No speedy trial rights violation in murder case
Where appellant was indicted on June 5, 2017, for murdering her husband, there was no speedy trial violation when trial commenced on Jan. 8, 2020. Appellant’s requests for continuances and her waivers...
View ArticleNo exigent circumstances in warrantless entry case
The trial court should have suppressed drug evidence found in an apartment after police officers entered without a warrant. There were no exigent circumstances to support the warrantless entry....
View ArticleDefense counsel properly testified at hearing
Where appellant sought to withdraw his guilty plea to several sex crimes, claiming that he misunderstood his requirement to register as a sex offender, there was no error when defense counsel testified...
View ArticleAbsconding defendant was not entitled to continuance
Where appellant absconded after the trial court denied his requests to continue his 2001 trial, the court properly tried and convicted him in his absence of distributing cocaine. Background In 1996,...
View ArticleOrder to name wife as policy beneficiary was error
The trial court lacked authority to order husband to name wife as the beneficiary of a life insurance policy because she was not a named beneficiary during the parties’ marriage. The court’s valuation...
View ArticleRequest for different doctor correctly denied
Where the Virginia Workers’ Compensation Commission denied claimant’s request to change his authorized treating physician, the commission correctly concluded that claimant’s request was motivated by...
View ArticleEvidence supports sex crimes convictions
Where appellant displayed a revolver, cocked it and told the complaining witness she had to go into a room and “take care of” his friend “or else,” this was sufficient evidence to support his...
View ArticleSufficient evidence supports unlawful wounding verdict
The trial court correctly found the commonwealth’s evidence credible in convicting appellant of unlawful wounding. Appellant’s testimony conflicted with the physical evidence. Argument on appeal...
View ArticleSufficient evidence to convict on theft offenses
Sufficient evidence supports appellant’s convictions of petit larceny, burglary, and conspiracy to commit burglary. Overview After a theft victim’s home security service alerted him that his security...
View ArticleMotion to strike abduction charge correctly denied
Where a bank customer threw himself to the floor after appellant hit him with a gun during a bank robbery, the trial court properly denied appellant’s motion to strike an abduction for pecuniary...
View ArticleDrug evidence incorrectly suppressed
The trial court incorrectly suppressed drug evidence found during a warrantless search of an apartment where there was no evidence that appellant had a reasonable expectation of privacy in the...
View ArticleLarceny conviction upheld despite return of property
Even though appellant returned the victim’s property shortly before she was tried for grand larceny, her intent to permanently deprive the victim of his property can be inferred from the facts and...
View ArticleMotion to suppress evidence properly denied
Appellant’s convictions of first-degree murder, arson of an occupied dwelling, and arson of personal property are affirmed. The police had probable cause to detain appellant. Police and fire marshals...
View ArticleEvidence supports finding of work-related injury
Even though some opinions from claimant’s treating physician were “equivocal,” there was sufficient medical evidence that claimant’s knee injury was causally related to a slip-and-fall accident at...
View ArticleSelf-defense rejected in shooting case
Where appellant fired shots at a person who was running from him and toward a motel room, his self-defense claim is not well taken. His conviction of maliciously shooting at an occupied building is...
View ArticleNo contest plea waived all defenses
Where appellant pleaded no contest to charges of reckless driving and failure to appear, he waived “all defenses except those jurisdictional.” Further, the circuit court did not abuse its discretion...
View ArticleAttempt to name correct defendant was untimely
Where plaintiff nonsuited her personal injury claim because she named the wrong defendant, her new action, filed outside the statute of limitations, does not relate back to her original complaint....
View ArticleRes judicata bars claim after final award
Even though claimant’s medical benefits claim included a claim for deep vein thromboses, where the deputy commissioner’s award did not address DVT, and neither party appealed, the award became final...
View ArticleNo basis for mistrial in drug prosecution
Where appellant did not show that the commonwealth suppressed information favorable to his defense that would otherwise have been unavailable, the circuit court correctly denied his motion for a...
View ArticleClaim for ongoing treatment barred
Where a workers’ compensation claimant failed to appeal a determination which didn’t address payments for ongoing treatment of a compensable injury, his claims were barred by res judicata. The Virginia...
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