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Judge William R. O'Brien

May 13, 2018

Va. Cir.: No violation for “use” when rule targets “facilities”

A property owner couldn’t be convicted of providing free waterskiing lessons to disabled veterans without having obtained a conditional use permit, as the cited zoning ordinance spoke to recreational “facilities” rather than uses. Background Defendant Witchduck Lake Enterprises Inc. is on trial for charges of violating zoning requirements of Virginia Beach’s City Code Appendix A, […[...]

Mar 14, 2016

Testimony of ‘medical certainty’ was issue in med-mal appeal – $1,700,000 Verdict

This case was previously reported back in March 2015. There were numerous post-trial motions filed, most of which dealing with the issue of whether or not a treating physician was limited in the testimony he could provide at the trial of this case. Specifically, a subsequent treating physician in this case had determined that the […]

Apr 6, 2015

Bicyclist traveling against traffic was struck by van – Defense Verdict

The plaintiff was riding his bicycle in a slight northeasterly direction across the southbound lanes of the 200 block of N. Birdneck Road in Virginia Beach, toward the Food Lion shopping center entrance, when his bicycle collided with the defendant’s minivan near the center median. The defendant, who spoke a Chinese dialect and no English, […]

Mar 30, 2015

Podiatrist severed patient’s tibial nerve during foot surgery – $1,700,000 Verdict

This case arose out of a surgical procedure performed in 2009. Defendant podiatrist performed a total ankle replacement on the plaintiff. During the course of the operation, defendant severed plaintiff’s posterior tibial nerve. The allegation in the case was that the defendant lost control of the saw during the procedure and inadvertently severed the nerve. […]

Dec 24, 2012

A new player in judicial elections

There is a new player at the table when it comes to the reelection prospects of judges in Virginia. A child advocacy group based in Tennessee commanded the attention of legislators at judicial interviews earlier this month by citing data in a special report it prepared for the General Assembly and distributed prior to the […]

Dec 14, 2012

Report criticizes Va. judges on child abuse cases

Only a small percentage of suspected crimes against children are prosecuted in Virginia, and very few of those cases result in meaningful prison sentences, a child advocacy group says in a new report. The National Association to PROTECT Children sent the report this week to members of two legislative committees that will meet Friday to interview […]

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