Posted on August 11, 2022 in Criminal Defense

Virginians who feel that they may be experiencing a drug or alcohol overdose are stuck between a rock and a hard place. They either seek medical help just to potentially be criminally charged with driving under the influence or drug use, or they do nothing and put their health and lives at risk. Luckily, the Virginia state court of appeals recently issued a decision that widens the state’s medical amnesty law, Code §18.2-251.03, a law that shields individuals from criminal charges if they seek medical attention because of a drug or alcohol overdose.

Facts of the Case

According to the decision, the defendant-appellant was arrested outside of an emergency room for controlled substance possession and driving under the influence. Police escorted him into the emergency room. Once inside, the defendant began to make suicidal statements and represented that he chose to go to the emergency room because he was thinking about suicide. The defendant further explained that he believed drugs to be the cause of these thoughts, because he had smoked crack cocaine and used heroin, fentanyl, and cocaine.

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 Posted on July 26, 2022 in Criminal Defense

In a recent case coming out of a Virginia court, the defendant appealed his conviction for possession of ammunition by a felon. On appeal, the defendant argued that the officer that came into his house and found the ammunition did not actually have the right to be in his home, and thus that the evidence should have been suppressed. Looking at the totality of the circumstances in the case, the court of appeals disagreed and affirmed the defendant’s conviction.

Facts of the Case

According to the opinion, the defendant was charged with assault and battery after physically and verbally abusing his wife. He was arrested because of the charges, and his wife called the officers investigating the crime to let them know that the defendant had ammunition in their home. Because the defendant had previously been convicted of felonies, possession of ammunition was a violation of Virginia law.

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 Posted on July 26, 2022 in Criminal Defense

In a recent Virginia case involving the electronic solicitation of a minor, the defendant unsuccessfully appealed his guilty conviction. According to the defendant, the trial court did not give enough weight to an expert witness’s testimony regarding the defendant’s recent diagnosis of autism. This social disorder, said the defendant, affected his capacity to understand the wrongfulness of his actions. The court ultimately disagreed with the defendant, and his conviction was affirmed.

Facts of the Case

According to the opinion, the grandmother of an eleven-year-old girl reported to the police in 2018 that she had found sexually explicit messages on her granddaughter’s tablet. These messages were between the girl and the defendant in this case, mostly over Instagram and Google Hangouts. In the messages, the defendant had sent pictures of his genitalia, asked for pictures of the girl’s genitalia, and called the girl “babe” and “my girlfriend.”

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 Posted on July 25, 2022 in Criminal Defense

In a recent criminal case coming out of a Virginia court, the defendant unsuccessfully appealed his conviction for strangulation. The original charges against the defendant were brought when the defendant’s girlfriend told police officers that the defendant had strangled her one morning in the shower. After being found guilty at trial, the defendant appealed, arguing the evidence left reasonable doubt as to whether he was indeed guilty of strangling his girlfriend. The higher court disagreed, and the defendant ultimately lost his appeal.

Facts of the Case

According to the opinion, the defendant’s girlfriend was in the shower one morning when the defendant noticed that another man had recently liked her post on Facebook. Immediately suspicious, the defendant approached his girlfriend and asked her what was going on. He then proceeded to get in the shower to choke her, yelling at her and leaving her with bruises and scratches on her body.

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 Posted on July 18, 2022 in Criminal Defense

In a recent case coming out of a Virginia court, the defendant challenged the lower court’s order subjecting him to three years and seven months of incarceration after an alleged violation of his probation agreement. According to the defendant, the trial court was wrong to consider certain evidence relating to a 2017 case in which he was involved. If the trial court had not improperly relied on this evidence, said the defendant, the outcome and sentencing would have been different. On appeal, the higher court reviewed the defendant’s argument and ultimately affirmed the lower court’s decision.

Facts of the Case

According to the opinion, the defendant was convicted of possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance in February 2017. He was sentenced to twenty years of incarceration with eighteen years and seven months suspended, provided he could show “good behavior” for the entire twenty years. In March 2021, however, the trial court convicted the defendant of a new crime, possession of a firearm. Because this conviction qualified as a violation of the defendant’s probation terms, the court revoked the defendant’s suspended sentences and ordered him to three years and seven months of active incarceration.

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 Posted on July 11, 2022 in Criminal Defense

In a recent case coming out of the Commonwealth of Virginia, the defendant unsuccessfully appealed his DWI conviction. Originally, a police officer found the defendant sleeping in his car, and upon several sobriety tests, the officer discovered that the defendant was intoxicated. The defendant was charged and convicted of driving while intoxicated. He appealed, arguing that there was not enough evidence to support the guilty finding. The court of appeals considered the defendant’s argument but ultimately denied it, concluding that the court could reasonably infer his guilt based on the facts presented by the officer.

Facts of the Case

According to the opinion, late one night in 2019, an officer was dispatched to investigate a report of two people asleep in their car. The officer found the reported vehicle partially parked on the sidewalk of a public street. Inside, the defendant and his girlfriend were both asleep. The car engine was off, but the gearshift was in the drive position and the headlights were on. Upon approaching the vehicle, the officer smelled alcohol coming from inside.

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 Posted on June 30, 2022 in Criminal Defense

In a recent case coming out of a Virginia court, the Commonwealth attempted to argue that the defendant’s motion to suppress incriminating evidence should have been denied. Originally, two officers pulled the defendant over in his vehicle and searched the car after getting a glimpse of an open container as well as a bit of marijuana inside. The defendant argued the officers’ search was unconstitutional, and the lower court agreed with him. When the Commonwealth appealed, the higher court affirmed the lower court’s decision and concluded that the officers infringed on the defendant’s right to privacy.

Facts of the Case

According to the opinion, two officers stopped the defendant one evening after they noticed his car traveling across lanes without any turn signal. During the traffic stop, the officers noticed an open container of liquor in the passenger seat. The container appeared as if was partially empty, even though the bottle cap was still screwed on.

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 Posted on June 26, 2022 in Criminal Defense

In a recent case coming out of a Virginia court, the defendant unsuccessfully appealed his convictions of drug possession and driving while under the influence of drugs or alcohol. One of the defendant’s main arguments on appeal was that the evidence failed to support a showing that he was guilty of driving while under the influence; given this lack of evidence, said the defendant, the conviction should be overturned. The court examined the evidence and ultimately disagreed with the defendant, affirming his convictions.

Facts of the Case

According to the opinion, a patrolling officer was dispatched to a service road one evening to check on a man who was reported to be asleep in his car in the middle of the road. When the officer arrived, he found the defendant sleeping in the driver’s seat. The officer approached the defendant, at which point the defendant took his foot off the brake pedal and unintentionally shifted the car forward.

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 Posted on June 20, 2022 in Criminal Defense

In a recent case coming out of a court that oversees the Commonwealth of Virginia, the defendant appealed his 219-month sentence based on drug convictions. On appeal, the defendant argued that a law passed in 2010 reduced the maximum sentence he could face for a conviction related to cocaine possession. The court looked at the law in question and ultimately disagreed with the defendant, denying his appeal.

Facts of the Case

According to the opinion, the defendant was convicted approximately ten years ago of participating in a 2009 drug conspiracy. In 2012, a trial court concluded that the defendant had dealt with powder and crack cocaine in the conspiracy, and he was sentenced to 219 months in prison as a result.

Two years prior to the conviction, in 2010, Congress passed the Fair Sentencing Act, which reduced the statutory penalties for crack cocaine offenses nationwide. After its enactment, the government had to decide whether or not the Act applied to defendants who had been convicted before 2010 – that is, did defendants convicted of crack cocaine offenses qualify for lower sentences even if those convictions occurred prior to Congress’s passing of the Act? Congress decided in 2018 that yes, the Act would apply to pre-Act offenders who had not yet been sentenced when the Act became effective.

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 Posted on June 15, 2022 in Criminal Defense

In a recent case coming out of a Virginia court, the Commonwealth appealed a lower court’s decision to grant the defendant’s motion to suppress. In its argument, the Commonwealth emphasized that the court should not have suppressed incriminating evidence found on the defendant’s person because the defendant consented to the officer’s search, thus making it a reasonable circumstance under which the officers found illegal drugs. The higher court denied the Commonwealth’s appeal and affirmed that the drugs were properly suppressed.

Facts of the Case

According to the opinion, the defendant was riding in an Uber one afternoon when the Uber driver called 911 to report that the defendant was passed out in the back of the car. Officers arrived at the scene and approached the vehicle to speak with the defendant. At that point, the defendant was alert and able to communicate. The defendant got out of the car and moved to the sidewalk so that he could speak with the officers; at that point, one of the officers asked the defendant for his identification, and the defendant handed over a Colorado driver’s license as well as a Virginia driver’s license.

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