Lacrosse ugliness at U.Va.

I was just kidding because UVa's law school is so well-known as the alma mater for a bunch of Kennedys.

 

Joke
















my head

 

Highly unlikely.

Another thing about this case struck me: The cops made an arrest within hours of a murder that had no weapon. That's got to be rare. I'm not pronouncing judgment on the suspect; I'm just saying you don't hear of that combo very often.

 

Not to make this a major THING, But you realize how condescending this sounds, right?

Mine COULD be right. You guess. Hey, every state is different.

But just in case it's not, you're here to give us the real definition. Drop a little knowledge.

Except all you had to do was have the same suspicion I did and Google it to find out if VA was a state where deliberate homicide, in commission with another high class felony, can result in a first degree murder charge. Which is is.

I guess I COULD be right, because, you know, I am. Based on the fact that I looked it up. And I grew up with a district attorney for a dad.

Unlike yourself, who went on a gut feeling. Without making this personal, and mentioning that elephant in the room we promised not to talk about, see why your post bugged me?

 

Whatever. You made no indication that you looked it up. I thought we were just throwing ideas around on what it could mean. But you had to go and make it personal. Of course.

 

Not to be picky here, but I thought if Virginia was going to seek the death penalty, the charge was known as capital murder rather than first-degree murder. Anybody know?

 

What does Virgina law say, Double Down?

 

First Degree in VA
http://law.justia.com/virginia/codes/toc1802000/18.2-32.html

Capital in VA
http://law.justia.com/virginia/codes/toc1802000/18.2-31.html

And I don't care who was correct.

 

It can mean what Double Down said but it can also mean just straight premeditated, deliberate murder without the mitigating factors that would make it capital murder. The "or" is important. What he thought it meant by overlooking the "or" was that this was a strictly a "felony murder" statute, but it combines first-degree felony murder and run-of-the-mill first-degree murder into one long sentence.

Murder, other than capital murder, by poison, lying in wait, imprisonment, starving, or by any willful, deliberate, and premeditated killing, or in the commission of, or attempt to commit, arson, rape, forcible sodomy, inanimate or animate object sexual penetration, robbery, burglary or abduction, except as provided in � 18.2-31, is murder of the first degree, punishable as a Class 2 felony.

 

I believe Sunday was Senior Day for the lacrosse teams as well. Memorable in a horrible way.

 

Kid to be arraigned at 10 a.m. More details should be available then.