The Supreme Court of Virgnia has adopted proposed criminal discovery rule changes recommended in December by a Virginia State Bar task force. Only minor changes were made in the task force recommendation, according to attorneys who reviewed the court’s order. ...

Tagged with: Chief Justice Donald W. Lemons Judge Robert J. Humphreys Supreme Court of Virginia News

The circuit court did not err in suppressing evidence stemming from an arrest that lacked probable cause. Despite the defendant’s proximity to the house at the time of arrest, the fact that his mother and brother lived there, the fact ...

Tagged with: Constitutional Criminal Judge Robert J. Humphreys Search & Seizure Virginia Court of Appeals

A defendant who’d agreed to plead guilty to murder could not withdraw his plea, fairly negotiated, based on the subsequent discovery of a witness with potentially exculpatory testimony. Background Appellant Franklin Thomason was at his home with his girlfriend and ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge Robert J. Humphreys Sentencing Virginia Court of Appeals

No Virginia precedent sets forth specific types of evidence that must be proven to show lascivious intent in a sexual battery case. Such intent may be proven with any evidence that establishes such intent beyond a reasonable doubt. Background Four-year-old ...

Tagged with: Criminal Evidence Judge Robert J. Humphreys Virginia Court of Appeals

The Supreme Court of Virginia is under increasing pressure to approve reforms to the state’s criminal discovery standards. Despite opposition from the State Police and concerns from many prosecutors, a package of recommended changes now before the court has the ...

Tagged with: Judge Robert J. Humphreys Supreme Court of Virginia News

A continuance ordered due to the hospitalization of defense counsel tolled the speedy trial deadline, because the reason for the delay was unanticipated and beyond the control of the Commonwealth. Background Appellee Calvin Craighead was indicted for two counts of ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge Robert J. Humphreys Virginia Court of Appeals

An employer was on notice that a workers’ compensation claim related not only to an initial work-related injury and surgery to repair it, but also to a subsequent knee replacement necessitated by the claimant’s post-operative stress fracture. Background Claimant Denzil ...

Tagged with: Employment Judge Robert J. Humphreys U.S. District Court - Western District Workers' Compensation

As seasoned attorneys know, the lofty principles that attract aspiring lawyers can quickly be overshadowed by client emergencies, Sisyphean scheduling conundrums, unreasonable opposing counsel, billing targets, intrafirm politics, and understaffed courts. But from time to time, our esteemed judges take ...

Tagged with: Judge Henry F. Floyd Judge Jackson L. Kiser Judge Randolph A. Beales Judge Robert J. Humphreys Judge Stephanie Dawn Thacker

Even though a domestic violence defendant did not prevent his alleged victim from coming to court, his use of emotional manipulation to silence her was enough to allow her out-of-court statements to be used to convict him, the Virginia Court ...

Tagged with: Judge Glen A. Huff Judge Mary Grace O'Brien Judge Robert J. Humphreys Virginia Court of Appeals

By repeatedly violating a no-contact order to guilt his partner into refusing to testify against him, a domestic-abuse defendant forfeited his Sixth Amendment right to exclude her testimonial hearsay statements to law enforcement. Background Appellant Kevin Cody and Rebekka Weingarten ...

Tagged with: Constitutional Criminal Evidence Hearsay Judge Robert J. Humphreys Virginia Court of Appeals