Appellant Abdul Cole was arrested for an outstanding warrant; upon arrest, he was also charged for an open container and possession of marijuana. When Alexandria police took Cole to the jail for booking, the booking deputy said that a strip ...

Tagged with: Justice S. Bernard Goodwyn Search & Seizure Supreme Court of Virginia

In rejecting an inmate’s petition to change his name because of his conversion to “the Native American” faith, a circuit court erred by failing to first consider the asserted “good faith” basis for the petition, before reviewing the inmate’s multiple ...

Tagged with: Civil Rights Justice S. Bernard Goodwyn Supreme Court of Virginia

Despite a narrow vote of disapproval from Virginia State Bar leaders last fall, a Virginia Supreme Court commission is asking the justices to require all Virginia lawyers to annually report their pro bono contributions. In a May 29 letter to ...

Tagged with: John E. Whitfield Justice S. Bernard Goodwyn Pro Bono Supreme Court of Virginia Virginia State Bar

A Supreme Court decision – that a warrantless entry onto private property with a drug-sniffing dog violated the Fourth Amendment – did not support habeas relief for appellant, who was convicted of marijuana possession after police brought a drug dog ...

Tagged with: Justice S. Bernard Goodwyn Search & Seizure Supreme Court of Virginia

An indictment returned by a grand jury as a true bill in open court is valid even though the order recording the indictment was not entered until after the trial on the indictment, and no objection was made to the ...

Tagged with: Criminal Justice S. Bernard Goodwyn Supreme Court of Virginia

An uninsured motorist carrier who declined to pay its insured any sum prior to the insured winning a judgment against a John Doe driver is not liable for bad faith under Va. Code § 8.01-66.1(D)(1), says the Supreme Court of ...

Tagged with: Insurance Justice S. Bernard Goodwyn Supreme Court of Virginia

WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va. – A Virginia Supreme Court panel offered only marginal comfort last month for frustrated trial lawyers hoping to reverse a trend of unfavorable rulings in product liability cases. At the annual convention of the Virginia Trial ...

Tagged with: Justice Cleo E. Powell Justice S. Bernard Goodwyn Justice Stephen R. McCullough Justice William C. Mims Supreme Court of Virginia News VTLA

A woman who obtained a protective order against a coworker who allegedly cursed at her and physically threatened her, cannot state a Bowman wrongful discharge claim against her employer, who purportedly fired her when the protective order was served on ...

Tagged with: Employment Justice S. Bernard Goodwyn Supreme Court of Virginia

After his blanket felon-rights res­toration order was struck down by the Supreme Court of Virginia July 22, Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s adminis­tration said it would move quickly to ensure thousands of felons hop­ing to cast ballots in November’s election would be ...

Tagged with: Judge Stephen R. McCullough Justice Cleo E. Powell Justice D. Arthur Kelsey Justice Donald W. Lemons Justice Elizabeth A. McClanahan Justice S. Bernard Goodwyn Justice William C. Mims Supreme Court of Virginia

VIRGINIA BEACH – A Virginia Supreme Court panel has proposed a requirement that lawyers report the number of hours and dollar amount of donations they make to pro bono each year. The June 5 proposal – unanimously approved by the ...

Tagged with: Justice S. Bernard Goodwyn Supreme Court of Virginia Virginia State Bar