The trial court correctly dismissed a judgment creditor’s summons to compel appellee to answer debtor’s interrogatories.  Appellee was not among the class of individuals identified in Code § 8.01-506(A) who can be compelled to answer debtor’s interrogatories. The statute does ...

Tagged with: Civil Practice Judge Mary Bennett Malveaux Virginia Court of Appeals

The court denies a petition for a writ of actual innocence because it was based on evidence available to petitioner before his conviction became final in the circuit court. Background On July 27, 2010, petitioner Johnson pleaded guilty to bank ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge Mary Bennett Malveaux Judge Mary Grace O'Brien Judge Robert P. Frank Virginia Court of Appeals

Where appellant made incriminating statements while being treated at a hospital for a gunshot wound, the statements were admissible because appellant was not in custody at the time. Overview Investigator Giles was investigating a shooting in a restaurant parking lot ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge Mary Bennett Malveaux Virginia Court of Appeals

Where a search of appellant’s jail cell revealed his notes, which included threats to a woman he was charged with sexually assaulting and two investigators, this was sufficient evidence to sustain three convictions of obstructing justice. Overview Appellant was arrested ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge Mary Bennett Malveaux Virginia Court of Appeals

Where appellant took some of his murder victims’ possessions, there was sufficient evidence for the trial court to find that appellant had the dual motives of killing and robbing the two victims. His robbery convictions are affirmed, as are his ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge Mary Bennett Malveaux Virginia Court of Appeals

Even though an incarcerated mother did not have a guardian ad litem when she consented to have her parents adopt her child, the evidence does not support her argument that she was denied due process. The record shows that she ...

Tagged with: Family Law Judge Mary Bennett Malveaux Virginia Court of Appeals

Where DNA evidence was extracted from items obtained without a warrant from appellant’s trash, the evidence was admissible because he did not have a reasonable expectation of privacy in this abandoned property. Background In 1995, a man wearing a ski ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge Mary Bennett Malveaux Virginia Court of Appeals

Where the commonwealth’s evidence showed that appellant hit a motorcycle, the fact of the collision, without more, was insufficient to sustain a reckless driving conviction. A “conviction for reckless driving requires a mens rea of a knowing disregard of a ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge Mary Bennett Malveaux Judge Wesley G. Russell Jr. Virginia Court of Appeals

The circuit court, on remand, properly considered all the statutory factors when determining the amount and duration of wife’s spousal support award. Further, the court correctly rejected wife’s motion to use an alternative valuation date for a certain bank account ...

Tagged with: Domestic Relations Judge Mary Bennett Malveaux Virginia Court of Appeals

A Virginia Court of Appeals panel majority says a driver could not be guilty of reckless driving when the evidence showed only that he failed to see a stopped motorcyclist in time to avoid a fatal collision. The court overturned ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge Mary Bennett Malveaux Judge Wesley G. Russell Jr. Motor vehicles Virginia Court of Appeals