The Virginia Appellate Lawyer’s Court of Appeals of Virginia Blog

Dear readers, it had to happen someday.  After avoiding darkening the door of the Roanoke City Circuit Court in January, by reaching a settlement ten minutes before the hearing, in what would have been my first courtroom appearance since retiring from government service, yesterday, I made an appearance in the Roanoke City General District Court for a hearing on extending a Preliminary Protective Order.  If you are not familiar with the process in Virginia, there are three bas

Toni Sue Stacey v. Commonwealth of Virginia addresses an issue that is normally confined to the general district courts and which is, perhaps ungraciously given the deep emotions that are often involved, colloquially known as a “doggie death penalty case.”  The disposition of dangerous animals is a serious matter, and even more so when it involves criminal charges against the dog’s owner.  Stacey is the owner of Niko, a dog that previously had been designated as dangerous pur

Today is a red letter day for John S. Koehler, P.C.  This morning I filed my first ever brief in the Supreme Court of Virginia — and now some poor staff attorney (or maybe a law clerk) will have to read it.  To that person I say, “Thanks for not laughing out loud.” In truth, the issue is one of some note and I would be chagrined if it was laughed at because it involves constitutional due process  — Whether the Court of Appeals erred in finding that a violation of the defendan

The lone published opinion from the Court of Appeals of Virginia today is Juan Luis Lopez v. Commonwealth of Virginia.  What immediately caught my eye in this case before I was through the first paragraph was the nature of two of the charges against Mr. Lopez: disarming a law enforcement officer of his impact weapon, a baton, in violation of Code § 18.2-57.02 and attempting to disarm a law enforcement officer of his stun weapon, also in violation of Code § 18.2-57.02.  Now I

Yes, there is an appellate law grapevine, and it was all abuzz yesterday from a reliable rumor that the expansion of the jurisdiction (and size) of the Court of Appeals of Virginia is all but a done deal.  The unofficial word is that the legislation has or will soon pass and that the Governor will sign it.  This means some big changes for the appellate landscape in Virginia: Except for appeals that are required to be heard in the Supreme Court (State Corporation Commission Ap