Virginia Illegal Gambling Fairfax Lawyer Violation 18.2-328

Nelson v. Commonwealth

Facts:

Defendant appealed his conviction from the Circuit Court of Fairfax (Virginia), for operating an illegal gambling enterprise, activity, or operation in violation of Va. Code Ann. § 18.2-328, arguing, inter alia, that the evidence was insufficient to prove he was an “operator” as that term was defined in Va. Code Ann. § 18.2-325.

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Virginia Illegal Gambling Fairfax Lawyer Violation 18.2-328

Holdings:

The Virginia Court made the following holding:

• The primary objective of statutory construction is to ascertain and give effect to legislative intent. The plain, obvious, and rational meaning of a statute is always to be preferred to any curious, narrow, or strained construction. Where the statute in question is penal in nature, it must be strictly construed against the state and limited in application to cases falling clearly within the language of the statute.
• Va. Code Ann. § 18.2-325 defines the word “operator,” a term crucial to the offense defined in Va. Code Ann. § 18.2-328, as including any person, firm or association of persons, who conducts, finances, manages, supervises, directs or owns all or part of an illegal gambling enterprise, activity or operation.
• Decisions rendered in other jurisdictions upon statutes more or less similar, but not identical in terms with Virginia’s own, cannot control the plain and unambiguous terms of Virginia statutory law.

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Fairfax Court House Detail:

Fairfax Circuit Court

4110 Chain Bridge Road,
Fairfax, VA 22030.

Fairfax County General District Court

4110 Chain Bridge Road,
Fairfax, VA 22030.

Fairfax County Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court

4110 Chain Bridge Road,
Fairfax, VA 22030-4020.

Article written by A Sris

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Disclaimer:

These summaries are provided by the SRIS Law Group. They represent the firm’s unofficial views of the Justices’ opinions. The original opinions should be consulted for their authoritative content.