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Jan 2010 Recent Virginia Supreme Court Opinions

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Following are some particularly important recent Virginia Supreme Court opinions:

Logan v. Virginia, ___ Va. ___ (Jan. 15, 2010): The “exclusionary rule is not applicable in probation revocation proceedings absent a showing of bad faith on the part of the police.”

Jones v. Virginia, ___ Va. ___ (Jan. 15, 2010): In a DWI case, refusal to submit to field sobriety tests is inadmissible as to the defendant’s consciousness of guilt, but is admissible for a probable cause determination whether to arrest if accompanied by other indicia of DWI. Compare this to Maryland, where field sobriety tests are a search, and, therefore, refusal to perform such tests is not applicable to find probable cause to arrest nor to find guilt or innocence.

Anderson v. Virginia, ___ Va. ___ (Jan. 15, 2010): The Court affirmed a conviction, applying the public safety exception where the police did not Mirandize the defendant before he was asked whether a gun was loaded.