A husband presented no evidence or legal authority to prove his wife’s 1987 divorce in Peru was not final when he married her in 1988. The Virginia court did not err in granting the wife a divorce. Background Wife’s previous ...

Tagged with: Domestic Relations Judge Mary Grace O'Brien Virginia Court of Appeals

The Alcoholic Beverage Control Board exceeded its authority by not deferring to the zoning board and granting a farm winery license to a property that lacked sufficient acreage for agricultural use. Background Brian Bates Farmer began planting grapes on his ...

Tagged with: Administrative Judge Mary Grace O'Brien Virginia Court of Appeals

In a victory for local land use regulators, the Court of Appeals of Virginia said the state ABC Board overstepped its authority when it granted a farm winery license for a less-than-two-acre site in Clifton. The decision is likely to ...

Tagged with: Judge Mary Grace O'Brien Virginia Court of Appeals News

An optometrist lost his appeal challenging his conviction for sexual battery after a trial on allegations he inappropriately touched more than one complaining witness. Background Three women testified that appellant, a licensed optometrist, inappropriately touching them during eye exams. Appellant ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge Mary Grace O'Brien Virginia Court of Appeals

A suspended doctor failed to demonstrate that he had the medical knowledge and history of professional conduct that warranted his return to the practice of medicine. Background Garada was licensed to practice medicine in Virginia in 1995. On June 4, ...

Tagged with: Administrative Judge Mary Grace O'Brien Virginia Court of Appeals

Interpreting “fair market replacement value” as an issue of first impression, the court found the state met its burden in proving replacement costs of a scale in Wegmans’s that was deliberately destroyed by defendant, and it affirmed the man’s conviction ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge Mary Grace O'Brien Virginia Court of Appeals

Attempted petit larceny qualifies as a felony recidivist “third or subsequent offense” under Code § 18.2-104, meriting an enhancement sentence. Background At trial, the Commonwealth presented evidence that Appellant Fred Coleman was attempting to steal a bicycle when the victim ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge Mary Grace O'Brien Sentencing Virginia Court of Appeals

Evidence was sufficient to convict the defendant of abduction, sex trafficking, and conspiracy when he stayed in a hotel room rented with the victim’s prostitution earnings and coerced her to return after she’d decided to leave. Background The victim, R.S., ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge Mary Grace O'Brien Virginia Court of Appeals

The Workers’ Compensation Commission did not err in declining to infer that a claimant fell due to the condition of the floor where she slipped at work, rather than due to her pre-existing knee condition. Background In 2016, Appellant Sabrina ...

Tagged with: Employment Judge Mary Grace O'Brien Virginia Court of Appeals Workers' Compensation

A court order requiring a property owner to cure residential zoning violations gave him sufficient notice that he must remove “junk” not only from his front and side yards but also from his back yard. Background In April 2005, Henrico ...

Tagged with: Administrative Constitutional Due Process Judge Mary Grace O'Brien Municipal Real Estate Real Property Virginia Court of Appeals Zoning