Supreme Court of Virginia Decisions 2014
Date: December 31, 2014
Docket Number: 131806
Justia Opinion Summary: The Commonwealth filed a complaint alleging that Windsor Plaza Condominium violated Va. Code 36-96.3(B)(ii) by failing to make reasonable accommodations in rules or services that were necessary to afford Michael Fishel…
Date: October 31, 2014
Docket Number: 130633
Justia Opinion Summary: Charles Settle was fatally injured when a train struck the dump truck he was operating. At the time of the collision, Settle was traveling on Kapp Valley Way, and RGR, LLC had stacked lumber near the railroad tracks.…
Date: October 31, 2014
Docket Number: 131038
Justia Opinion Summary: After a trial, the circuit court found Defendant guilty of possessing heroin with the intent to distribute. Defendant appealed, arguing that the circuit court violated Sixth Amendment rights by denying him a continuance…
Date: October 31, 2014
Docket Number: 131301
Justia Opinion Summary: Joey Bennett and Derek Folston, police officers working for the City of Norfolk, were responding to a domestic disturbance call in separate vehicles when Folston’s vehicle struck Donnell Worlsey, who was riding a…
Date: October 31, 2014
Docket Number: 131385
Justia Opinion Summary: Twelve years after he pled guilty to capital murder in exchange for a sentence of life without the possibility of parole Appellant filed a motion to vacate his sentence. Appellant, who was seventeen years old when he…
Date: October 31, 2014
Docket Number: 131569
Justia Opinion Summary: Construction Manager subcontracted with Subcontractor to do work on a construction project. After the project was substantially complete, Subcontractor recorded a mechanic’s lien for unpaid work on the project.…
Date: October 31, 2014
Docket Number: 131584
Justia Opinion Summary: Mother and Father (“Parents”) were the parents of twin girls. Mother was a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation (“Tribe”), Father was not a member of any tribe, and the children were either members of, or eligible to…
Date: October 31, 2014
Docket Number: 131747
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was arrested for operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol in violation of Va. Code Ann. 18.2-266. The arresting officer found Defendant sleeping in the driver’s seat of his vehicle, which was parked…
Date: October 31, 2014
Docket Number: 131822
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of possession of counterfeit currency in violation of Va. Code Ann. 18.2-173 after being found with eighteen twenty-dollar bills on his person that were counterfeit. Defendant appealed, arguing…
Date: October 31, 2014
Docket Number: 131847
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of statutory burglary in violation of Va. Code Ann. 18.2-91. Defendant appealed, arguing that the evidence was insufficient to support his conviction because the Commonwealth established only that…
Date: October 31, 2014
Docket Number: 131869
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff filed a medical malpractice action against Defendant, an oral maxillofacial surgeon, after Defendant’s thwarted attempted to extract three of Plaintiff’s wisdom teeth resulted in permanent numbness in…
Date: October 31, 2014
Docket Number: 131972
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of capital murder in the commission of, or subsequent to, rape or attempted rape and capital murder in the commission of abduction with intent to defile. Defendant was sentenced to death on each…
Date: October 31, 2014
Docket Number: 131974
Justia Opinion Summary: DHRI, Inc. entered into a contract to purchase a parcel of land from William Hanback. DHRI later sued Defendant for specific performance of the land purchase contract. On June 9, 2004, the trial court entered a decree…
Date: October 31, 2014
Docket Number: 132048
Justia Opinion Summary: At a cookout Daniel Hylton was hosting, eight-year-old Tabitha Lasley was injured when she was thrown to the ground from an ATV she had been operating. Tabitha’s father, Gene Mosley, was present and supervising Tabitha…
Date: October 31, 2014
Docket Number: 140012
Justia Opinion Summary: After a trial, Defendant was found guilty of three counts of “expos[ing] his . . . sexual or genital part” to a minor child in violation of Va. Code 18.2-370(A)(1). Defendant appealed his convictions, arguing that the…
Date: October 31, 2014
Docket Number: 140081
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant, a divorced mother of three minor children, was prosecuted under Va. Code 22.1-254 and -263 for failing to ensure that her children arrived at school in a timely manner. The circuit court convicted Defendant of…
Date: October 31, 2014
Docket Number: 140112
Justia Opinion Summary: This case concerned a dispute over the disposition of shares of stock in a family held business after the death of the business’s founding generation. Plaintiff, one of the founder’s children and a stockholder, filed…
Date: October 31, 2014
Docket Number: 140145
Justia Opinion Summary: The Fairfax County School Board suspended Plaintiff, a food and nutrition services manager at Twain Middle School, without pay for three days for allegedly violating Fairfax County Public Schools regulations. Plaintiff…
Date: October 31, 2014
Docket Number: 140171
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs hired Defendants, an automotive business and its owner, to repair and restore a 1960 Ford Thunderbird. After disputes arose between the parties, Plaintiffs filed this action in the circuit court alleging…
Date: September 12, 2014
Docket Number: 131137
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of rape, four counts of aggravated sexual battery, and one count of aggravated sexual battery for offenses committed against his stepdaughter. As a condition of Defendant’s probation, the court…
Date: September 12, 2014
Docket Number: 131162
Justia Opinion Summary: Patricia Kohn, the wife of John Kohn and the administrator of her husband’s estate, filed a wrongful death complaint against several officers and instructors associated with the Norfolk Police Department and the Norfolk…
Date: September 12, 2014
Docket Number: 131590
Justia Opinion Summary: At issue in this case was a severance deed conveying ownership of, and the right to remove, coal and timber underlying and appurtenant to a certain tract of land. The parties to this appeal were the…
Date: September 12, 2014
Docket Number: 131754
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff filed a complaint in 2010 alleging wrongful death and medical malpractice against healthcare providers (Defendants). During pretrial discovery, Plaintiff filed two separate motions to compel, which the trial…
Date: September 12, 2014
Docket Number: 131780
Justia Opinion Summary: Shellie Rae Rose filed a petition for a protective order against Jeffrey Paul Stephens, her former boyfriend. After a hearing, the circuit court granted Rose’s petition, concluding that Rose had been reasonably placed in…
Date: September 12, 2014
Docket Number: 131815
Justia Opinion Summary: Loudoun County’s Board of Supervisors required the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office to implement three employment practices to reduce the hours that would be considered overtime. The Board also raised the number of hours…
Date: September 12, 2014
Docket Number: 131872
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2012, Dominion Virginia Power filed an application with the State Corporation Commission seeking approval of a power station and transmission interconnection facilities associated with the generation plant. Dominion’s…
Date: September 12, 2014
Docket Number: 131910
Justia Opinion Summary: Stacy McMahon (McMahon) and Melanie White Wirick (Wirick), formerly Melanie White, were the biological parents of Addison Grace White (Addison). McMahon and Wirick were never married. When Addison reached school age, the…
Date: June 27, 2014
Docket Number: 131574
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of several crimes associated with the robbery of a victim and the invasion of his home. Defendant appealed, arguing that the trial court erred in refusing his proffered jury…
Date: June 5, 2014
Docket Number: 130627
Justia Opinion Summary: The Administrators of the estates of two individuals killed in a single-engine airplane crash filed wrongful death actions against Honeywell International, Inc., the manufacturer of the plane’s autopilot system, alleging…
Date: June 5, 2014
Docket Number: 130633
Justia Opinion Summary: Decedent was fatally injured when a train struck the dump truck Decedent was operating. RGR, LLC operated a business offloading and reloading lumber adjacent to the railroad tracks. Decedent’s Estate filed a wrongful…
Date: June 5, 2014
Docket Number: 130681
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs were former employees by Verizon Virginia, Inc. Plaintiffs sued Verizon and the Communication Workers of America, AFL-CIO District 2 after Plaintiffs accepted an “Enhanced Income Security Plan” based on the…
Date: June 5, 2014
Docket Number: 130989
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of attempted first degree murder of his wife, abduction of his father and his three children, and use of a firearm while attempting to murder his wife. The charges stemmed from an incident in…
Date: June 5, 2014
Docket Number: 131166
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was found guilty of two counts of aggravated sexual battery and one count of object sexual penetration for events alleged to have taken place during sleepovers at his home. Defendant appealed, arguing that the…
Date: June 5, 2014
Docket Number: 131283
Justia Opinion Summary: After Tonia Begley died, Robert Bartee and Wiley Begley qualified as co-administrators of Begley’s estate. Wiley Begley subsequently died. Thereafter, Bartee filed a wrongful death lawsuit against an emergency department…
Date: April 17, 2014
Docket Number: 130239
Justia Opinion Summary: The Chincoteague Inn constructed a floating platform secured alongside its building to be used as part of the Inn’s restaurant. The platform was situated partially over state-owned submerged lands. In an enforcement…
Date: April 17, 2014
Docket Number: 130494
Justia Opinion Summary: To purchase her home, Kim King executed a promissory note to Virginia Housing Development Authority (“VHDA”) that was secured by a deed of trust. When King lost her full-time job, she arranged for a special forbearance…
Date: April 17, 2014
Docket Number: 130801
Justia Opinion Summary: Lessee leased property owned by Owners pursuant to a lease agreement. A billboard was located on the property that had been declared illegal because it exceeded the permitted height limitations. Lessee and Owners filed a…
Date: April 17, 2014
Docket Number: 130934
Justia Opinion Summary: The American Tradition Institute and Robert Marshall (collectively, “ATI”) sent a request to the University of Virginia (“UVA”), seeking all documents that Dr. Michael Mann, a climate scientist and former professor, had…
Date: April 17, 2014
Docket Number: 130971
Justia Opinion Summary: John Warren Shepperd, who never married and had no children, died without having executed a will. Fourteen second cousins from John’s maternal side and Jason Shepperd, John’s half-uncle from John’s paternal side,…
Date: April 17, 2014
Docket Number: 131064
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff filed suits against Defendants, alleging that she was injured by Defendants’ course of conduct while she was incarcerated in the Richmond City Jail. Plaintiff was not incarcerated when she filed her lawsuits.…
Date: April 17, 2014
Docket Number: 131065
Justia Opinion Summary: In 1989, Plaintiff inherited an interest in a real estate cooperative (“the Association”). Plaintiff became a member of the cooperative and executed a mutual ownership contract with the Association in which Plaintiff…
Date: April 17, 2014
Docket Number: 131066
Justia Opinion Summary: In 1940, property owners (Yanceys) and the predecessor to Norfolk Southern Railway Company (together, Norfolk) entered into an agreement (Agreement) whereby Norfolk agreed to construct and maintain a private grade…
Date: April 17, 2014
Docket Number: 131091
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Petitioner was convicted of malicious wounding and robbery. Petitioner was sentenced to ten years’ imprisonment for malicious wounding and five years’ imprisonment for robbery, to be served…
Date: April 17, 2014
Docket Number: 131121
Justia Opinion Summary: Jerry Ferguson constructed a causeway extending to an island in the Rappahannock River. Plaintiffs later acquired the property adjacent to the island and causeway and all riparian rights appurtenant to the shoreline. In…
Date: April 17, 2014
Docket Number: 131235
Justia Opinion Summary: The City of Richmond brought an enforcement action against the owners of real property (Owners) and the lessee of the property (Lessee), seeking removal of a billboard that Lessee maintained on the property, or, in the…
Date: April 17, 2014
Docket Number: 131256
Justia Opinion Summary: The Commonwealth filed a petition requesting the circuit court to hold that Donald Gibson was a sexually violent predator pursuant to the Civil Commitment of Sexually Violent Predators Act. After a trial, the jury found…
Date: April 17, 2014
Docket Number: 131282
Justia Opinion Summary: PS Business Parks, LP obtained a judgment against Deutsch & Gilden, Inc. for its failure to pay a lease. PS Business, naming Deutsch as debtor, filed a garnishment summons naming SunTrust Bank as garnishee. SunTrust…
Date: April 17, 2014
Docket Number: 131308
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff worked for the City of Alexandria from 2008 until 2011, when the City terminated his employment. Plaintiff sued the City, alleging that the City unlawfully retaliated and discriminated against him by…
Date: April 17, 2014
Docket Number: 131512
Justia Opinion Summary: Shirley Gregg Dean (Shirley) and Marion Casey Dean (Casey) married in 1978. Shirley died in 1999. At the time, Shirley’s daughters (the sisters) decided not to probate their mother’s estate, basing their decision on…
Date: February 27, 2014
Docket Number: 122029
Justia Opinion Summary: Ubaldo Rodriguez was an employee the general contractor hired by Leesburg Business Park, LLC (LBP) to construct warehouse buildings on a parcel of undeveloped land owned by LBP. Ubaldo suffered fatal injuries in the…
Date: February 27, 2014
Docket Number: 122145
Justia Opinion Summary: Husband filed a complaint seeking a divorce from Wife. The circuit court granted the divorce and equitably distributed Husband’s and Wife’s property and debt. Husband appealed the equitable distribution award because it…
Date: February 27, 2014
Docket Number: 130549
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was found guilty of unreasonably refusing to submit to a breath test in violation of Va. Code Ann. 18.2-268.3. Defendant appealed, arguing in large part that the State did not establish a prima facie case of…
Date: February 27, 2014
Docket Number: 130682
Justia Opinion Summary: Jay and Judith Turim were trustees of a family trust that owned property in a subdivision. Barbara Beach, the owner of a neighboring property in the subdivision, erected a wall at one end of the Turims’ purported private…
Date: February 27, 2014
Docket Number: 130691
Justia Opinion Summary: The Byrd Theatre Foundation, a non-profit corporation, owned the Byrd Theatre, a historic landmark that housed a Wurlitzer theater pipe organ installed in 1928. David Barnett was injured when he was performing repairs to…
Date: February 27, 2014
Docket Number: 130757
Justia Opinion Summary: Antonio Amos was convicted of assaulting his estranged wife, Felecia Amos, and ordered not to contact or harass Felecia. Felecia subsequently alleged that Antonio had harassed her. The Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney…
Date: February 27, 2014
Docket Number: 130810
Justia Opinion Summary: At issue in these two appeals was Va. Code Ann. 8.01-384(A), which provides that the absence of a contemporaneous objection when there is no opportunity to make a timely objection at the time a ruling or order is made…
Date: February 27, 2014
Docket Number: 130837
Justia Opinion Summary: Victoria Coalson and Michael Stemke (together, Plaintiffs) were injured in an accident caused by Victor Canchola, who was intoxicated at the time of the accident. Plaintiffs each filed lawsuits against Canchola. A jury…
Date: February 27, 2014
Docket Number: 130854
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant was found guilty of felony murder and two felony drug offenses. The court of appeals reversed Appellant's felony murder conviction but refused to remand the case to the circuit court for resentencing of…
Date: February 27, 2014
Docket Number: 131318
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff filed an action against Defendants, alleging claims for tortious interference with a contract, tortious interference with business expectancy, and business conspiracy. The district court (1) dismissed the…
Date: January 10, 2014
Docket Number: 121984
Justia Opinion Summary: When Dr. David Roberts performed amniocentesis on Plaintiff’s mother, who was pregnant with Plaintiff, bleeding occurred. Complications arose from the unsuccessful amniocentesis, and Plaintiff was born with damaged…
Date: January 10, 2014
Docket Number: 122024
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, an assistant principal, filed an action against a local newspaper and and the author of the article at issue in this case, alleging libel, libel per se, and libel per quod, asserting that the article published…
Date: January 10, 2014
Docket Number: 122028
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant pleaded guilty to two counts of felony possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute. The circuit court accepted the guilty plea and entered it in the record. Defendant subsequently asked the…
Date: January 10, 2014
Docket Number: 130179
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant, a teacher at a vocational school who also supervised students on the sidewalk outside his classroom, was indicted on three counts of taking indecent liberties with a minor by a person in a custodial or…
Date: January 10, 2014
Docket Number: 130204
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was indicted for felony child abuse and neglect. Defendant made an Alford plea, and the circuit court found Defendant guilty and placed Defendant on supervised probation. The following year, while attempting to…
Date: January 10, 2014
Docket Number: 130210
Justia Opinion Summary: At issue in this case was Va. Code Ann. 15.2-2303.1:1(A), which provides that cash payment made pursuant to a cash proffer offered or accepted for residential construction on a per-dwelling unit shall be accepted by any…
Date: January 10, 2014
Docket Number: 130259
Justia Opinion Summary: Tanisha Bates was indicted for arson. The circuit court found Bates not guilty by reason of insanity. Subsequently, the circuit court concluded that Bates was in need of inpatient hospitalization and committed her to the…
Date: January 10, 2014
Docket Number: 130279
Justia Opinion Summary: Landowner initiated plans to develop his property as a cluster subdivision. Landowner received a compliance letter from the county zoning administrator indicating that Landowner’s property met the standards set forth in…
Date: January 10, 2014
Docket Number: 130304
Justia Opinion Summary: Based on a confession Defendant made to his daughter that was repeated to the police, the grand jury returned a true bill for aggravated sexual battery. The circuit court found Defendant guilty of aggravated sexual…
Date: January 10, 2014
Docket Number: 130306
Justia Opinion Summary: In 1887, Jacob and Marry Fuller conveyed the coal interests in their 414-acre tract to Joseph Doran and W.A. Dick. In 1918, W.T. Fuller, the successor in interest to the Fullers, conveyed to Unice Nuckles a…
Date: January 10, 2014
Docket Number: 130409
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of possession of child pornography. Defendant appealed, contending that the trial court erred in failing to suppress the evidence seized from his computer. The court of appeals dismissed…
Date: January 10, 2014
Docket Number: 130416
Justia Opinion Summary: Landowner filed a complaint against Western Virginia Water Authority (the Authority) after the Authority’s sewer line burst on his property and caused extensive damage, including the collapse of a ten-foot high retaining…
Date: January 10, 2014
Docket Number: 130553
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of murder and violation of a protective order. Defendant appealed, arguing that the circuit court erred by failing to order a second competency evaluation after his counsel…
