Legal Opinion
Stillwell v. Commonwealth
Supreme Court of Virginia
Decided August 31, 1978No. Record 771528; Record 771527; Record 771526PublishedCited by 35 opinions
1Opinion of the CourtHarrison, J.
Jerry Dean Stillwell, Jerry Dean Lowery and Jackie Wade Phillips contend that Virginia Code Sections 18.2-248 and 18.2-263 unconstitutionally shift the burden of proof of the offenses with which they have been charged away from the Commonwealth and onto the defendants. They also assert that the statutes are unconstitutionally vague in that they fail to state any standard of proof.
Stillwell, Lowery and Phillips were tried in the lower court, without a jury, but not as codefendants. Stillwell was convicted of three separate offenses of selling marijuana in January, 1976, to an undercover police…
2Cases cited15 opinions
- Mullaney v. WilburSupreme Court of the United States · 1975
- Patterson v. New YorkSupreme Court of the United States · 1977
- Hicks v. MirandaSupreme Court of the United States · 1975
- Mandel v. BradleySupreme Court of the United States · 1977
- Hodge v. CommonwealthSupreme Court of Virginia · 1976
10 more not listed; retrieve them via the Exa API.
3Cited by35 opinions
- Harward v. CommonwealthCourt of Appeals of Virginia · 1988
- Heacock v. CommonwealthSupreme Court of Virginia · 1984
- Barlow v. CommonwealthCourt of Appeals of Virginia · 1998
- King v. CommonwealthCourt of Appeals of Virginia · 1986
- Williams v. CommonwealthCourt of Appeals of Virginia · 2010
30 more not listed; retrieve them via the Exa API.