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ACROSS SESSIONS
- Subject Index: Since 1995
- Bills & Resolutions: Since 1994
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Developed and maintained by the Division of Legislative Automated Systems.
2010 SESSION
Reynolds (Chairman), Norment, Howell, McDougle, Hurt, Deeds, McEachin
Clerk: Angi Murphy
Date of Meeting: January 21, 2010
Time and Place:
Patron: Reynolds
Appeal of bail decision. Specifies the court to which a bail decision, bond amount, or term of recognizance should be appealed. The proper court is determined based on where the initial determination was made and the court in which the charge is pending. The bill also provides that the attorney for the Commonwealth may appeal any bail, bond or recognizance decision, consequently a decision made by a judicial officer (including a magistrate or clerk) will be appealable. Current law limits such appeals from a court decision only, and only upon objection in court by the attorney for the Commonwealth.
Patron: McDougle
Certificates of analysis and affidavits. Clarifies that the provisions requiring notification of defendants by the Commonwealth must be followed only if the certificate or affidavit is to be used in lieu of testimony. The bill also requires the defendant to provide the Commonwealth with a certificate of analysis no later than 14 days before trial if the accused intends to introduce an independent blood analysis, and makes some other changes to legislation enacted during the August 2009 Special Session in response to the United States Supreme Court decision in Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts, 557 U.S. ___ (June 25, 2009).
Patron: Stuart
Certificates of analysis and affidavits. Amends legislation enacted during the August 2009 Special Session in response to the United States Supreme Court decision in Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts, 557 U.S. ___ (June 25, 2009) to state that provisions requiring a 28-day notification to the defendant must be followed only if the certificate or affidavit is to be used in lieu of testimony. The bill also states that the copies that must be filed with the clerk may be filed within two days after being provided to the defendant rather than on the same day. Testimony by two-way video conferencing is allowed with the consent of the defendant. The time limit for continuances is extended from not more than 180 days for a person who is not incarcerated and 90 days for a person who is incarcerated to nine months and five months respectively.
Patron: Edwards
Courts not of record; circuit court hearing; termination of juvenile court jurisdiction; objections and appeals. Provides in certain violent felony cases for a juvenile's right to appeal to the circuit court, the attorney for the Commonwealth's decision to certify that the juvenile's case be transferred to the circuit court for trial as an adult. If the juvenile appeals the decision to transfer, the circuit court will conduct a hearing on the merits, using factors currently used by the Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court for transfer decisions.
Patron: Watkins
Indigent defendants; right to ex parte hearing for appointment of experts in capital cases. Provides that an indigent defendant who has been charged with a capital offense may move in circuit court for the appointment of experts to assist in the preparation of his defense. The presiding judge shall designate another judge in the judicial circuit who may hold an ex parte hearing on such a motion and may order the appointment of an expert. Prior to an ex parte proceeding, communication, or request, a particularized need for confidentiality must be demonstrated in an adversarial proceeding. A motion for an ex parte hearing shall be in writing and filed under seal and any ex parte hearing conducted shall be on the record and kept under seal as part of the record of the case. The court may unseal the record after the trial is concluded for good cause shown.
Patron: Lucas
Detention of transferred or certified juveniles. Provides that juveniles whose criminal cases have been transferred to circuit court or certified be placed in juvenile detention centers rather than in adult correctional facilities. If the juvenile demonstrates that he is a threat to the security or safety of the other juveniles detained or the staff of the home or facility, he may be moved to an adult facility if authorized by a judge.
Patron: Obenshain
Admissibility in evidence of non-existence of an official record. Provides that an affidavit signed by a government official deemed to have custody of an official record, or signed by his designee, stating that after a diligent search, no record or entry of such record is found to exist among the records in his custody, is admissible as evidence that his office has no such record or entry, provided that the procedures for admission of such an affidavit as set forth in the statute governing admission of affidavits indicating non-registration of a sex offender have been followed, mutatis mutandis.
Patron: Obenshain
Certificates of analysis in criminal cases. Amends legislation enacted during the August 2009 Special Session in response to the United States Supreme Court decision in Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts, 557 U.S. ___ (June 25, 2009) to state that if the Commonwealth intends to have testimony by two-way video conferencing that information must be provided to the defendant in the notice that the Commonwealth is otherwise required to provide and the defendant must specifically object or he waives his right to object.
Patron: McDougle
Offenses for which a juvenile is subject to transfer and trial as an adult. Provides that a juvenile age 14 or older shall, without more, be subject to a preliminary hearing in juvenile court, and transfer to a circuit court for trial as an adult if he is charged with any offense defined an act of violence in § 19.2-297.1, and has been previously adjudicated delinquent for such an offense.
The bill also provides that a juvenile court shall conduct a preliminary hearing upon notice by the attorney for the Commonwealth to the court and parties when a juvenile 14 years of age or older is charged with gang participation in violation of § 18.2-46.2.
The bill also provides that a juvenile court shall conduct a preliminary hearing upon notice by the attorney for the Commonwealth to the court and parties whenever a juvenile 14 years of age or older is charged with manufacturing, selling, giving, distributing, or possessing with intent to manufacture, sell, give or distribute a controlled substance or an imitation controlled substance in violation of § 18.2-248, manufacturing, selling, giving, distributing, or possessing with intent to manufacture, sell, give, or distribute methamphetamine in violation of § 18.2-248.03, felonious selling, giving, distributing or possessing with intent to distribute marijuana in violation of § 18.2-248.1, possessing with intent to manufacture, sell, give, or distribute anabolic steroids in violation of § 18.2-248.5, if the juvenile has been previously adjudicated delinquent of any such offense.
Patron: Quayle
Penalty for certain crimes against adults 60 years of age or older. Increases criminal penalties when the victim of the offense is 60 years of age or older and the offender knows or reasonably should know the victim of the offense is 60 years of age or older, as follows: Any person who commits a grand larceny shall be punished by a term of imprisonment of not less than two nor more than 20 years. Any person who obtains money by false pretenses is guilty of a Class 3 felony. Any person who signs another's name to a writing is guilty of a Class 4 felony. Any person who commits an identity theft resulting in financial loss of greater than $200 is guilty of a Class 5 felony. Any person who commits a second or subsequent offense pursuant to § 18.2-213.2 shall be sentenced to a term of imprisonment of two years, in addition to the punishment provided for such offense.
Patron: Hurt
Witnesses in criminal trial. Allows the attorney for the Commonwealth to designate, in felony cases, one investigative law-enforcement official who may remain in the courtroom, unless the court determines that his presence would impair the conduct of a fair trial.
Patron: Hurt
Juvenile court; interlocutory appeals by Commonwealth. Allows the Commonwealth to appeal a juvenile court suppression ruling to circuit court and the Court of Appeals. Upon the motion of the Commonwealth the juvenile court must stay the proceedings and issue a written statement of its findings of law and relevant facts in support of its suppression ruling and submit the case to the circuit court for a de novo hearing. The hearing has priority on the circuit court's docket and if it upholds the suppression ruling, the Commonwealth may appeal to the Court of Appeals. The bill applies in preliminary hearings, transfer hearings and trials in juvenile court where the offense would be a felony if committed by an adult and to rulings prohibiting the use of certain evidence on the grounds that the evidence was obtained in violation of the provisions of the Fourth, Fifth or Sixth Amendments to the Constitution of the United States or Article I, Section 8, 10 or 11 of the Constitution of Virginia prohibiting illegal searches and seizures and protecting rights against self-incrimination.
The bill also allows the time limitations on secure detention to be extended for the Commonwealth's appeal and provides that written court decisions of the Court of Appeals shall not contain the first or last name of the juvenile.
Patron: Hurt
Bail terms set by court on a capias to be honored by magistrate. Provides that a magistrate who is to set the terms of bail of a person arrested and brought before him on a capias shall do so in accordance with the order of the court that issued the capias, if the court so orders.
Patron: Hurt
Analogous DUI laws of any other state or of the United States. Allows analogous state laws to be used as prior DUI convictions and provides that a law is analogous if it criminalizes the operation of a motor vehicle while impaired by or under the influence of intoxicants and with regard to alcohol uses 0.08 as its presumptive or per se level of intoxication.
Patron: Herring
Crimes against incapacitated or elder adults; penalty. Provides that any person who commits an offense set forth in Chapter 4 (crimes against the person), Chapter 5 (crimes against property), or Chapter 6 (crimes involving fraud) of Title 18.2, knowing or having reason to know that the victim of the offense is an incapacitated or elder adult is guilty of a separate and distinct Class 1 misdemeanor if the underlying offense is a misdemeanor and a separate and distinct Class 6 felony if the underlying offense is a felony. The bill adds that if the offender is a person responsible for the care of the victim, punishment for a misdemeanor shall include a mandatory minimum term of confinement of 30 days, and punishment for a felony shall include a mandatory minimum term of confinement of six months.
Patron: Marsden
Detention. Allows a juvenile to be moved to a less restrictive placement when, in the judgment of the custodian, the move is warranted or earned by the juvenile unless the court has specifically ordered that no such transfer shall be allowed of that juvenile.
Patron: Marsden
Appointment of counsel for juveniles in correctional facilities. Provides that the judge of a juvenile and domestic relations district court in a jurisdiction where a state juvenile correctional facility is located shall appoint one or more attorneys to assist juveniles confined to such facilities with legal matters relating to their confinement. The attorney shall be paid from the criminal fund.
Patron: Marsden
Crimes by juveniles; notice given to schools; exclude Class 3 and 4 misdemeanors. Provides that if a petition is filed by an intake officer alleging a juvenile has committed an act that would be a crime if committed by an adult, a report of such petition need not be filed with the superintendent of the school division where the juvenile attends school if the crime would be a Class 3 or Class 4 misdemeanor if committed by an adult.
Patron: Marsden
Retention of jurisdiction by juvenile and domestic relations district courts. Provides that a juvenile and domestic relations district court retains jurisdiction over a juvenile even if the juvenile is in the custody of the Department of Juvenile Justice. Currently, the court does not retain jurisdiction over a juvenile in the custody of the Department.
Patron: Marsden
Felony assault and battery against a mass transit operator. Provides that it is a Class 6 felony to commit an assault or battery upon a mass transit operator defined as a person who operates any train, bus, trolley or van that is designed to carry six or more passengers.
Patron: Marsden
Detention of juveniles in secure facility; possession of certain firearms by juveniles. Clarifies that a juvenile may be detained in a secure facility if the juvenile is alleged to have violated § 18.2-308.7 (possession or transportation of a handgun or assault weapon by a person under the age of 18).
Patron: Locke
Crimes; assault and battery of ABC agent. Provides for an offender who assaults a special agent of the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control because of his employment to be prosecuted for a Class 6 felony.