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Robert John Dodd v. Harold W. Clarke, Director, Virginia Department of Corrections

Paid petition · Supreme Court of Virginia, No. 200091 · judgment February 4, 2021

Certiorari denied · June 28, 2021
Pre-decision estimate: 4% cert probability

Before the decision, roughly the 4.1% base rate. The model weighted this up for counsel with five or more prior petitions here, a circuit split argued in the petition, and a petition filed soon after the judgment below, and down for a state or local-government respondent.

Question presented

Dodd was indicted on nine counts for the sexual abuse of a child more than fifteen years ago. Each count of the indictment was an identical carbon copy, including that each alleged that the crime happened over an identical time span. The evidence did not prove nine specific instances of abuse but gave general allegations. Dodd had a strong defense that the crime could not have happened during the first four years of the allegations. The question presented is whether trial counsel is ineffective where he failed to object on Double Jeopardy grounds to these nine identical carbon copy indictments?

Counsel of record

For petitioner
Jonathan P. Sheldon
Sheldon & Flood, PLC

For respondent
—

Case

Conference history
Distributed for 1 conference

Proceedings

  1. Jun 28 2021
    Petition DENIED.
  2. Jun 08 2021
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 6/24/2021.
  3. Apr 16 2021
    Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due May 28, 2021)