Thomas C. Gordon

This case involved mutual claims for intentional personal injuries arising from a 1967 confrontation in a Newport News poolroom where owner Louis Parker asked police officer Herbert McCoy to leave during a routine check, leading to Parker's arrest for disorderly conduct, a physical struggle involving a blackjack and pool cue, and a jury verdict awarding McCoy $35,000 in damages. The court upheld the trial judge's exclusion of evidence that the disorderly conduct charge against Parker had been nol prossed, as well as rulings confirming that McCoy had a legal right to remain on the premises and was not a trespasser. However, the court reversed and remanded because certain jury instructions improperly suggested approval of the officer's use of force, borrowed inapplicable negligence concepts, or addressed issues not raised by the evidence. The core reasoning distinguished an officer's law-based authority to enter and remain from a private citizen's consensual right, while requiring neutral instructions that left the reasonableness of force to the jury.

criminal lawcivil rightsproceduretorts & liability

The case involved Tyrone Williams's conviction for breaking and entering a store with intent to steal, based solely on fingerprint evidence found on a stolen television set. No witnesses identified Williams as a participant, and he testified that he had visited the store legitimately one or two days earlier to examine TVs. The court reversed the conviction, holding that the fingerprint evidence was insufficient because it did not exclude the reasonable possibility that the prints were left during Williams's prior lawful visit to the showroom. This distinguished the case from prior precedent where fingerprints were found in areas not accessible to the public.

criminal lawprocedure

The case concerned whether provisions in the will of Anne White Bailey, which created a 25-year trust for the education of named grandnephews and grandnieces with remainder interests to them or their heirs upon termination, violated the rule against perpetuities. The trial court found the alternative contingent gifts to heirs and distributees void under the rule but upheld the direct interests of the living beneficiaries. On appeal, the Virginia Supreme Court held that the interests of beneficiary John Henry White were valid, as any vesting must occur during his lifetime as a life in being at the testatrix's death, satisfying the requirement that interests vest within twenty-one years and ten months after a life in being. The court also decided to adjudicate the remainders immediately rather than deferring, citing principles of virtual representation to bind potential unborn parties.

propertyfamily law

In Johnson v. Commonwealth, students at a state college were denied permission to hold a protest vigil in the administration building under college regulations and were arrested and convicted of trespass after refusing to leave when ordered by officials. On appeal from their convictions under the state trespass statute, the defendants argued that the statute did not apply to public property and that their First Amendment rights protected their presence in the building. The court held that the trespass statute applies to publicly owned property other than thoroughfares, relying on precedent from Miller v. Harless, and that the students had no constitutional right to demonstrate specifically in Wilson Hall, as the regulation concerned the place of protest rather than prohibiting protest activity itself.

criminal lawfree speech

Jerry Leeds sued Shenandoah Valley Leasing Corporation and Helen C. Rice to recover amounts allegedly due under an airplane lease agreement, while Shenandoah cross-claimed to rescind the lease on grounds of mistake or constructive fraud and recover prior payments made. The trial court allowed rescission based on constructive fraud, but the appellate court reversed, ruling that the lease agreement explicitly placed responsibility for the airplane's condition on the lessee, who had accepted it in its then-present state and agreed to hold the lessor harmless for later-discovered defects. The court further held that Shenandoah waived any claim based on the registration certificate error by failing to act before it was corrected and that the parties' assumption of risk under the lease barred rescission. The decree was reversed and remanded for entry of a money judgment against the lessee and guarantor.

business & regulatoryproperty

In Clere v. Commonwealth, defendant Henry Lee Clere was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death for killing Thomas A. McKown. On appeal, he challenged the admission of a witness's out-of-court statements and items seized from his home and his wife's car during police searches authorized by warrants. The court affirmed the conviction, holding that a prior consistent statement by the witness was properly admitted after her testimony had been impeached with a prior inconsistent statement, as the consistent statement was relevant to assessing the inconsistent one. The court also upheld the seizure of additional items because the searches of the home and car occurred simultaneously, with no evidence that officers had already found the specified scarf before discovering the other evidence.

criminal lawprocedure