I am proud to say that in addition to being a “procedural geek,” I am also a “data geek.” I am fascinated by looking at statistics about anything – discovering hidden (and usually meaningless) patterns and trends. So when you combine appellate procedure and...
An event of some note occurred on July 28, 2022, but it received little fanfare. Indeed, I am somewhat chagrined that I was not more vigilant in reporting the event as it was something that I have been anxiously awaiting. What was the momentous event? Nothing less...
The Court of Appeals released one published decision today, but not in an appeal. Rather, the Court under took to review a writ of actual innocence, which is an "OJ" proceeding. OJ stands for Original Jurisdiction, which means that the petition is filed directly in...
The Virginia General Assembly on Friday elected two judges as new justices on the Supreme Court of Virginia. Virginia Court of Appeals Judge Wesley G. Russell Jr. of Henrico County will begin a 12-year term on the court beginning July 1. One month later he will be...
A few days ago I posted statistics for the first month of filings in the “new” Court of Appeals. This evening I entered the remaining data for the first quarter of 2022. Here is the skinny on what was filed in the first 90 days of 2022: There were 490 cases assigned...
The Court of Appeals gives us two published opinions today, both in criminal cases and with predictable results, though the latter may be subject to further review. Adrian Donnel Aley v. Commonwealth of Virginia is a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence for...
The Court of Appeals entered a new era on January 1, 2022 as it became the primary appellate court for the Commonwealth and began accepting appeals of right in virtually all cases proceeding from the circuit courts of the Commonwealth. As part of my effort to waste...
Time for another patented rant. When talking to your clients, you always need to be careful with the words you choose, of course. But this rant is about a particular phrase that I think attorneys use too often when speaking to clients which leads to much confusion...
If like me, dear reader, you await the Tuesday missive's from the Court of Appeals announcing new opinions to peruse, you, like, me were surprised that no such missives appeared in your inbox (or perhaps mine were diverted by some gremlin?). In any case, I checked...
The Court of Appeals issued one published opinion today and, if it lacks the automatic snooze factor of last week's administrative law appeal, it was no more interesting given that its subject matter, "Speedy Trial in a Time of COVID," is one that is not likely to...