A 13-month delay between appellant’s arrest and his trial did not violate his speedy trial rights. During this period, emergency orders issued in response to the COVID-19 pandemic tolled the speedy trial statute. No violation “The appellant contends that the ...

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

Where an indictment charged appellant with entering an occupied home with intent to commit larceny or arson, his burglary conviction is reversed because the prosecution did not prove the intent requirement. Overview Appellant broke into Foster’s home around 5 am ...

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

Where appellant was convicted of misdemeanor animal cruelty, she has waived her argument that the trial court incorrectly allowed the indictment to be amended. Further, contrary to appellant’s assertion, the court did not conclude that her offense was a strict ...

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

Where appellant was convicted for refusing a breath test, second offense, the evidence showed there was probable cause to arrest him. Therefore, the trial court correctly denied his motion to suppress. There was no defect in the form advising him ...

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

Where a university law enforcement officer was discharged for violating COVID-19 safety rules, there were no flaws in the administrative proceedings or the circuit court’s judicial review. Overview Appellee, George Mason University, hired appellant as a law enforcement officer. He ...

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

Appellant’s conviction for trafficking cigarettes is affirmed. The trial court correctly ruled that the circumstances of the initial traffic stop (for illegal window tint) justified an ongoing detention and a canine sniff that led to the discovery of untaxed cigarettes. ...

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

Appellant’s false statement on a concealed weapon permit application was perjury. The language in the form’s attestation clause required him to declare his answers were true and advised him that his declarations were being “made under threat of penalty of ...

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

A trial court’s award of a preserved pre-embryo to a wife with no compensation to the husband for his share of the marital property has been reversed by the Court of Appeals. Chief Judge Marla Graff Decker remanded the case ...

Tagged with: Judge Marla Graff Decker Parental Rights Virginia Court of Appeals

Where, as part of the equitable distribution, the trial court awarded a preserved pre-embryo to wife and did not compensate husband for his share of the marital property, the court’s judgment is reversed. The case is remanded so the trial ...

Tagged with: Family Law Judge Marla Graff Decker Virginia Court of Appeals

There was sufficient evidence that appellant’s corporal punishment of his child “exceeded the bounds of due moderation” and that he had “at least criminally negligent intent.” As a result, his child cruelty conviction is affirmed. Legal standard “The proscription in ...

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