Thursday, July 30, 2009

Kellerman, Adm'r v. McDonough

In this case the Virginia supreme Court held that when a parent gives up supervision and care of their child to another parent or adult, who is willing to watch and supervise the child, the supervising caregiver must accomplish the duty with reasonable care. However, the Court also stated that the supervising adult is not an insurer of the child's safety.

Unfortunately, in this case, a parent allowed the supervised child to ride with a young male who had the reputation for being a reckless driver and in complete contradiction to the instructions of the parent of the deceased child who told the supervising adult not to allow his child to ride in a car being driven by young males. The supervising parent ignored the instructions and allowed the decedent to ride in a car driven by a young male. The young male was involved in an accident, and the supervised child was killed.

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Atkins v. Commonwealth

In this case, the Court of Appeals held that a defendant cannot be convicted for obstruction of justice based on his flight and having originally given a false name. The defendant's conviction under Section 18.2-460 is reversed.

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Jones v. Commonwealth

The Virginia Supreme Court stated, "A positive alert from a narcotics detection dog establishes probable cause to conduct a search of a vehicle and that the evidence seized during the search is admissible after a proper foundation has been laid to show that the dog was sufficiently trained to be reliable in detecting narcotics.""

Arizona v. Johnson

In Arizona v. Johnson, the United States Supreme Court stated, "In a traffic stop setting, the first Terry condition - a lawful investigatory stop - is met whenever it is lawful for police to detain an automobile and its occupants pending inquiry into a vehicular violation. The police need not have, in addition, cause to believe any occupant of the vehicle is involved in criminal activity. To justify a patdown of the driver or a passenger during a traffic stop, ...the police must harbor reasonable suspicion that the person subjected to the frisk is armed and dangerous." The Court further referenced that the police may frisk an armed passenger without any evidence of a crime.

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

John Grisham, the well known author, is preparing a new screen play. The author is focusing the screen play on the case of Michelle Moore-Bosco, who was raped and murdered in 1997. Four of the five defendants convicted in the case are now asserting that they are innocent and that the police coerced their confessions.

The story has garnered national attention. Furthermore, the author has stated he believes the "Norfolk Four" are innocent.

Thursday, July 9, 2009

Mwangi v. Commonwealth

A purported prior order from the general district court was never endorsed by the judge. The trial court could not prove the prior conviction during a trial for driving under the influence, third offense. The Supreme Court reverses the judgement and remands the case for trial on a a lesser included misdemeanor.

Commonwealth v. Fuller

In this Norfolk Circuit Court case, a vague affidavit did not support a warrant. Thus, the court suppressed the evidence seized from defendant's home.