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Matthew John Stickle v. Virginia

Paid petition · Supreme Court of Virginia, No. 180151 · judgment June 28, 2018


Certiorari denied · October 29, 2018
Pre-decision estimate: 1% cert probability

Before the decision, well below the 4.1% base rate, with no standout signals pointing toward a grant.

Question presented

I. Was the evidence in this case unlawfully obtained as a result of an unlawful search and seizure in violation of the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution, where police used sophisticated equipment to cross the curtilage and threshold of the home without a warrant, and conducted a search for both contraband and the IP address of the modem inside of the home to obtain the physical location of the contraband without a warrant? II. Was the evidence presented of Stickle’s identity and the identity of a minor depicted in a photograph taken from a video, obtained in violation of the Fifth, Sixth, and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution ? III. Did the admissibility of other crimes evidence in the criminal prosecution violate the Due Process Clause of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution? IV. Was the evidence insufficient as a matter of law to sustain the convictions in violation of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution, where the evidence showed people other than Stickle had access to the computer where contraband was found during the relevant time periods? V. Did the Court lack jurisdiction to enter an order of nolle prosequi to charges which became the subject of three new indictments, in violation of the Due Process Clause of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution? VI. Were the three new indictments void for lack of jurisdiction, and therefore barred by res judicata,

Counsel of record

For petitioner
Patricia A. Rene
The Rene Law Firm

For respondent
Toby Jay Heytens
Office of the Attorney General

Case

Conference history
Distributed for 1 conference

Proceedings

  1. Oct 29 2018
    Petition DENIED.
  2. Oct 10 2018
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 10/26/2018.
  3. Oct 02 2018
    Waiver of right of respondent Commonwealth of Virginia to respond filed.
  4. Sep 26 2018
    Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due October 31, 2018)