Use of a blood test to determine the defendant’s blood alcohol content without a warrant was justified under Virginia’s implied-consent law when administering a breath test would have delayed the defendant’s medical care. Background Alexandria police officer Reid Hudson pulled ...

Tagged with: Judge Glen A. Huff Search & Seizure Virginia Court of Appeals

Due to evidence demonstrating a woman’s mental incapacity to appreciate the nature and consequences of intercourse, an intimate encounter between her and another patient at a psychiatric facility amounted to attempted rape. Background On March 15, 2015, Appellant James L. ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge Mary B. Malveaux Virginia Court of Appeals

The U.S. Supreme Court in 2015, in the case of Obergefell v. Hodges, gave full marriage rights to same-sex couples. This month, in two different courts in Virginia – the Court of Appeals and a Fairfax Circuit Court – jurists ...

Tagged with: Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge Stephen C. Shannon Virginia Court of Appeals

The court of appeals upheld a decision to terminate the parental rights of Appellants Bettina and Daniel Dorr as to their autistic young son. The Dorrs are biological parents to D., born in 2012. Responding to a complaint in 2013, ...

Tagged with: Family Law Parental Rights Per Curiam Opinion Virginia Court of Appeals

The court of appeals held that the trial court, considering a motion to suppress, did not err in admitting an officer’s testimony that, before he attempted to arrest the defendant, another officer had said that the defendant was subject to ...

Tagged with: Evidence Judge Wesley G. Russell Jr. Unpublished Opinion Virginia Court of Appeals

The court of appeals found that Appellant Montrio Santos Neville’s nickname, “Grim Reaper,” was not harmfully introduced at his trial for murder and heroin distribution because (1) he was not convicted for murder, and (2) sufficient other evidence supported his ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge Mary Grace O'Brien Unpublished Opinion Virginia Court of Appeals

The court of appeals upheld two perjury convictions arising from the defendant’s prior testimony explaining why he did not appear in court as required, finding that his acquittal for failure to appear did not preclude perjury charges. On February 6, ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge Richard Y. AtLee Jr. Unpublished Opinion Virginia Court of Appeals

A “show-up” identification did not violate a robbery suspect’s rights when police presented him separately to the victims, did not encourage them to make a positive identification, and did not inform them that their stolen items were found on the ...

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

Appellant John Allen Baugh Jr. was convicted in 2000 of having carnal knowledge of a minor. As a result, he was required to register as a sex offender under Virginia’s Sex Offender and Crimes Against Minors Registry Act (VSOR). In ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge Mary B. Malveaux Virginia Court of Appeals

Witness testimony and ballistics evidence was sufficient to uphold a conviction for discharging a firearm in a public place, even though the actual weapon was never located, the court of appeals said. Witness James Goode was attempting to break up ...

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