Virginia Case Laws
Click on the below to read Virginia Case Laws for the following years:
2012
2007
Virginia Bail Case Law 2012
Collins v. Commonwealth, 2012 WL 112250 (Va. January 13, 2012) affirmed the conviction of a bail bondsman licensed in North Carolina, but not in Virginia, for attempted abduction and a weapons charge arising out of the attempted seizure of a person the bail bondsman believed was the absconding principal on a North Carolina bond. The Court assumed, without deciding, that the common law would have allowed an out or state bondsman to seize an absconding principal in Virginia. The Court held, however, that the General Assembly abrogated that common law right by enacting detailed licensing requirements for bail bondsmen and bail recovery agents. The Court stated, “It is inconceivable that the General Assembly intended to impose such strict requirements upon in-state bail bondsmen and bounty hunters as those enacted as a result of the Crime Commission report, yet intended to leave out-of-staters with the unfettered right to enter Virginia and apprehend fugitive bailees without being subject to regulation.”
Virginia Case Law 2007
Richardson v. Powel, 2007 WL 2985064 (E.D.Va. March 29, 2007) dismissed a pro se plaintiff’s claim against a bail bond company that arranged for her arrest and return to custody after the indemnitor on the bond reported she intended to flee the jurisdiction. When the recovery agents went to her apartment, she did not answer the door and hid in a closet. The court found that under the circumstances the agents had the right to break in and use some force to arrest the plaintiff. Even assuming the agents were acting under color of state law, the plaintiff did not establish a genuine issue of fact to contest the reasonableness of the agents’ acts.