The VLW Blog

The Supreme Court of Virginia handed down opinions in a slew of criminal cases listed in a VLW blog Friday, but it didn’t issue a decision in the cases prosecutors and criminal defense attorneys were watching the closest.
Those would be Gibson v. Commonwealth, the Virginia Court of Appeals decision in August that held judges have […]

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Granted, the General Assembly’s treatment of Court of Appeal Judge Robert J. Humphreys is shameful.
No one seems to suggest that he is unworthy of appointment to a second eight-year term, but he has fallen victim to political infighting that resulted in the failure of the legislature to fill about 30 vacancies and reappoint him and […]

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What part of de novo don’t you understand?
That was the question the Virginia Court of Appeals had for Colonial Heights Circuit Judge Timothy J. Hauler.
A mother appealed a juvenile and domestic relations district court’s award of custody of her minor child to its father. At the beginning of the custody hearing Hauler told the mother’s […]

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Supreme Court Justice S. Bernard Goodwyn and Court of Appeals Judge LeRoy F. Millette Jr. won’t have a break in service after all.
Their appointments by Gov. Timothy M. Kaine would have expired tonight in the absence of action by the General Assembly, and they became the pawns in an assertion of institutional clout by Republicans […]

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Justice S. Bernard Goodwyn and Judge LeRoy F. Millette Jr. of the Virginia Court of Appeals could be out of a job Saturday.
Nobody expects that to happen, but their appointments by Gov. Timothy M. Kaine expire Friday in the absence of action by the General Assembly.
Del. David B. Albo, R-Fairfax, chairman of the House Courts […]

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Gov. Tim Kaine appointed Prince William Circuit Judge LeRoy F. Millette Jr. today to fill the Virginia Court of Appeals vacancy created by the retirement of Judge James W. Benton Jr.
Millette, who has a background as a law firm associate and partner, a sole practitioner and a state prosecutor, was named a general district judge […]

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The Virginia Court of Appeals usually hears writs in four different cities across the commonwealth. but it doesn’t get to Frederickburg very often.
According to The Free Lance-Star, the intermediate court was last there about 10 years ago.
But the court will be in Fredericksburg tomorrow as part of the reopening of the newly renovated […]

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The judicial nominations committee of the Virginia State Bar has found five candidates highly qualified to fill the vacancy created by the retirement Court of Appeals Judge James W. Benton Jr.
They are:
? Chesterfield County Circuit Judge Michael C. Allen? Frank K. Friedman, a partner in the Roanoke firm of Woods Rogers PLC? Chesapeake Circuit Judge […]

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Virginia Beach Commonwealth’s Attorney Harvey L. Bryant III has personal and institutional reasons to be pleased with Tuesday’s ruling by the Virginia Court of Appeals that judges can defer findings of guilt only with the express approval of the General Assembly.
Bryant is the president of the Virginia Association of Commonwealth’s Attorneys. Gibson v. Commonwealth “substantiates […]

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Judge James W. Benton Jr., the last of the original members of the Virginia Court of Appeals, will retire Oct. 1.
Benton (photo at right) turns 64 in September. He is also the state’s senior appellate judge.
A native of Norfolk and a graduate of Temple University and the University of Virginia law school, Benton was appointed […]

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