Where most of the real estate on which appellees wished to build a cluster development was outside of an area designated for water and sewer extensions, appellees must submit their plan for planning commission review. The statute exempting cluster developments ...

Tagged with: Justice Stephen R. McCullough Real Estate Supreme Court of Virginia

In a victory for Virginia trial lawyers, the Supreme Court of Virginia has reinstated a lawsuit over an accidental death from an ill-planned target shooting session. The court said landowners may owe a duty to control the actions of an ...

Tagged with: Justice Stephen R. McCullough Virginia Supreme Court

Where a shooting victim’s estate alleged that the shooter’s grandparents gave him permission to shoot targets on their property toward the house where the victim was visiting, the trial court erred by sustaining defendants’ demurrer on the basis that they ...

Tagged with: Justice Stephen R. McCullough Negligence Supreme Court of Virginia

A man found to have committed fraud on a vulnerable neighbor must pay more than $100,000 in attorneys’ fees to the victim of the fraud, the Supreme Court of Virginia has ruled. The case amplifies a landmark ruling from 1999, ...

Tagged with: Attorneys Fees Fraud Justice Stephen R. McCullough Supreme Court of Virginia

Appellant’s failure to cooperate with an expert, who would determine whether he was a sexually violent predator, justified the trial court’s decision to bar two prior evaluations by another expert who determined he was not. Background Appellant Ferrara was given ...

Tagged with: Criminal Justice Stephen R. McCullough Supreme Court of Virginia

Where appellees prevailed on their claim that appellants acquired a valuable firearm collection by fraud, appellants were properly ordered to pay more than $108,000 in attorney’s fees. Background Ernest Elsea had several health problems that caused cognitive deficits and hearing ...

Tagged with: Civil Practice Justice Stephen R. McCullough Supreme Court of Virginia

Where the highway commissioner sought to take property for a road improvement project, the trial court properly excluded a landowner’s testimony and an unapproved 10-year-old site plan to establish compensation for the taking. Background Palmyra Associates owned a 44-acre unimproved ...

Tagged with: Justice Stephen R. McCullough Real Estate Supreme Court of Virginia

After accepting two criminal appeals in order to clarify the test for applying a statutory bar to successive prosecution, the Supreme Court of Virginia split on both the proper test and the way the majority applied its test. The result ...

Tagged with: firearm possession Justice Stephen R. McCullough Supreme Court of Virginia

Where petitioners lease oyster grounds from the commonwealth, the circuit court correctly dismissed their inverse condemnation claim, which alleged that municipal sewage discharges polluted the water in which they raise oysters. Overview Petitioners lease publicly owned bottomland in the Nansemond ...

Tagged with: Contract Justice Stephen R. McCullough Supreme Court of Virginia

Where appellants were previously convicted of carrying a concealed weapon, Code § 19.2-294 does not prevent their subsequent prosecutions and convictions for being felons in possession of a firearm. Overview In separate prosecutions, Evans and Conway were each convicted of ...

Tagged with: Criminal Justice Stephen R. McCullough Supreme Court of Virginia