Courts in criminal cases don’t feel that they have equity powers.  In the latest decision wherein any layman would expect the court to act leniently, the Court of Appeals held that a defendant  who was improperly transferred to the Department of Corrections (prison) could not have his sentence modified by the Circuit Court due to lack of jurisdiction even though the Circuit Court had ordered the defendant to remain in its jurisdiction (the County jail )

A defendant charged with Possession of Marijuana entered a plea agreement with the prosecutor to plead guilty to Reckless Driving.  He paid a small fine.  Later, he sought to expunge the Possession of Marijuana charge but was denied by the Fairfax Circuit Court. The Supreme Court of Virginia held that, when a charge is changed, the Court can expunge the original charge — even if doing so expunges both charges as a practical effect. Before

Any time before a judge accepts a guilty plea and finds a defendant guilty, the judge may amend the charge to a different, lower crime and find the defendant guilty of the lower crime, according to an important recent opinion from the Supreme Court of Virginia. Most criminal law attorneys long thought that prosecutors choose the charges (the alleged crimes on which the defendant is accused), the defendant pleads guilty or not guilty to those

If you have ever gotten lost looking for a “bar” in Virginia, don’t worry—there aren’t any.  In Virginia, any establishment that serves alcohol is required to serve food as well.  In order to sell beer and wine, the restaurant is required to have a full service kitchen.  And, in order to sell distilled spirits, the restaurant must ensure that no less than 45% of their gross receipts come from the sale of food.  In other

In a strongly-worded opinion by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, a three-judge panel tossed out a majority of the claims filed by several former players of the Duke Lacrosse team.  The high-profile lawsuits were brought by former Duke players that were falsely accused – and for three of the players, falsely indicted – of raping and kidnapping a stripper during a party.  The players sought damages against the City of Durham,