OPINION BY SENIOR JUSTICE ELIZABETH B. LACY . Marvin Hines was indicted for first degree murder of Wayne Hudson in violation of Code 18.2-32 and use of a firearm in the commission of first degree murder in violation of Code 18.2-53.1. Hines claimed he shot Hudson in self-defense. Following a bench trial, the trial court found Hines guilty of voluntary manslaughter. After granting the Commonwealth's motion to amend the indictment, the trial court also found Hines guilty of a violation...
OPINION BY CHIEF JUSTICE DONALD W. LEMONS . This appeal arises from a civil contempt order entered after the Division of Legislative Services ("DLS") and several Members of the General Assembly, invoking legislative privilege, refused to comply with a production order in a matter pending before the circuit court. The court held that legislative privilege, as set forth in the Speech or Debate Clause of Article IV, Section 9 of the Constitution of Virginia ("the Clause"), 1 does not extend...
OPINION BY JUSTICE ELIZABETH A. McCLANAHAN . These consolidated appeals of right by the Board of Supervisors of Loudoun County ("Board") and David I. Ramadan (collectively, "Appellants") arise from a Code 56-542(D) investigation by the State Corporation Commission ("Commission") of the tolls charged by Toll Road Investors Partnership II, L.P. ("TRIP II") for the Dulles Greenway ("Greenway"), a privately owned toll road located primarily in Loudoun County. Following the investigation,...
OPINION BY JUSTICE WILLIAM C. MIMS . In this appeal, we consider whether the definition of "open or common space" in Code 58.1-3284.1(A) excludes real property used for a commercial enterprise. I. BACKGROUND AND MATERIAL PROCEEDINGS BELOW Christina Gray obtained a conditional use permit for a cluster development on a parcel of real property situated in the City of Suffolk. The development proposal included an equestrian center. Gray thereafter conveyed the parcel to Kings Fork, LLC ("...
Opinion by Justice ELIZABETH A. McCLANAHAN . Nella Kate Martin Dye filed a declaratory judgment action seeking a determination that the term "minerals" used in two severance deeds executed in 1886 and 1887 did not effect a conveyance of the natural gas and coal bed methane (collectively "gas") underlying her land. Relying upon Warren v. Clinchfield Coal Corp., 166 Va. 524, 186 S.E. 20 (1936), the circuit court held that the term "minerals" included the gas as a matter of law and...
Opinion by Chief Justice DONALD W. LEMONS . In this appeal, we consider whether the trial court erred when it awarded $1200 in sanctions against plaintiff's counsel for counsel's failure to voluntarily extend the time in which a defendant might file its answer. I. Facts and Proceedings Environment Specialist, Inc., t/a Howell's Heating & Air Conditioning Co. ("ESI") filed a complaint in the Circuit Court of Stafford County ("trial court") against Stafford Office One, LLC, Stafford...
Opinion by Justice D. ARTHUR KELSEY . The circuit court in this case granted a special plea in bar dismissing, on statute of limitations grounds, a declaratory judgment action filed by Steven F. Tvardek and Marta P. Tvardek against their homeowners' association. Because the court erred in doing so, we reverse the dismissal order and the circuit court's ancillary award of attorney fees to the defendant. I. In 2013, the Tvardeks filed a declaratory judgment complaint against their...
Opinion by Justice D. ARTHUR KELSEY . Eldesa C. Smith appeals a dismissal by the circuit court of her habeas corpus petition. The court dismissed the petition on the pleadings without receiving evidence ore tenus or by affidavit. We reverse the dismissal order, remand the case for the presentation of evidence, and direct the circuit court to reconsider the petition after making findings on disputed allegations of material facts. I. In 2011, pursuant to a plea agreement, Smith pleaded...
Opinion by Justice JANE MARUM ROUSH . In this appeal, we consider whether the circuit court erred in granting summary judgment to the plaintiff in an action for breach of contract, in sustaining the plaintiff's demurrer to the defendants' counterclaim alleging breach of contract, and in dismissing the defendants' affirmative defense of recoupment. I. Facts and Proceedings The appellants in this case are Virginia Fuel Corporation ("Virginia Fuel") and James C. Justice Companies, Inc. ("...
