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Courts May Reduce Criminal Charges Over Objections of Prosecutors

Serious Traffic Defense, Uncategorized / By

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…

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Restaurants Beware! One Bad Weekend May Put You Out of Business.

ABC Law, Uncategorized / By

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

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Court Knocks Out Most of the Claims Brought By Duke Lacrosse Players Who Were Falsely Accused of Rape

Civil / Business Law, Uncategorized / By

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,

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Malicious Wounding Case Dismissed Where Injured Victim “Blacked Out”

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James Hines was convicted of malicious wounding after his girlfriend was hospitalized with broken teeth, a broken jaw, a broken eye socket, and facial bruising, swelling, a bloody nose and mouth after a dispute between the two.  The Court of Appeals reversed the decision and dismissed the case. Hines was visiting his girlfriend on her birthday at her hotel room.  They were drinking alcohol and the girlfriend left for some more.  When she returned, she

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Fed Ex Courier Fired for 57 Suspicious Stops; No FMLA Claim, Fourth Circuit Holds

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The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals recently upheld the termination of a FedEx employee, Kimberly Laing, for repeated falsification of delivery records. FedEx’s investigation into Laing’s conduct overlapped with a knee injury she suffered on a delivery. She took time off under the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA), and upon her return, was placed on administrative leave and then terminated for discrepancies between her delivery records and the destinations of her packages. The district court’s

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