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

The Court of Appeals issued a published decision by order last week, and as it was an original jurisdiction matter, which is somewhat outside the purview of this Blawg, I thought I would wait a week to see if there was something more in the way of a published appellate decision to fill this space . . . but the Court issued no published decisions this week — original jurisdiction or otherwise.  So, rather than leave you, dear reader, bereft of any prose for a second week, I sh

The Court of Appeals of Virginia issued a single published opinion today.  The subject matter of the appeal is one of increasing concern in our nation, elder abuse.  Catherine Ann Tomlin v. Commonwealth of Virginia involves charges of financially exploiting an incapacitated adult and of abusing or neglecting an incapacitated adult.  The appeal deals primarily with the sufficiency of the evidence to prove each of these crimes.  A tertiary issue, whether the court improperly al

The Court of Appeals issues two published decisions today, one as an opinion and one as a published order (following two published order released mid-February).  The Court of Appeals has not typically issued published orders with the same frequency as the Supreme Court, and it has not been that long ago that they were something of a rarity even from the Justices. As between the two decisions today, however, it is certainly the order that should take center stage (at least if

Time for another patented rant. There have been a number of news stories dealing with Virginia politics and politicians that have raised my hackles lately.  [Ed. Note: the phrase “raise my hackles” refers to hairs or a ruff of fur on the back of an animal’s neck that raises when the animal is alerted to danger or is preparing to attack.  Humans have the same response, its just not particularly noticeable.] The first involved Victoria Manning, a member of the Virginia Beach Sc

Just over 13 months ago I started this Blawg and one of the first posts involved an unpublished opinion which was worthy of a mention because it demonstrated a trap for the unwary when timing the filing of transcripts.  At the end of the post, I noted that the appellant was likely due a delayed appeal.  Today’s one published opinion from the Court of Appeals now addresses the merits of the appeal that was previously ruled to be procedurally barred. As Yogi says, “It’s like dé