Supreme Court of Virginia Decisions 2017
Date: December 28, 2017
Docket Number: 161180
Justia Opinion Summary: Ahmed alleged that as an inmate at Greensville Correctional Center, he suffered an injury to his head and neck on September 10, 2013, when the telephone he was using fell from the wall and struck him. Ahmed filed…
Date: December 28, 2017
Docket Number: 161339
Justia Opinion Summary: The carbon monoxide detector in an apartment sounded. A maintenance worker replaced the batteries; the alarm later sounded again. The following morning, tenants called Virginia Natural Gas (VNG). VNG’s inspector measured…
Date: December 28, 2017
Docket Number: 161346
Justia Opinion Summary: Pijor was found guilty of perjury, Code 18.2-434, based on testimony Pijor gave during a larceny trial in which he was acquitted. Pijor, having testified that he had not taken his ex-girlfriend’s dog, was later found to…
Date: December 28, 2017
Docket Number: 161489
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2003, Rickman was convicted of five counts of aggravated sexual battery, two of forcible sodomy, one of abduction of a minor, one of object sexual penetration, one of taking indecent liberties with a minor, and one of…
Date: December 28, 2017
Docket Number: 170128
Justia Opinion Summary: Shin was arrested for DWI. Shin declined the arresting officer's demand that he provide a blood and breath sample. The officer then read Form DC-233, “Implied Consent Declaration” to Shin, Code 18.2-268.3(C), which…
Date: December 14, 2017
Docket Number: 161290
Justia Opinion Summary: Where an income tax return has not been filed by the return date on a writ of fieri facias, any potential income tax refunds for the applicable tax year are not “in possession of or under the control of the debtor” so as…
Date: December 14, 2017
Docket Number: 161676
Justia Opinion Summary: At issue was whether evidence of a search must be suppressed under Va. Code 19.2-54 because a magistrate incorrectly faxed only portions of a search warrant to the clerk of the circuit court. Defendant was charged with…
Date: December 14, 2017
Docket Number: 161799
Justia Opinion Summary: At issue was whether, during the sale of JB&A, Inc., a government contracting firm, to MCR Federal, LLC, another government contractor, MCR’s false statement of that a representation and warranty in the contract remained…
Date: December 14, 2017
Docket Number: 170071
Justia Opinion Summary: The circuit court did not err by concluding that a holographic writing did not comply with Va. Code 64.2-403 or -404. After the decedent died, the executor of the decedent’s estate submitted the decedent’s will and a…
Date: December 7, 2017
Docket Number: 161311
Justia Opinion Summary: A court may raise judicial estoppel on its own motion in an appropriate case, and therefore, the doctrine is not waived if not pled by the parties. After Plaintiff initiated Chapter 13 bankruptcy proceedings, he filed a…
Date: December 7, 2017
Docket Number: 161505
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the order of the circuit court dismissing Plaintiff’s claims of undue influence in this action seeking to void a trust established by the decedent eight days before his death. Plaintiff, the…
Date: November 30, 2017
Docket Number: 161549
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the trial court awarding a sales commission to a real estate broker (Broker) despite the fact that a contemplated sale ultimately never took place. The trial court concluded (1)…
Date: November 27, 2017
Docket Number: 170889
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court ordered that Kurt J. Pomrenke be removed immediately from the office of Judge of the Twenty-Eighth Juvenile and Domestic Relations Judicial District, concluding that Judge Pomrenke’s conduct was of…
Date: November 22, 2017
Docket Number: 161095
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the circuit court sustaining the Tax Department’s decision to rescind $4.9 million in land preservation tax credits it had previously awarded to the Woolford family on the…
Date: November 22, 2017
Docket Number: 161417
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the determination of the trial court that Appellant, an inmate, could not proceed in forma pauperis with his petition for a writ of mandamus. Consistent with Va. Code 8.01-691, Appellant…
Date: November 22, 2017
Docket Number: 161767
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the State Corporation Commission’s (SCC) denial of claims filed by a group of Kentucky hospitals requesting reimbursement for legal fees and costs from Reciprocal of America (ROA), an insolvent…
Date: November 16, 2017
Docket Number: 161113
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeals regarding its ruling on the law of the case doctrine but affirmed its judgment regarding its rulings on the admission of certain strip search evidence and…
Date: November 9, 2017
Docket Number: 160612
Justia Opinion Summary: The circuit court erred in relying on principles of res judicata to refuse to stay an injunction brought by the City of Staunton’s Zoning Administrator against the landowner in this case pending further proceedings…
Date: November 2, 2017
Docket Number: 160540
Justia Opinion Summary: Contrary to the conclusions of the lower courts in this divorce case, Richard Levick’s marriage to Deborah MacDougall was not voidable or void ab initio, and therefore, the circuit court had authority to distribute the…
Date: November 2, 2017
Docket Number: 161419
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the circuit court ruling that the Commissioner of Accounts had subject matter jurisdiction to hear a petition for aid and direction initially filed with the Commissioner seeking…
Date: October 26, 2017
Docket Number: 161195
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed in part, reversed in part and remanded the judgment of the circuit court dismissing La Bella Dona Skin Care, Inc.’s (LBD) civil conspiracy claims, granting summary judgment on LBD’s claim for…
Date: October 26, 2017
Docket Number: 161347
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the circuit court sustaining a demurrer filed by the Commissioner of Highways in his capacity as chief executive officer of the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) in…
Date: October 19, 2017
Docket Number: 160952
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeals, which vacated Defendant’s sentence for DUI, third offense, and remanded the case to the trial court for sentencing on DUI, second offense. The court of…
Date: October 12, 2017
Docket Number: 160688
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the circuit court insofar as it imposed a sentence upon Defendant exceeding the punishment authorized by the General Assembly in Va. Code 18.2-53.1. Graves was convicted of…
Date: October 12, 2017
Docket Number: 161066
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the trial court dismissing Plaintiff’s action seeking to recover attorney fees she incurred in defending a prior action. The trial court concluded that Rule 3:25 precluded…
Date: September 14, 2017
Docket Number: 160664
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the circuit court approving modifications to an easement by necessity crossing Joanna Palmer’s property. The circuit court approved the modifications after finding that they…
Date: September 14, 2017
Docket Number: 161172
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the circuit court concluding that McKinley Chiropractic Center, P.C. (McKinley) was entitled to judgment against Erie Insurance Company (Erie). Devonta Dodson was involved in a…
Date: September 14, 2017
Docket Number: 161519
Justia Opinion Summary: In these consolidated appeals, the Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the State Corporation Commission upholding the constitutionality of Va. Code 56-585.1:1, which suspended the Commission’s biennial base rate…
Date: September 7, 2017
Docket Number: 160857
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the Court of Appeals rejecting Defendant’s argument that the evidence was insufficient to prove she committed the offense of using a cell phone for “purposes of procuring or…
Date: August 31, 2017
Docket Number: 160257
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgments of the circuit court sentencing Defendant to serve a prison term before beginning his involuntary civil commitment. Defendant pleaded guilty to an offense committed in July and…
Date: August 31, 2017
Docket Number: 160681
Justia Opinion Summary: Kohl’s Department Stores, Inc. entered into a license agreement with Kohl’s Illinois, Inc., an affiliate of Kohl’s that operates retail stores in select states, but not Virginia, for the use of intellectual property…
Date: August 31, 2017
Docket Number: 160979
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the circuit court ruling that the City of Danville and its Employees’ Retirement System were required by the provisions of Va. Code 51.1-813 to award a disability retirement…
Date: August 31, 2017
Docket Number: 160999
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the circuit court in denying Seller specific performance of a contract for the sale of real property after finding that Seller failed to establish that he held marketable title.…
Date: August 31, 2017
Docket Numbers: 161017, 161025, 161031
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the circuit court directing the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) to produce student growth percentile (SGP) data for certain Loudoun County Public School students under…
Date: August 24, 2017
Docket Number: 160939
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the circuit court ruling favor of Loudoun County on Dulles Duty Free, LLC’s challenge to the County’s imposition of a business, professional, and occupational license (BPOL) tax…
Date: August 17, 2017
Docket Number: 160652
Justia Opinion Summary: James Gardner Dennis, an inmate in the Greenville Correctional Center, petitioned the circuit court to change his name to James Gardner Wright pursuant to Va. Code 8.01-217. The circuit court dismissed the application…
Date: July 27, 2017
Docket Number: 160314
Justia Opinion Summary: In this medical malpractice action, the Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the trial court denying Defendant’s motion to set aside the jury verdict in favor of Plaintiff. On appeal, Defendant argued that Plaintiff…
Date: July 20, 2017
Docket Number: 160377
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the trial court dismissing Plaintiff’s medical malpractice action against Dr. J. Michael Syptak and Harrisonburg Family Practice. Plaintiff pleaded theories of intentional…
Date: July 20, 2017
Docket Number: 170133
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court dismissed the case filed by the Judicial Inquiry and Review Commission against Rudolph Bumgardner, III, Senior Judge of the Court of Appeals and Humes J. Franklin, Jr., Retired Judge of the Twenty-Fifth…
Date: July 13, 2017
Docket Number: 160582
Justia Opinion Summary: The Atlantic Coast Pipeline, LLC (ACP) sent Landowners letters seeking permission to enter their properties to conduct preliminary surveys and studies in order to build a natural gas transmission line. When Landowners…
Date: July 13, 2017
Docket Number: 160630
Justia Opinion Summary: The Atlantic Coast Pipeline, LLC (ACP) sought permission to enter Hazel Palmer’s property to conduct preliminary surveys in order to build a natural gas transmission line. When Palmer withheld her consent, ACP provided a…
Date: June 29, 2017
Docket Number: 160889
Justia Opinion Summary: Clerks of court are statutorily designated custodians of court records, and therefore, The Daily Press must make its request to each jurisdiction’s clerk of court for certain court records rather than to the Office of…
Date: June 22, 2017
Docket Number: 160500
Justia Opinion Summary: At issue in this case was the validity of instruments executed by Beverly Gelber two months before she died. The documents purported to convey Beverly’s home and personal property to her daughter, Meryl Glock. Lawrence…
Date: June 22, 2017
Docket Number: 160993
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant’s convictions for first-degree murder and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony. The court held (1) assuming, without deciding, that the trial court erred by refusing to…
Date: June 15, 2017
Docket Number: 160221
Justia Opinion Summary: Two property insurers issued policies to a Harris Teeter grocery store. The insurers together paid claims for property damage resulting from the malfunctioning of a county sewer line. Exercising their subrogation rights,…
Date: June 8, 2017
Docket Number: 160685
Justia Opinion Summary: For nearly a decade, Petitioner, as a pro se litigant, has filed numerous pleadings in the Supreme Court, all of which have been meritless. In 2017, the Supreme Court issued a rule to show cause against Petitioner,…
Date: June 8, 2017
Docket Number: 161013
Justia Opinion Summary: A rational fact-finder could reasonably find that the totality of the circumstances proved beyond a reasonable doubt that Defendant was the criminal agent in each of the offenses charged in this case. Defendant was…
Date: June 1, 2017
Docket Number: 160414
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of second-degree murder, aggravated malicious wounding, and use of a firearm during the commission of a felony. After unsuccessfully appealing to the court of appeals, Defendant petitioned the…
Date: June 1, 2017
Docket Number: 160619
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute marijuana. After both the conviction order and the sentencing order were entered, Defendant asked the trial court to reconsider the felony conviction. The…
Date: June 1, 2017
Docket Number: 160814
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant recorded a mechanic’s lien for work done on two properties that had been placed in a trust. The trustee filed a petition challenging the validity of the liens, arguing that the memoranda for mechanic’s lien…
Date: June 1, 2017
Docket Number: 160879
Justia Opinion Summary: The court of appeals reversed Defendant’s conviction for possession of heroin with the intent to distribute, third or subsequent offense, concluding that the trial court erred in denying Defendant’s pretrial motion to…
Date: June 1, 2017
Docket Number: 161002
Justia Opinion Summary: An indictment returned by a grand jury as a true bill in open court is not invalid when the order recording the indictment was not entered until after the trial on the indictment and no objection was made to the…
Date: April 27, 2017
Docket Number: 160852
Justia Opinion Summary: Ebenezer Manu filed a complaint against GEICO Casualty Company alleging that GEICO violated Va. Code Ann. 8.01-66.1 for its bad faith conduct in adjusting his uninsured motorist bodily injury claim. Specifically, Manu…
Date: April 20, 2017
Docket Number: 160813
Justia Opinion Summary: After his employment as the Town of Warrenton’s Building Official ended, Plaintiff filed an amended complaint against the Town requesting a writ of mandamus to reappoint him as “the executive official in charge of the…
Date: April 13, 2017
Docket Number: 160013
Justia Opinion Summary: Client entered into a written representation agreement with Attorney for legal services. An attorney-in-fact for Client later filed a confession of judgment against Client in the amount of $9,460.07, with interest at…
Date: April 13, 2017
Docket Number: 160269
Justia Opinion Summary: Martha Lambert filed a warrant in debt asserting that the Sea Oats Condominium Association failed to pay $500 to repair an exterior door to her condominium. Lambert sought $500 in damages and an award of attorney’s fees.…
Date: April 13, 2017
Docket Number: 160349
Justia Opinion Summary: Marshall Auto & Truck Center, Inc. executed a promissory note in favor of Middleburg Bank. Charles Chamberlain executed a guaranty of that Note. Marshall failed to make payments to Middleburg, and the Bank withdrew funds…
Date: April 13, 2017
Docket Number: 160458
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of carjacking and use of a firearm in the commission of carjacking, along with robbery, attempted robbery, attempted malicious wounding, and three other counts of using a…
Date: April 13, 2017
Docket Number: 160495
Justia Opinion Summary: Mariam Toraish, as the administrator of her deceased five-year-old son Adam’s estate, instituted a medical malpractice action against James J. Lee, M.D. and his practice. Lee had performed a tonsillectomy and…
Date: April 13, 2017
Docket Number: 160606
Justia Opinion Summary: A declaration of protective covenants and restrictions (Declaration) for a Subdivision created a Committee, an unincorporated association, to have full authority to enforce the Declaration. In 2014, an amendment of the…
Date: April 13, 2017
Docket Number: 160665
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was charged with unreasonable refusal to submit a breath sample under Va. Code 18.2-268.3. At trial, Defendant argued that the Commonwealth failed to prove that he was operating a motor vehicle on a “highway”…
Date: April 13, 2017
Docket Number: 160777
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs bought this lawsuit against the Fairfax County School Board seeking declaratory judgment and preliminary and permanent injunctive relief for the allegedly unlawful expansion of the school board’s…
Date: April 13, 2017
Docket Number: 160805
Justia Opinion Summary: Nationwide Mutual Fire Insurance Company and Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company (together, Nationwide) brought a claim for declaratory judgment requesting that the trial court determine the priority of five separate…
Date: March 30, 2017
Docket Number: 160381
Justia Opinion Summary: Moonlight Enterprises LLC filed a legal malpractice action against attorneys Francis Mroz and Stephen Zachary. The circuit court granted the attorneys’ pleas in bar and dismissed them both on statute of limitations…
Date: March 9, 2017
Docket Number: 160277
Justia Opinion Summary: Gina Coutlakis filed a third amended complaint against CSX Transportation, Inc., the train’s conductor, and the train’s engineer (collectively, Appellees) alleging that Appellees’ negligence resulted in the death of her…
Date: March 2, 2017
Docket Number: 151955
Justia Opinion Summary: The Tax Commissioner of Virginia directed Chesterfield County to issue refunds to Verizon Online LLC for local taxes it paid for tax years 2008, 2009 and 2010 on set top boxes it owned. The circuit court upheld the Tax…
Date: March 2, 2017
Docket Number: 160202
Justia Opinion Summary: Boasso American Corporation appealed an adverse decision by the Zoning Administrator for the City of Chesapeake to the Board of Zoning Appeals. The Board affirmed. Boasso then filed a petition for writ of certiorari. The…
Date: March 2, 2017
Docket Number: 160305
Justia Opinion Summary: The predecessor in title to Mount Aldie, LLC (MA) conveyed a conservation easement to Land Trust of Virginia, Inc. (LTV) covering a sixty-acre tract of land. The easement designated a 100-foot-wide strip of property…
Date: February 23, 2017
Docket Number: 160267
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant filed suit against Appellee, her former employer, alleging wrongful discharge in violation of public policy under Bowman v. State Bank of Keysville. The trial court sustained Appellee’s demurrer, which alleged…
Date: February 16, 2017
Docket Number: 151779
Justia Opinion Summary: Two property owners’ associations (POAs) sued various owners and developers of parcels in a shopping center, claiming that the shopping center’s sediment basins discharged sediment into a creek that flowed into a lake…
Date: February 16, 2017
Docket Number: 160242
Justia Opinion Summary: The Funny Guy, LLC sued Lecego, LLC, claiming that it was not paid for work it did for Lecego. Funny Guy alleged that Lecego had agreed to pay approximately ninety-seven percent of the fees claimed in an attempt to…
Date: February 16, 2017
Docket Number: 160311
Justia Opinion Summary: In February 2012, Sheryl Ricketts was involved in a motor vehicle accident. Ricketts underwent surgery for her injuries. In January 2014, Ricketts filed a complaint alleging that Charlie Strange’s negligence was the…
Date: February 9, 2017
Docket Number: 151450
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant moved to suppress the fruits of the search that led to his arrest on the ground that the probable cause for the search was provided by the warrantless use of a drug-sniffing dog in violation of the Fourth…
Date: February 2, 2017
Docket Number: 131385
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant entered an Alford guilty plea to capital murder and other related charges. The trial court imposed a life sentence pursuant to the plea agreement plus a sixty-eight-year term of incarceration on the remaining…
Date: February 2, 2017
Docket Number: 151985
Justia Opinion Summary: Dr. Matthew Mayr, a surgeon, mistakenly fused the wrong level on Michael Osborne’s spine. Catherine Osborne, Michael’s wife and the administrator of his estate, filed suit, alleging that Dr. Mayr was negligent and that…
Date: January 19, 2017
Docket Number: 151111
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was found guilty of petit larceny, third or subsequent offense. Defendant appealed, arguing that the trial court erred in giving Instruction 16 to the jury rather than Instruction O,…
Date: January 19, 2017
Docket Number: 151944
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff filed suit against Defendant seeking damages arising from personal injuries she claimed to have sustained when a vehicle being operated by Defendant struck the rear bumper of the vehicle Plaintiff was…
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