In conjunction with “Domestic Violence Awareness Month,” the Judges of the Chesterfield Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court recently introduced the Hope Card project. Hope Cards are durable, wallet-sized cards available to petitioners of family abuse protective orders upon entry of a final order of protection They are designed for petitioners’ convenience, listing the provisions included in a final protective order. The size of a credit card, Hope Cards are an easier way for petitioners to keep active protective orders on their person at all times. Hope Cards also make identification of protected parties easier for law enforcement and alert…
Browsing: Courts
A felony charge was dismissed last month against a woman who allegedly aborted her unborn child during the third trimester and buried it in the backyard of a residence in north Chesterfield. The Chesterfield Commonwealth Attorney’s office filed a motion Sept. 13 dismissing the charge against Michelle Frances Roberts, 45. Roberts was arrested March 29, 2017 and charged with “illegally causing an abortion or miscarriage” on Sept. 1, 2015 at 6219 Philbrook Road, which is south of Route 150 and east of Hopkins Road. The case garnered national attention and involved a state statute written in 1950 that was updated…
Land near the top of the photo includes a rock quarry that Shoosmith Bros. Inc. wants to use for its landfill. After being unanimously turned down July 25 by the Chesterfield County Board of Supervisors on its request for a permit to use a rock quarry as a landfill, the owner of the landfill, Shoosmith Bros. Inc., recently filed another lawsuit against the county in Chesterfield Circuit Court. Shoosmith’s attorney, Andrea Wortzel, filed the suit Aug. 21. This and a lawsuit the company filed June 19, 2017, are the next steps in a battle between the county and Shoosmith over…
A former L.C. Bird High School student who was found not guilty of a related murder charge in May was sentenced Sept. 11 to five years in the state Department of Corrections for two marijuana distribution charges. Tomarr A. Brash, 19, was sentenced to five years on each felony, with two years and six months suspended for each. The sentences — for distributing marijuana and doing so within 1,000 feet of a school — will run consecutively. Chesterfield Circuit Court Judge Lynn Brice also sentenced Brash, who turns 20 on Sept. 26, to 20 years probation. A Chesterfield County jury…
ABOVE: James Monk speaks at the May 31 press conference at the Chester Library. Tavorise Marks of the NAACP Legal Redress Committee is pictured behind Monk. A Richmond man who was arrested following an incident near Virginia State University at 12:30 a.m. March 28 had two misdemeanor charges against him withdrawn late last month. The Virginia Commonwealth Attorney’s Office decided to not proceed with the prosecutions for illegal window tint and obstruction of justice against James Edward Monk, 22. On Monday, Chesterfield police spokeswoman Liz Caroon said the four officers who were on scene at the time the Taser was deployed…
It looks as if a Chester man will spend the rest of his life in prison for killing his wife and two others on Thanksgiving night 2017. Chesterfield Circuit Court Judge T.J. Hauler last week sentenced Christopher Gattis, 59, to 100 years in prison with 45 suspended for each of three murder convictions that will run concurrently. Gattis also received three years for one conviction of using a firearm to commit a felony, which when added to the 55 from the murder convictions, results in a 58-year sentence. Two other firearms charges were dismissed as part of a plea agreement.…
Chesterfield Police have arrested and charged a former Chesterfield County Public Schools teacher with two counts of taking indecent liberties with a child in a custodial relationship. Craig D. Nixon, 50, was arrested May 4. Police said Nixon had an inappropriate relationship with a juvenile female student while he was a teacher at Matoaca High School. The investigation indicates the relationship began earlier this year and continued through March. Nixon, of the 13300 block of Pharlap Turn in Chesterfield, is being held without bond at Riverside Regional Jail pending a court appearance in the Chesterfield County Juvenile and Domestic Relations…
A civil lawsuit against the principal of L.C. Bird High School and several Chesterfield County Public Schools officials over a misidentified player on a 2012 championship football team poster has been dismissed. In a May 1 letter to the parties, Richmond General District Court Judge L.B. Cann III said that plaintiff David Shurland missed the filing deadline for his claim of emotional distress in which he asked for $25,000 in damages. In addition, Cann said that Shurland’s defamation claim did not pass legal muster. Shurland filed the suit Feb. 26 against principal Laura Hebert and school officials Joseph Tylus, James…
Three murder and use of a firearm in commission of a felony charges each were certified over to Chesterfield Circuit Court last week against Christopher Gattis. A grand jury will consider indictments on May 21. Gattis, 58, has been held in the county jail without bail since he was arrested Thanksgiving Day at his residence at 14955 Dogwood Circle, where police found the bodies of his wife, his stepdaughter and her boyfriend: Jeanett L. Gattis, 58, Candice L. Kunze, 30, and Andrew E. Buthorn, 36. Juvenile and Domestic Relations and General District court judges found probable cause to certify the…