Under Code § 19.2-306, the circuit court had jurisdiction to hear the case against the appellant when it revoked her “indefinite” probation and ordered her to serve 90 days of her previously suspended sentence. Background Appellant Dorothy Cilwa was convicted ...

Tagged with: Civil Procedure Judge Marla Graff Decker Sentencing Virginia Court of Appeals

The trial court erred in granting the defendant’s motion to suppress evidence. His resistance to the efforts to handcuff him provided probable cause to arrest for obstruction of justice, thereby legitimizing the search of his person and the bundle he ...

Tagged with: Constitutional Criminal Judge Marla Graff Decker Search & Seizure Virginia Court of Appeals

The trial court erred in finding that the federal statute underlying the defendant’s prior conviction for felony possession of a firearm was substantially similar to the state law under which the defendant was most recently convicted. Because the federal law ...

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

The circuit court’s equitable distribution and support determinations were not in error, and the wife didn’t proffer for the appellate record purported after-acquired evidence of additional property that could have merited reconsideration. Background The parties were married in 1999. Husband ...

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

For equitable distribution purposes, a retired professional athlete’s line-of-duty disability benefits were correctly evaluated similar to pension benefits under Code § 20-107.3(G), rather than personal injury compensation under subsection (H). Background The parties were married in 1999 and had two ...

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

The trial court should have denied defendant’s motion to suppress evidence found in a locked room in his house. Although officers entered the home without a warrant, they obtained one before entering the locked room. Background In March 2016, a Spotsylvania ...

Tagged with: Constitutional Criminal Judge Marla Graff Decker Search & Seizure Virginia Court of Appeals

Although security footage showed a juror talking with a member of the public who was later seen hugging the mother of the murder victim in the juror’s case, the trial court didn’t err in accepting the juror’s statement that they ...

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

Evidence was sufficient to support the concealment conviction of a man accused of stealing motorcycle gear from Walmart, even though the stolen gear was never recovered. Background Appellant Bronson Cunningham was in a Virginia Beach Walmart on the afternoon of ...

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

Based on substantial evidence, the jury was not deprived of any discretion to decide whether a shooting victim had suffered a “permanent and significant impairment” based on implicit reference to a particular scar. Background Mario Vaughan was the victim of ...

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

Although the defendant sought to have his murder conviction set aside based on problems with the jury, the circuit court’s resolution of those issues was proper. Background Appellant James Willie Bethea’s 2015 trial for first-degree murder ended with a hung ...

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