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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."...
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:...
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...
I freely admit that this post is overdue. But I have the good excuse that I have actually been drawing some interest in my new role as an appellant consultant – no earned fees yet, but perhaps soon. To delay not further, lets jump right into James Daniel Sarka v....
There is a story, possibly apocryphal, that when a new English translation of the Bible was being edited the committee charged with updating the language was stumped by a term in the Parable of the Prodigal Son. The father, you will recall, upon seeing his son from...
The maxim, Si Tacuisses, Philosophus Mansisses is often attributed to the Latin philosopher Boethius. An exact translation is "If you had been silent, you would have remained a philosopher," but more colloquially it has been rendered "If you'd kept your mouth shut,...
Continuing my review of cases handed down before this blog launched, I came across Fletcher v. Commonwealth, a published decision from November of last year, which is worthy of note because it contains that rarest of animals in appellate jurisprudence – an unpreserved...
Ok The main part of this blog is devoted to decisions of the Court of Appeals of Virginia. Occasionally, however, I will stray in other issues and that is what the Soapbox is for. Today, I climb up on that precarious perch to address an issue in an unpublished order...
Private prosecutions are not a unique feature of Virginia law and the practice is even common in some states. In Virginia, however, the practice is usually confined to two instances. The first is where an expert in a field that is beyond the common knowledge of the...
Norman L. Blowe, Jr. v. Commonwealth of Virginia 10/27/2020. It was not disputed that, in Blowe’s trial for two counts of production of child pornography, multiple counts of possession of child pornography and taking indecent liberties with a child in a custodial...