An amendment to a homeowners’ association Declaration of Covenants recorded in the circuit court clerk’s office did not include a copy of the Amendment and did not state that the required majority of lot owners had signed or ratified the ...

Tagged with: Justice D. Arthur Kelsey Real Estate Supreme Court of Virginia

Two 16-year-old males who broke into a female college student’s townhouse and stole property and committed multiple sexual assaults against her at knifepoint cannot demonstrate that their aggregate term-of-years sentences violated the Eighth Amendment; defendants’ lengthy sentences – 133 years ...

Tagged with: Criminal Justice D. Arthur Kelsey Supreme Court of Virginia

A trial court erred in its interpretation of warranty provisions in a commercial contract involving the development and sale of an 18-hole golf course and the Supreme Court of Virginia reverses judgment for the buyer. Dominion Resources Inc. agreed to ...

Tagged with: Contract Justice D. Arthur Kelsey Supreme Court of Virginia

A veteran lawyer who persisted with appellate arguments that had already been rejected by the courts has agreed to a reprimand from the Virginia State Bar. The public reprimand without terms is the first disciplinary blemish on the 34-year record ...

Tagged with: Domestic Relations Justice D. Arthur Kelsey Lawyer Discipline Virginia Court of Appeals News Virginia State Bar

A trial judge who sentenced defendant on drug convictions but invited him to submit a motion to reconsider the sentence based on his entering into a drug treatment program, later erred in granting a writ of habeas corpus on the ...

Tagged with: Criminal Justice D. Arthur Kelsey Supreme Court of Virginia

Although a homeowner who hired defendant contractor to replace a swimming pool liner sent two letters to the contractor, the contents of the letters were not in evidence and the homeowner’s testimony indicated he wanted the liner delivered or the ...

Tagged with: Criminal Justice D. Arthur Kelsey Supreme Court of Virginia

In this wrongful death suit against a school board for a bus accident that killed a four-year-old child, the trial court erred in in ordering that the separate awards to the child’s two minor brothers be held by the clerk ...

Tagged with: Justice D. Arthur Kelsey Negligence Supreme Court of Virginia

A divorce decree between husband and wife does not judicially estop wife from denying that her interest in property they owned as tenants by the entirety and that husband unilaterally used to secure a loan was subject to the deed ...

Tagged with: Civil Procedure Justice D. Arthur Kelsey Supreme Court of Virginia

Police had probable cause to enter defendant’s apartment after observing a strong smell of burning marijuana coming from the apartment, and exigent circumstances justified their entry, when police were twice denied entry after knocking and the mother delayed opening the ...

Tagged with: Justice D. Arthur Kelsey Search & Seizure Supreme Court of Virginia

A terminated employee who failed to comply with a housing authority’s grievance procedure deadline for choosing an arbitrator and instead filed a suit seeking damages for wrongful termination over one year later was not entitled to have her claims arbitrated ...

Tagged with: Employment Justice D. Arthur Kelsey Supreme Court of Virginia