Appellant Damien Cameron Spencer was indicted on four felony charges based on several nude photographs of a 16-year-old girl found on his cell phone pursuant to a search warrant. At trial, Spencer entered nolo contendere pleas, which the court found ...

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

Novotny v. Commonwealth (VLW No. 017-7-239-UP, 8pp.) (O’Brien, J.) Record No. 1489-16-3. On appeal from the Circuit County of Montgomery County. (Long, J.) Holding: Where the appellant-defendant stated at the scene of a fatal car accident that he had taken ...

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

In this case of involuntary manslaughter resulting from a truck driving over a bicyclist at 10:56 p.m. on a four-lane-highway, the defendant truck driver’s testimony changed over the course of events. The Court of Appeals affirmed appellant’s conviction for involuntary ...

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

A couple’s property settlement agreement called for wife to submit a Military Qualified Consent Order to divide husband’s military pension, and the court’s modification of wife’s proposed MQCO at husband’s request did not amount to enforcement of the PSA that ...

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

A circuit court did not err in terminating a father’s parental rights to his two daughters due to his continued use of drugs and alcohol in their presence and his leaving the children with his mother’s boyfriend, who was under ...

Tagged with: Domestic Relations Judge Mary Grace O'Brien Unpublished Opinion Virginia Court of Appeals

A trial court erred in refusing to strike for cause a juror who was related to a police-officer witness for the commonwealth, and the Court of Appeals reverses defendant’s conviction of distributing cocaine, third or subsequent offense, in violation of ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge Mary Grace O'Brien Unpublished Opinion Virginia Court of Appeals

The Court of Appeals upholds a trial court’s decision to suppress statements defendant made to police prior to waiving her Miranda rights, but reverses the lower court’s suppression of evidence seized from a backpack and shaving kit. Social workers made ...

Tagged with: Judge Mary Grace O'Brien Search & Seizure Unpublished Opinion Virginia Court of Appeals

The Court of Appeals affirms defendant’s conviction of involuntary manslaughter after rear-ending a Nissan Sentra with his Hyundai Sonata, while driving with a BAC of .172 percent and traveling at a high rate of speed, according to his vehicle’s event ...

Tagged with: Judge Mary Grace O'Brien Traffic Offenses Unpublished Opinion Virginia Court of Appeals

The Court of Appeals affirms defendant’s conviction of assault and battery of a law enforcement officer, after a charge of identity fraud under Va. Code § 18.2-186.3, was dismissed. Defendant was discovered drunk and laying in the grass near an ...

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

A defendant who failed to comply with Va. Code § 19.2-187, which does not apply when a defendant seeks to admit a certificate of analysis, was not entitled to introduce the certificate at his trial in order to show that ...

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