Because the father did not challenge the circuit court’s alternative basis for terminating his parental rights, meaning  those rights would remain terminated even if he prevailed on the issue he was appealing, the appellate court affirmed the lower court’s decision. ...

Tagged with: Domestic Relations Per Curiam Opinion Virginia Court of Appeals

The father’s failure to comply with the Department of Social Services requirements for counseling and the therapist’s recommendations supported the circuit court’s decision that he was not prepared to care for his child, who suffered from numerous medical conditions. Background ...

Tagged with: Domestic Relations Per Curiam Opinion Virginia Court of Appeals

Although the district court was imprecise in whether it was imposing an upward departure or a variance in sentencing a former postmaster for conspiracy to commit wire fraud, the appellate court found any error was harmless because the sentence was ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Criminal Per Curiam Opinion

Because a prior North Carolina conviction for robbery qualified as a “crime of violence” under the Sentencing Guidelines, applying a career offender enhancement to a bank robber’s base offense level was not error. Background Jarrett Terrell Edwards appeals his 192-month ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Criminal Per Curiam Opinion

Rejecting a mother’s argument that the circuit court erred in finding her children were abused or neglected, the court said the totality of the evidence, which included a video interview of the minor who claimed to have been sexually abused; ...

Tagged with: Domestic Relations Per Curiam Opinion Virginia Court of Appeals

Where the record amply supported the trial court’s conclusion that the defendant subjected her stepson to “aggravated circumstances,” including not seeking immediate medical treatment for injuries inflicted by his father or addressing the father’s abuse, the court did not err ...

Tagged with: Domestic Relations Per Curiam Opinion Virginia Court of Appeals

In considering the defendant’s appeal of a circuit court order continuing forced medication to render him competent to stand trial, the court concluded that the determination of competency is “part of [a] purely criminal process,” and the appeal is criminal ...

Tagged with: Criminal Per Curiam Opinion Supreme Court of Virginia

Although the petitioner asserted a gang was threatening him if he returned to El Salvador, evidence supported the immigration judge’s conclusion that the gang’s recruitment efforts were aimed at providing “more opportunities to increase membership,” rather than at persecuting him ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Immigration Per Curiam Opinion

While rejecting two challenges to the rejection of a woman’s supplemental security income claims, the court remanded the third claim, finding an ALJ erred by failing to resolve a conflict between a vocational expert’s testimony that claimant could serve as ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Administrative Per Curiam Opinion

Where an inmate claims that the Virginia DNA Statute “sets the standard for post-conviction DNA testing so high that it” violates the 14th Amendment, the district court on remand is directed properly to analyze the procedural due process claims. Background ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Civil Rights Per Curiam Opinion