Where defendant was indicted on four counts of raping a child less than 13 years old, and the commonwealth later amended the first two counts to aggravated sexual battery, the court rejects a plea agreement that allowed defendant to plea ...

Tagged with: Criminal Fairfax Circuit Court Judge Randy I. Bellows Virginia Circuit Courts

Where defendant, a U.S. Navy retiree, began receiving military retirement pay and later “Concurrent Retirement Disability Pay,” both are military retirement pay that must be divided under the parties’ property settlement. Howell v. Howell, 137 S. Ct. 1400 (2017), which ...

Tagged with: Domestic Relations Judge Gary A. Mills Newport News Circuit Court Virginia Circuit Courts

Where the county zoning administrator and the Board of Zoning Appeals determined that landowners were illegally parking and storing construction vehicles on their commercially zoned properties, the ruling is reversed. The administrator and the BZA used an incorrect definition of ...

Tagged with: Virginia Circuit Courts Zoning

A woman who intended to live with her grandfather was not a member of his household and therefore not eligible for uninsured motorist coverage after she was injured in a traffic accident. Subjective intent is a factor in determining whether ...

Tagged with: Insurance Judge David B. Carson Roanoke Circuit Court Virginia Circuit Courts

Where the commonwealth’s attorney declined to prosecute a misdemeanor concealed weapon charge, defendant’s motion to dismiss, based on the prosecutor’s absence, is denied. The court agrees with a recent circuit court opinion, Commonwealth v. Sangha, 2021 WL 1179859 (Fairfax Cnty. ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge Gary A. Mills Newport News Circuit Court Virginia Circuit Courts

Defense counsel provided effective assistance by not asserting an insanity defense. Petitioner is denied habeas corpus relief. “Under Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 687 (1984), a petitioner must prove both that his counsel’s performance was deficient and that he ...

Tagged with: Habeas Corpus Judge Randy I. Bellows Virginia Circuit Courts

Where plaintiff was discharged from her bartending jobs at two different Fraternal Order of Eagles clubs, her claims for wrongful termination, a whistleblower violation and tortious interference survive defendants’ demurrers. Plaintiff is granted leave to amend her complaint to plead ...

Tagged with: Employment Judge Thomas J. Wilson IV Rockingham Circuit Court Virginia Circuit Courts

Plaintiff taxpayers have standing to challenge a decision by the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors to expend funds to update and modernize the county’s zoning ordinances. Plaintiffs have alleged that the expenditures were made without proper notice, an in-person quorum ...

Tagged with: Civil Practice Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge Daniel E. Ortiz Virginia Circuit Courts

On reconsideration, the court again denies petitioner’s motion for a protective order because she did not prove that respondent, more than once, placed her “in reasonable fear of death, criminal sexual assault, or bodily injury.” The statutes “The petition was ...

Tagged with: Domestic Relations Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge Richard E. Gardiner Virginia Circuit Courts

Where a court order provided that father could not seek a modification of his child support obligation until he became current on his payments, the order is void ab initio because it “diminishes the court’s power to decree support[.]” Voidness ...

Tagged with: Domestic Relations Farifax County Circuit Court Judge Richard E. Gardiner Virginia Circuit Courts