LeMelle v. Commonwealth

In this criminal appeal, we consider whether the trial judge should have declared a mistrial when he discovered a substantive defect in the penalty clause of the verdict after the jury had been discharged.

A grand jury indicted Michael John LeMelle, an inmate in a correctional facility, for injuring an employee of that facility in violation of Code § 18.2-55. After deliberating for 27 minutes, the petit jury returned a written verdict finding defendant “guilty as charged” and fixing his punishment at “Term of imprisonment of 1-10 years”. When the clerk announced the verdict, he misread the…