The Commonwealth’s evidence was sufficient to prove that the defendant “possessed” files containing images of child pornography, even if the images were “orphan” remnants of deletion from the computer’s file directory. Background In 2015, Detective Mark Belew was investigating computer ...

Tagged with: Criminal Evidence Judge Mary B. Malveaux Virginia Court of Appeals

For criminal liability under Code § 18.2-370, exposure of genital parts to a child need not be in the child’s physical presence if the exhibition is “liable to be seen” by the child. Background Appellant Major Hillman was a church youth pastor. ...

Tagged with: Criminal Evidence Judge Mary B. Malveaux Virginia Court of Appeals

Statutory minimum sentencing could not be waived based on the defendant’s non-use of a firearm when evidence established his “constructive possession” of an AK-47 during the offense dates in question. Background Throughout the month of October 2015, a confidential informant ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge Mary B. Malveaux Virginia Court of Appeals

The Commonwealth sufficiently established that a defendant aided and abetted her camping companion in manufacturing methamphetamine. Background On October 1, 2015, sheriff’s deputies went to a given address to serve an arrest warrant on Timothy Comer. Comer wasn’t there when ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge Mary B. Malveaux Virginia Court of Appeals

Evidence was sufficient to support the defendant’s convictions and sentencing for welfare fraud, after she omitted income from her SNAP and fuel assistance applications. Background During 2015 and 2016, Appellant Latoya Jefferson shared a household with her five children and ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge Mary B. Malveaux Virginia Court of Appeals

Due to evidence demonstrating a woman’s mental incapacity to appreciate the nature and consequences of intercourse, an intimate encounter between her and another patient at a psychiatric facility amounted to attempted rape. Background On March 15, 2015, Appellant James L. ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge Mary B. Malveaux Virginia Court of Appeals

Appellant John Allen Baugh Jr. was convicted in 2000 of having carnal knowledge of a minor. As a result, he was required to register as a sex offender under Virginia’s Sex Offender and Crimes Against Minors Registry Act (VSOR). In ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge Mary B. Malveaux Virginia Court of Appeals

A warrantless blood draw taken from a mother while her son was hospitalized was justified by exigent circumstances, the court of appeals held. Appellant Emily Lynn Aponte was driving one afternoon with her 6-year-old son in the back seat when ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge Mary B. Malveaux Virginia Court of Appeals

Coleman v. Commonwealth (VLW No. 017-7-285, 10 pp.) (Malveaux, J.) Appealed from Hopewell Circuit Court (Balfour, J.) Va. App. Unpub. Holding:  Appellant appeals his conviction for possession of a fireman by a felon and possession of a firearm while in ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge Mary B. Malveaux Virginia Court of Appeals

In a battle for primary physical custody of their daughter, father contends that the circuit court’s custody determination was inconsistent with the evidence, the court’s own factual findings and the statutory factors.  The Court of Appeals disagreed with father, affirming ...

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