Gosling v. Commonwealth

Opinion

BENTON, J.

Gary Alvin Gosling, a prisoner, was convicted and sentenced to five years in the penitentiary for willfully damaging a building in a state correctional facility for the purpose of rendering the facility less secure as a place of confinement. Code § 53.1-203(2). On this appeal Gosling asserts that the trial judge erred in not striking for cause a member of the venire who acknowledged that he would accept the testimony of a correctional officer over the testimony of an inmate. For the reasons set forth below, we reverse the conviction and remand the case for a new trial.

On…