Court of Appeals of Virginia· 12/16/2008

Johnson v. Commonwealth

Citations

669 S.E.2d 368
53 Va. App. 79
2008 Va. App. LEXIS 548

How courts have described this case

Verbatim parenthetical descriptions written by other courts when citing this decision. Ranked by citation-network relevance.

holding that a rational fact-finder could “discern an intent to permanently injure” where defendant punched the victim in the head without provocation, resulting in a concussion and cuts requiring stitches
explaining that “[t]o be guilty [of unlawful or malicious wounding] under Code § 18.2-51, a person must intend to permanently, not merely temporarily, harm another person”
explaining that malicious wounding “under Code § 18.2-51” requires a heightened mens rea beyond recklessness, which makes it a crime of violence
finding an intent to permanently injure where the attack on the victim was unprovoked
“The court remains on a duty to watch a defendant’s behavior for signs of irrational conduct.”
“Although we have not previously held in a reported opinion that a single blow with a bare fist may constitute sufficient evidence to prove an intent to permanently injure, we hold that under the circumstances of this case the jury could make such a determination.”

Source: CourtListener parenthetical corpus (CC0).

Judges: Humphreys, Haley, Beales

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Cited by

10 cases in this archive cite this case.

Cites

75 cases in this archive are cited by this case; the 20 most cited are listed.

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