Even though a written final order had not been entered, a woman seeking to withdraw a guilty plea could not do so after oral sentencing from the bench, the Supreme Court has ruled. The woman claimed she did not realize ...

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

The “manifest injustice” standard applies to defendant’s post-sentencing motion to withdraw her plea. Her lack of a viable defense and the actual or potential collateral consequences of her plea – losing her house or job – do not warrant setting ...

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

The circuit court should have granted a construction company’s motion to compel arbitration after being sued by homeowners for allegedly defective construction. An arbitrator must interpret the arbitration clause in the parties’ contract and determine whether it is impossible to ...

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

Where a Canadian resident was sued in Loudoun Circuit Court for allegedly illegal use of a couple’s assets, the circuit court correctly concluded that because she did not engage in a “persistent course of conduct in Virginia,” she was not ...

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

Where a  Virginia-based corporation engages in multistate and multinational sales of an online business service that was developed in Virginia and stored on servers housed in Virginia, the method used by the tax department to allocate nearly 100 percent of ...

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

A defendant who was inside a car when he shot the driver was properly charged and convicted of shooting at an occupied vehicle under Code § 18.2-154. The Court of Appeals is affirmed. The statute does not require that a ...

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

The circuit court too broadly applied the attorney-client and work-product exemptions in Virginia’s Freedom of Information Act when approving a city’s redactions of invoices for legal and expert witness fees. The case is remanded for further review and to determine ...

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

While a doctor involved in litigation with the City of Virginia Beach was not entitled to entries in the city’s legal invoices that would reveal confidential information, litigation strategy, work product or legal advice, the court found the city withheld ...

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

The court rejected the defendant’s argument that, because he was inside the car when he shot its occupant, he could not be guilty of firing shots “at” an occupied vehicle. The court found this argument contrary to the straightforward meaning ...

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

A woman convicted of child abuse and neglect successfully argued that the trial judge impermissibly lengthened her sentence by three years. Background Following her conviction for felony child abuse and neglect, a jury fixed a maximum sentence of seven years ...

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