A man’s conviction for carrying a concealed weapon while intoxicated has been reversed after the Supreme Court of Virginia found that the handgun in question, located in a zippered backpack on a car seat, was not “carried” under Virginia statute. ...

Tagged with: Criminal Justice Cleo E. Powell Supreme Court of Virginia

Where appellee, a surety company, issued performance and payment bonds to a construction company that later defaulted on its obligations, the surety lacks a priority interest in the company’s deposits held by appellee bank. The bank had a perfected security ...

Tagged with: Contract Judge Thomas P. Mann Supreme Court of Virginia

Where appellant was convicted of carrying a concealed handgun while intoxicated, the conviction is reversed. The holstered handgun was in a zippered bag on the passenger seat of the vehicle he was driving. Under the relevant statute, to convict, the ...

Tagged with: Criminal Justice Cleo E. Powell Supreme Court of Virginia

Where a county increased its machinery and tool tax for one year to cover a budget shortfall resulting from prior M&T tax refunds but issued economic grants to offset the tax increase to only those businesses “negatively impacted by the ...

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

Where a driver was involved in an accident with both an uninsured motorist and an underinsured motorist, her insurer is not liable to provide separate UM and UIM coverage. This is so because the relevant statute is best understood as ...

Tagged with: Insurance Judge Wesley G. Russell Jr. Supreme Court of Virginia

The Supreme Court of Virginia has reversed a trial court’s decision closing a pretrial bail hearing to the public and sealing records in the case of a Newport News police officer indicted for murder. The plaintiff newspaper publishers claimed the ...

Tagged with: Justice D. Arthur Kelsey Supreme Court of Virginia

Where the State Corporation Commission approved Virginia Electric and Power’s petition to recover from its customers the cost of purchasing “allowances” to emit CO2 from its power plants, there was no error because the allowances were necessary to comply with ...

Tagged with: Administrative Justice D. Arthur Kelsey Supreme Court of Virginia

Where the trial court closed a pretrial bail hearing to the public, kept certain motions and exhibits under seal, and ruled that a city lacked standing to oppose public access to sealed documents previously disclosed pursuant to a subpoena, the ...

Tagged with: Criminal Justice D. Arthur Kelsey Supreme Court of Virginia

Where the trial court ruled that appellee was entitled to specific performance, requiring appellant real estate owners to convey 31 acres of property that was offered at auction, this was error because the auction is best understood as being an ...

Tagged with: Justice Cleo E. Powell Real Estate Supreme Court of Virginia

Where appellant sought records under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act relating to municipal employment disputes, the matter is remanded because, in making its rulings whether the requested records were exempt or nonexempt from disclosure, the trial court used “definitions ...

Tagged with: Judge Thomas P. Mann Supreme Court of Virginia VFOIA