The trial court erred by concluding that although the police lawfully acquired appellant’s portable hard drive, known to contain child pornography images, keeping the hard drive became an unreasonable seizure because the police waited more than a month before getting ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge W. Chapman Goodwin Virginia Court of Appeals

Virginia courts may not have felt the reptile’s strike, but judges are taking different approaches with the prospect of plaintiff’s lawyers armed with psychological jury appeals. At issue is the “reptile” litigation tactic: an appeal to jurors’ subconscious fears that ...

Tagged with: Augusta County Circuit Court Judge W. Chapman Goodwin Reptile Theory

A motion for a protective order to limit defendant doctor’s discovery deposition in this medical malpractice case is denied. Plaintiff claims that defendant’s alleged negligent treatment following a stroke left her with a permanent visual impairment. Plaintiff seeks to depose ...

Tagged with: Augusta County Circuit Court Civil Practice Judge W. Chapman Goodwin

Dr. Burgoyne, an oral surgeon, extracted the four developing wisdom teeth of a 12-year-old girl in August 2014. In the process of doing so, Dr. Burgoyne completely severed the child’s lingual nerve on one side (there are two nerves which ...

Tagged with: Augusta County Circuit Court Judge W. Chapman Goodwin Medical Malpractice Verdict