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Judge Henry Vanover

May 29, 2021

Special powers: Lawyer-legislators pick judges, can stop cases with privilege

Virginia lawyers who serve in the General Assembly enjoy outsized powers and privileges in their interactions with the judges who rule on their cases. But any regulation would be impractical, many of them say. In Virginia, lawyer-legislators can have a major role in picking the judges who will decide their cases, since majority party caucuses […]

Jan 17, 2018

Assembly returns 46 judges to the bench

Virginia legislators re-elected 46 incumbent trial court judges in the first round of judicial selection at this year’s General Assembly. One new circuit judge was among those elected Jan. 16. One sitting judge was left off the list without explanation. Botetourt County Commonwealth’s Attorney Joel Branscom was elected to the circuit bench, succeeding retired Judge […]

Oct 6, 2015

Prescriptive Easement Arises From Road Use

A Dickenson County Circuit Court grants plaintiffs a prescriptive easement on Tarzan Road, 15 feet in width, for commercial and residential purposes, based on plaintiffs’ evidence about their use of the road for ingress and egress. The court also enters a permanent injunction preventing the parties, or anyone acting on their behalf, from altering or […]

Dec 8, 2014

Adverse Possession Resolves Boundary Dispute

Century-old deeds that reference “two sycamore trees” are inadequate to establish a boundary line between property owned by a lumber company and by a food store, but the Buchanan County Circuit Court says the food store has established its right to a strip of land by adverse possession. Vansant Lumber filed suit on April 19, […]

Mar 9, 2014

Facebook Tip Treated as ‘Anonymous’

A tip that came from a Facebook account attached to a particular name will be treated as an anonymous tip by the Dickenson County Court and because officers were able to verify information in the tip such as the time frame for and route of travel of the target vehicle, the officers’ stop was constitutional […]

Nov 1, 2013

No Collateral Estoppel in Canine-Killing Case

Although two defendants were acquitted of misdemeanor charges related to the alleged shooting of dogs who were killing turkeys, a Dickenson County Circuit Court rejects defendants’ argument that their related felony prosecution is barred by collateral estoppel; the court denies defendants’ motion to quash the indictments. Defendant Kermit Hill alleges dogs owned by Brandon Hill […]

Sep 13, 2010

Drug conviction of mother complicates infant settlement – $350,000 Settlement

Plaintiff was the mother of an 8-year-old boy who was killed instantly by the operator of a Dodge Durango in a residential driveway on private property in broad daylight. After running over the child with both right tires, the operator drove the vehicle another 68 feet and parked it in its usual parking space. The […]

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