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State court of last resort · ST-VA-SC
Dennis v. Commonwealth
No. 171599Supreme Court of Virginia
171599 Dennis v. Commonwealth 02/21/2019 The Court of Appeals abused its discretion by dismissing a petition for a writ of actual innocence based on nonbiological evidence without referring the matter to a cir…
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171599 Dennis v. Commonwealth 02/21/2019 The Court of Appeals abused its discretion by dismissing a petition for a writ of actual…
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- Supreme Court of Virginia
- First added here
- October 4, 2026
- Last entry
- February 21, 2019
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171599 Dennis v. Commonwealth 02/21/2019 The Court of Appeals abused its discretion by dismissing a petition for a writ of actual innocence based on nonbiological evidence without referring the matter to a circuit court for an evidentiary hearing. In this case, the petitioner offered several previously unknown and untested witness affidavits in support of his petition for a writ of actual innocence based on nonbiological evidence, which the Commonwealth countered with previously unknown and untested witness statements of its own. The probative value of each witness's testimony hinged on his or her credibility. Despite the statutory mechanism for referring issues in actual innocence cases to…
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· Supreme Court of Virginia
Dismissed
The court's record, as written
171599 Dennis v. Commonwealth 02/21/2019 The Court of Appeals abused its discretion by dismissing a petition for a writ of actual innocence based on nonbiological evidence without referring the matter to a circuit court for an evidentiary hearing. In this case, the petitioner offered several previously unknown and untested witness affidavits in support of his petition for a writ of actual innocence based on nonbiological evidence, which the Commonwealth countered with previously unknown and untested witness statements of its own. The probative value of each witness's testimony hinged on his or her credibility. Despite the statutory mechanism for referring issues in actual innocence cases to…
Outcome words in this text: dismissing.
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