Twenty-five years after Virginia abolished parole, hundreds of inmates will be eligible for release under a bill recently signed by the governor. Sponsored by Del. Joseph Lindsey, D-Norfolk, House Bill 35 would grant parole eligibility for individuals sentenced to prison ...

Tagged with: Criminal General Assembly Sentencing

Rejecting the reasoning in unpublished 4th Circuit decisions on the question, the court held that under Sentencing Guidelines § 4A1.2, a defendant’s criminal history category calculation did not include petty offenses for which active imprisonment was less than 30 days, ...

Tagged with: Judge Robert E. Payne Sentencing U.S. District Court - Eastern District

Attempted petit larceny qualifies as a felony recidivist “third or subsequent offense” under Code § 18.2-104, meriting an enhancement sentence. Background At trial, the Commonwealth presented evidence that Appellant Fred Coleman was attempting to steal a bicycle when the victim ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge Mary Grace O'Brien Sentencing Virginia Court of Appeals

By the unambiguous terms of a plea agreement, the government had discretion to determine whether the defendant had complied with his obligation under the agreement to give full and complete testimony when asked. Given this discretion, it was not required ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Contract Criminal Judge William B. Traxler Jr. Sentencing

After U.S. Supreme Court precedent invalidated one of the defendant’s three predicate convictions mandating a sentence enhancement under the Armed Career Criminal Act, his sentence could not be sustained by a “substitute” conviction that appeared on his pre-sentence report but ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Constitutional Criminal Due Process Judge Roger L. Gregory Sentencing

At a defendant’s probation revocation hearing, the circuit court properly admitted information about the defendant’s most recent convictions as reported in a news article read by the prosecutor. The article was written to inform the public, not in anticipation of ...

Tagged with: Constitutional Evidence Judge Richard Y. AtLee Jr. Sentencing Virginia Court of Appeals

Under recent U.S. Supreme Court precedent, a defendant convicted in a mortgage fraud conspiracy could not be ordered to forfeit the total amount of losses from the conspiracy – over $1.5 million – when she personally had received only $231,000 ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Criminal Judge Roger L. Gregory Sentencing

In calculating appropriate restitution to be paid by a video-game thief, the district court erred in accepting the victim’s unsubstantiated estimate of replacement costs, rather than requiring evidence on fair market value. Background Appellant Dominic Steele was convicted of postal ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Criminal Judge Roger L. Gregory Sentencing

Despite the defendant’s probation violations, the circuit court lacked jurisdiction to reinstate his previously suspended prison time after the suspendion period had elapsed. Background On December 14, 1993, Green pleaded guilty to one count of felony arson. The trial court ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge William G. Petty Sentencing Virginia Court of Appeals

A defendant who’d agreed to plead guilty to murder could not withdraw his plea, fairly negotiated, based on the subsequent discovery of a witness with potentially exculpatory testimony. Background Appellant Franklin Thomason was at his home with his girlfriend and ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge Robert J. Humphreys Sentencing Virginia Court of Appeals