Supreme Court of Virginia Expands Judicial Authority
Supreme Court of VA Expands Judicial Authority
On January 13, 2011, the Supreme Court of Virginia reversed a decision by the Court of Appeals and, seemingly a prior ruling of its own Court, which previously held that circuit court judges did not have the inherent authority to take cases under advisement when they found the evidence sufficient for a finding of guilt. This case was argued by Paul E. Pepper of the Alexandria Public Defender’s Office and the case has garnered much attention by the legal community because the ruling opens the door to more deferred dispositions and represents a dramatic shift in the judicial philosophy of the Supreme Court.
The case arose out of the Circuit Court for the City of Alexandria and the defendant was tried on an indictment for assault and battery on a police officer. At the conclusion of the evidence, the attorney for the defendant requested that the trial judge take the case under advisement subject to certain terms and conditions and consider dismissing the charge if the defendant complied with all of the terms and condition. The trial court held that it did not have the authority to that under the long standing precedent set by the Supreme Court of Virginia which essentially held that the trial judges did not have the authority to take cases under advisement in lieu of conviction. In a stunning reversal, the Supreme Court reversed itself and found that trial judges do have the authority to take cases under advisement. The Court was very careful to craft its opinion in such terms that it did not expressly overturn itself and differentiated this case from the previous case. However, it is clear to all criminal practitioners and trial judges that this ruling opens the door to deferred dispositions in a variety of cases, not just those specifically designated by statute.
This case may signal a sea change in the Supreme Court, a Court generally viewed as very conservative. This was not a conservative ruling and it will be interesting to see if the Court overturns itself on other controversial ruling in the near future.
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