Where appellant was driving his girlfriend’s car and was stopped because of a defective fog light, a police officer lacked legal justification to search the vehicle without a warrant after appellant refused to consent to a search. A gun found ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge Clifford L. Athey Jr. Virginia Court of Appeals

Where appellant purchased a firearm while subject to a protective order, the return of service of the order was not testimonial and therefore not subject to the Sixth Amendment’s Confrontation Clause. As a result, appellant cannot challenge his misdemeanor conviction ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge Clifford L. Athey Jr. Judge Glen A. Huff Judge Robert J. Humphreys Virginia Court of Appeals

The judges of the Virginia Court of Appeals went in three different directions in analyzing when a document – a signed proof of service – can take the place of live testimony to prove violation of a criminal statute. At ...

Tagged with: Criminal Law Judge Clifford L. Athey Jr. Judge David W. Lannetti Judge Glen A. Huff Judge Robert J. Humphreys Virginia Court of Appeals

Where plaintiff injured his elbow when he slipped and fell while getting out of his vehicle, he was properly denied disability benefits because where his employer instructed him to park was not the only way to get to and from ...

Tagged with: Judge Clifford L. Athey Jr. Virginia Court of Appeals Workers’ Comp

Where claimant injured his foot when he stepped on an automotive fastener at work, the evidence supports a determination that treating the resulting chronic infections with broad spectrum antibiotics caused him to develop inflammatory bowel disease. An award of temporary ...

Tagged with: Judge Clifford L. Athey Jr. Virginia Court of Appeals Workers’ Comp

Even though the trial court erred by granting the mother’s motion to strike at the end of the Lynchburg Department of Social Services’ case-in-chief in this child abuse and neglect matter, the error was harmless because the court would have ...

Tagged with: Judge Clifford L. Athey Jr. Parental Rights Virginia Court of Appeals

The trial court correctly ruled that husband’s postseparation employment earnings were transmuted into marital property and properly classified a trading account as marital property. Background The parties were married in 2000. They separated and reconciled several times. The last separation ...

Tagged with: Domestic Relations Judge Clifford L. Athey Jr. Virginia Court of Appeals

Where this case was remanded to recalculate money due to appellant under an amended property settlement agreement, appellant’s failure to initially appeal the expert’s methodology made that methodology the law of the case. Appellant’s argument that the trial court must ...

Tagged with: Domestic Relations Judge Clifford L. Athey Jr. Virginia Court of Appeals

The trial court correctly refused appellant’s proffered jury instruction in this involuntary manslaughter case because it did not accurately state the law. Further, giving the proffered instruction, which stated that if the jury found the shooting was an accident, it ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge Clifford L. Athey Jr. Virginia Court of Appeals

Where wife was presented with a property settlement agreement and accepted it without objection, the trial court properly incorporated it into the final decree of divorce. Agreement “[W]e impute to wife an intention corresponding to the reasonable meaning of her ...

Tagged with: Domestic Relations Family Law Judge Clifford L. Athey Jr. Virginia Court of Appeals