The VLW Blog

A Gloucester General District judge ruled today that use of an affidavit to establish that a sex offender did not register as required by state law violates the Confrontation Clause of the U.S. Constitution.
Under Virginia Code § 18.2-472.1(D), a Virginia State Police affidavit of the defendant’s history of registration as a sex offender is prima […]

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Join me for a drive from Bristol to Abingdon down in Southwest Virginia. We’ll avoid Interstate 81 and choose old Lee Highway instead.
Past the building that a guy made into a church by putting a steeple on an old auto-parts store. Past the mom-and-pop motels from the 1950s. Past the Wal-Mart and other big […]

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The brief marriage of George and Elisa Robinson is all over the Virginia appellate reports, but its absence from the U.S. Supreme Court reports means that each will finally beginning serving a 27-month jail term.
They were sentenced to three months on each of nine counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor for serving […]

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Virginia’s largest circuit court, Fairfax County, has elected a new chief judge. On July 1, Judge Dennis J. Smith will be taking over from current Chief Judge Michael P. McWeeny, who has served as chief judge for the past six years.
An alumnus of Brooklyn College, Smith graduated from American University’s Washington College of Law. He […]

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Gov. Tim Kaine and Attorney General Bob McDonnell announced yesterday that they have agreed to have an outside law firm advise the special review panel studying the Virginia Tech shootings.
Spokesmen for the two officials said that the AG’s office has been advising the panel, but it also has been providing counsel to Virginia Tech […]

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Retired General District Judge David D. Brown died last week at his home in Abingdon. He was 77.
Judge Brown was the longtime commonwealth’s attorney in Washington County, serving from 1964 to 1978. He was named to the general district bench in 1982, where he served until his retirement.
The Bristol Herald Courier has an obituary.

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Jon D. Huddleston, a Leesburg lawyer who has long been active in the Virginia State Bar, has announced his candidacy for president-elect of the organization.
Huddleston has been on Bar Council since 2001 and became a member of its executive committee last year. He has been a member of the VSB’s budget and finance committee since […]

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Thomas A. Edmonds, executive director and chief operating officer of the Virginia State Bar, has been named the 2007 recipient of the National Association of Bar Executives Bolton Award for Outstanding Bar Leadership.
The Bolton Award, the NABE’s highest accolade, is presented annually to a bar executive who epitomizes the highest standards of professional excellence. It […]

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May 29Unmowed grass in medians becoming an issue in Fairfax
The grass in roadside medians and along sidewalks is getting high in Fairfax, prompting angry residents to complain to their local officials, reports the Washington Post. The problem is, mowing that grass is VDOT’s responsibility, and the agency has cut back on maintenance due to funding […]

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