Tagged with: Judge C. Peter Tench Newport News Circuit Court Personal Injury

A Newport News jury has awarded $5,225,000 to a 53-year-old man who was injured after a retailer’s forklift ran over his foot. On July 22, 2006, Michael Chavis was at a Best Buy store in Newport News looking at a ...

Tagged with: Judge C. Peter Tench Million-Dollar Verdicts Newport News Circuit Court Personal Injury

In a case that surprised some criminal defense lawyers, the Virginia Court of Appeals approved the use of a lawyer’s testimony against his former client in a decision released earlier this month. In a malicious wounding trial in Newport News, ...

Tagged with: Ethics Judge C. Peter Tench Newport News Circuit Court Virginia Court of Appeals News Virginia State Bar

Plaintiff was a passenger in a vehicle driven by her husband. They were following a tractor- trailer on a rainy morning on U.S. 58 exiting the City of Suffolk in a 60 mph zone. A vehicle driven by Jane Doe ...

Tagged with: Judge C. Peter Tench Newport News Circuit Court Personal Injury