Venue Over Dealer Proper Where Teen Sold Drug
The Supreme Court of Virginia says that for a defendant charged with causing a juvenile to assist in the distribution of marijuana to a third party in violation of Va. Code § 18.2-255(A)(ii), venue was...
View ArticleRestaurant Features Could be Fixtures
In this case involving condemnation of a Fairfax property with a Taco Bell restaurant, the Virginia Supreme Court says the trial court erred in striking the owner’s evidence that features such as a...
View ArticleOfficer Could Question Counsel Request
The Virginia Supreme Court agrees with the Court of Appeals that under the facts of this case, two officers could have reasonably viewed defendant’s statement, “That’s what I want, a lawyer, man” as...
View ArticlePetitioner Released, But Case Goes On
A circuit court had jurisdiction over a habeas petition when the juvenile petitioner was released from custody while the petition was pending but faces “collateral consequences” such as the need to...
View ArticleNo Transfer Outside Va. for SVP
A sexually violent predator cannot be conditionally released for supervision outside Virginia on the basis that he already is subject to supervised probation for another crime and therefore is eligible...
View ArticlePartnership Dissolved for Frustration of Purpose
A brother and sister who were co-trustees and held interests in a real estate development partnership set up by their father have been unable for years to agree on trust matters, causing the trust to...
View ArticleNo Code Compliance Duty to Tenant
A residential landlord does not have a duty in tort to tenants to comply with building and housing codes concerning public health and safety, either under the common law, the leases executed in this...
View ArticleService to Single ‘Last Known’ Address Suffices
Although a contract between a Florida financial company and plaintiff Virginia Tech identified a street address for the company, the contract called for any notices to be sent to a Post Office box in...
View ArticleConviction Not Tainted by GPS Use
Although police violated defendant’s Fourth Amendment rights when they tracked him by placing a GPS device on the company-owned work van he drove, as it was parked on a public street, the Supreme Court...
View ArticleUtility Gets Rate Adjustment for Environmental Costs
Appellant utility company is entitled to a rate adjustment clause for recovery of actual costs it directly incurred for environmental compliance in 2009 and 2010, but did not recover through its base...
View ArticleWanted: A way to reverse problem with lawyers’ writing
As if bar candidates cramming legal knowledge didn’t have enough to worry about with the looming Virginia bar examination, word is out that bar examiners have been casting a critical eye on candidates’...
View ArticleContempt Challenge Survives Rule 5A:18
The Supreme Court of Virginia upholds a decision that a woman who was summarily held in contempt and sent to jail for 10 days after a trial judge found she lied about her estranged husband harassing...
View ArticleSurviving Co-Administrator May Sue Doctor
The sole surviving co-administrator of an intestate’s estate may maintain a wrongful death action based on alleged medical malpractice, and the Supreme Court of Virginia reverses a contrary trial court...
View Article‘The Virginia way’ still works in practice of law
The ”Virginia way” in politics has taken a beating, but the “Virginia way” of practicing law survives, according to lawyers who regularly square off against each other in court. Civility is the...
View ArticleGuilty Verdict Stands Despite Brady Claim
The Supreme Court of Virginia says that in a claim for habeas relief based on a Brady violation, the failure to disclose exculpatory evidence qualifies as an obstruction that prevents the filing of the...
View ArticleHabeas Upheld for Lawyer’s Faulty Advice
A Salvadoran citizen who pleaded guilty to misdemeanors of DWI and hit and run wins habeas relief on his claim that his lawyer provided constitutionally ineffective assistance of counsel by failing to...
View ArticleConviction Reversed for ‘Bear Deterrent’ Release
The Supreme Court of Virginia says a deputy’s testimony about confronting one suspect in a basement when the officer was exposed to a caustic bear deterrent did not support an inference that defendant,...
View ArticleConviction Not Tainted by GPS Use
Although police violated defendant’s Fourth Amendment rights when they tracked him by placing a GPS device on the company-owned work van he drove, as it was parked on a public street, the Supreme Court...
View ArticleUtility Gets Rate Adjustment for Environmental Costs
Appellant utility company is entitled to a rate adjustment clause for recovery of actual costs it directly incurred for environmental compliance in 2009 and 2010, but did not recover through its base...
View ArticleWanted: A way to reverse problem with lawyers’ writing
As if bar candidates cramming legal knowledge didn’t have enough to worry about with the looming Virginia bar examination, word is out that bar examiners have been casting a critical eye on candidates’...
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