Where a property settlement agreement provided that the wife was entitled to one-half of the monthly disability and retirement benefits her husband was receiving, and the amount of the husband’s monthly benefit increased after the divorce became final, the wife ...

Tagged with: Domestic Relations Judge William G. Petty Virginia Court of Appeals

Where a passenger of a vehicle was found guilty of possession after nearly a kilogram of cocaine was found inside the vehicle and his request for a deferred sentence was denied, the denial was upheld because he failed to assign ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge William G. Petty Virginia Court of Appeals

Where a husband was employed by the military when he got married and had not yet retired at the time of his divorce, his wife was entitled to an equitable distribution of 50% of the marital share of the husband’s ...

Tagged with: Domestic Relations Judge William G. Petty Virginia Court of Appeals

A defendant will face multiple drug-related charges because a lower court erred in failing to apply a good faith exception to the exclusionary rule. The search warrant contained indicia of probable cause, described the items sought, the place to be ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge William G. Petty Virginia Court of Appeals

A DUI conviction stands despite a 2016 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that warrantless blood draws incident to arrest are prohibited. The arrest and blood draw in this case occurred in 2015, when the practice was allowed under Virginia law. Background ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge William G. Petty Virginia Court of Appeals

A court sidestepped the question of whether the trial court should have redacted the phrase “Status Post Assault/Manual Strangulation” from an autopsy report, in a case where the defendant was charged with strangulation, finding the inclusion was harmless when considering ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge William G. Petty Virginia Court of Appeals

An officer had probable cause to conduct a full search of a defendant during a traffic stop where the defendant, and the vehicle he was in, smelled of marijuana, a police alert indicated that the defendant could be armed, and ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge William G. Petty Virginia Court of Appeals

Circumstantial evidence and reasonable inferences, including the appellant’s shifting explanations and the fact that his driver’s permit, cellphone and the victim’s belongings were found in a stolen car, supported his larceny conviction. Background On April 9, 2016, at about 4:15 ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge William G. Petty Virginia Court of Appeals

The court lacked jurisdiction to determine if the commission erred in vacating a prior order awarding benefits because the commission’s order was neither a final order nor an appealable interlocutory order. Background Tracy Irby suffered an injury at work on ...

Tagged with: Judge William G. Petty Virginia Court of Appeals Workers' Compensation

Although the trial court erred in admitting psychological records about the mother’s condition at the time she was committed, the error was harmless because it did not go to the critical issue: the mother’s condition at the time of the ...

Tagged with: Domestic Relations Judge William G. Petty Virginia Court of Appeals