MEMORANDUM OPINION * PER CURIAM. Michael Andrew Stegall (husband) appeals the trial court's valuation of a family business in an equitable distribution hearing. Husband argues that the trial court "erred in its valuation of Stegall, Inc., by accepting Harry Schwarz's arbitrary valuation of fully-appreciated fixed assets of the company." Upon reviewing the record and briefs of the parties, we conclude that this appeal is without merit. Accordingly, we summarily affirm the decision of the...
UPON A REHEARING EN BANC. PETTY, Judge. Kepa, Inc., doing business as She-Sha Caf and Hookah Lounge ("She-Sha"), appeals from an order of the trial court upholding the decision of the Virginia Department of Health ("Department") that She-Sha is not exempt from the regulations 1 of the Virginia Indoor Clean Air Act ("VICAA"). A divided panel of this Court held that She-Sha was not exempt from the regulations of the VICAA and accordingly affirmed the trial court's decision. Kepa, Inc. v. Va....
ANNUNZIATA, Judge. Melvin L. Layne (claimant) appeals a decision of the Virginia Workers' Compensation Commission affirming the deputy commissioner's denial of claimant's request for benefits on a finding that claimant willfully and knowingly violated a known safety rule. Claimant cites three errors in his challenge to the commission's denial of his objection, motion to vacate, and motion to reconsider the March 20, 2013 review opinion: a. The Full Commission, as composed for review of this...
UNPUBLISHED MEMORANDUM * OPINION WILLIAM G. PETTY, Judge. Michael Hogan appeals a decision of the Virginia Workers' Compensation Commission denying his claim for benefits because it was barred by the statute of limitations. On appeal, Hogan contends that the commission erred in holding that his compensation claim was not timely filed and in denying his attempt to amend the accident date on his initial claim for benefits. For the reasons expressed below, we affirm the commission's decision....
UNPUBLISHED MEMORANDUM OPINION * ROBERT P. FRANK, Judge. Appellant, Samir Allen Farhoumand, was convicted in a bench trial of three counts of taking indecent liberties, to wit, sexually exposing himself to a child in violation of Code 18.2-370. On appeal, he contends the evidence at trial was untied to any particular indictments. As a result, he reasons, the evidence was insufficient to sustain his convictions, his double jeopardy rights were violated, and he was unable to prepare an...
OPINION BUMGARDNER, III, Judge. Boyd B. Hedleston appeals the denial of his claim for disability retirement benefits by the Virginia Retirement System. He contends the circuit court erred in ruling that the denial by VRS was supported by substantial evidence. We affirm the decision. We view the evidence in the light most favorable to VRS, the prevailing party below. See R.G. Moore Bldg. Corp. v. Mullins, 10 Va.App. 211, 212, 390 S.E.2d 788 , 788 (1990). Appellant joined VRS in 2007 when...
UNPUBLISHED MEMORANDUM OPINION * JAMES W. HALEY, Jr., Judge. Atia Elyass (father) appeals an order terminating his parental rights to his child, A.E. Father argues that the trial court erred in terminating his parental rights because the Department of Family Services (the Department) failed to prove by clear and convincing evidence, that (1) father was, without good cause, unwilling or unable within a reasonable period of time, to remedy substantially the conditions which led to or required...
MEMORANDUM OPINION * PER CURIAM. On May 20, 2013, the trial court entered orders terminating the residual parental rights of Jonathan Gabriel Daniels (appellant) to his children, J.D., C.D., K.D., and A.K., pursuant to Code 16.1-283(C)(2). On appeal, appellant argues the trial court erred: 1) in not holding the termination hearing within ninety days of his notice of appeal as required by Code 16.1-296(D), 2) in hearing the cases "after non-compliance with the applicable procedural and/or...
UNPUBLISHED MEMORANDUM OPINION * PER CURIAM. Sitta Luseni (mother) appeals from March 8, 2013 circuit court orders terminating her residual parental rights to her two children pursuant to Code 16.1-283(C)(2). On appeal, mother argues the trial court erred by terminating her parental rights because "(1) the Department failed to present sufficient evidence to demonstrate that it pursued relative placement as a viable option; and (2) at no point during any of its case findings did the lower...
UNPUBLISHED MEMORANDUM OPINION * ROSSIE D. ALSTON, Jr., Judge. Smurfit-Stone Container Enterprises (employer) appeals from an order of the Workers' Compensation Commission (the commission) awarding Darrell Jones (claimant) temporary partial disability benefits. On appeal, employer contends: 1) the commission erred by not addressing employer's allegation that the deputy commissioner erred in holding that claimant suffered from a condition causally related to his industrial accident; 2) the...
HUFF, Judge. Justin Sarafin ("appellant") appeals his conviction of operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol, in violation of Code 18.2-266. On appeal, appellant contends that the trial court erred 1) by refusing to give his proffered jury instructions I, J, K, and L, which he contends precisely and correctly defined what constituted "operation" and 2) by convicting him of operating under the influence of alcohol based on a finding that he "took an action in sequence"...
UNPUBLISHED MEMORANDUM OPINION * RANDOLPH A. BEALES, Judge. Michael Paul Cairo (appellant) was convicted in a bench trial of grand larceny of a stove, in violation of Code 18.2-95. 1 Appellant does not contest on appeal that he committed larceny. Instead, in his assignment of error before this Court, appellant only challenges the sufficiency of the evidence proving that the value of the stove satisfied the $200 threshold necessary for a grand larceny conviction. For the following reasons,...
UNPUBLISHED MEMORANDUM OPINION * ROBERT J. HUMPHREYS, Judge. Daquan Lajames Saunders ("Saunders") appeals his conviction by a jury in the trial court of first-degree murder, in violation of Code 18.2-32. Saunders' single assignment of error is that the trial court erred in failing to strike the first-degree murder charge because the evidence was insufficient to prove premeditation to kill. He argues that premeditation requires some time for reflection, citing McDaniel v. Commonwealth ,...
UNPUBLISHED MEMORANDUM OPINION * PER CURIAM. Crystal Della Penna, mother, appeals a decision of the trial court terminating her parental rights to her two minor sons. She contends on appeal that the trial court erred in terminating her parental rights despite the fact that she substantially remedied the causes of the removal under Code 16.1-283(C)(2). Upon reviewing the record and briefs of the parties, we conclude this appeal is without merit. Accordingly, we affirm the decision of the...
McCULLOUGH, Judge. The Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) provides, with regard to a termination of parental rights case involving an Indian child not domiciled on a reservation under 25 U.S.C. 1911(a), that state courts "shall transfer" the case to a tribal court unless the court finds "good cause to the contrary." 25 U.S.C. 1911(b). The trial court held that the guardian ad litem and the foster parents of B.N., an Indian child, had not established good cause to retain jurisdiction. The...
MEMORANDUM OPINION * WALTER S. FELTON, JR., Judge. Tahira Naseer ("wife") appeals the final order of the Circuit Court of Fairfax County ("trial court") ordering her to reimburse Hamid Moghal ("husband") $27,000 of pendente lite support he paid to her during the pendency of their annulment proceedings. 1 She asserts the trial court lacked jurisdiction to order her to repay husband and that it abused its discretion by ordering her to reimburse him. I. BACKGROUND On August 1, 2000, wife...
McCULLOUGH, Judge. Joseph A. Wiencko, Jr., father, assigns four errors in connection with his divorce and custody proceedings. He argues (1) the trial court violated his rights under the Equal Protection Clause of the United States Constitution when it awarded custody to mother "based primarily upon Father's decision to stay home and raise the children rather than focus on employment," (2) the court abused its discretion "in awarding Father the vast majority of the marital debt, while awarding...
FRANK, Judge. Tyco Electronics and Insurance Company of the State of Pennsylvania, its insurer, (collectively referred to as employer) appeal the decision of the Workers' Compensation Commission (commission) which awarded Tony Alvin VanPelt (claimant) wage compensation and medical benefits for a neck and upper back work-related injury. Employer assigns error to the commission's failure to make rulings on its defenses of abandonment and res judicata, by failing to apply the statute of...
UNPUBLISHED MEMORANDUM OPINION * PER CURIAM. Didlake, Inc. and North River Insurance Company appeal a decision of the Workers' Compensation Commission, which affirmed the award of disability benefits to Goodwin. Appellants argue that the commission erred by holding that (1) "Goodwin sustained an injury by accident arising out of and in the course of his employment on January 11, 2011"; (2) "Goodwin proved a causal relation between his alleged disability and his employment"; and (3) "Goodwin...
ELDER, Judge. Earl F. Layman (husband) appeals the equitable distribution ruling made by the trial court. Husband contends the trial court erred in classifying as marital property the one-half interest in real estate he inherited during his marriage to Dorothy J. Layman (wife). 1 We hold, contrary to the trial court's ruling, that using separate property to secure a loan which is to be used for marital purposes and is subsequently repaid in full using marital funds does not transmute the...
