Rickman v. Commonwealth

OPINION BY JUSTICE D. ARTHUR KELSEY

**534 Joseph Boyd Rickman appeals a civil-commitment order entered pursuant to the Sexually Violent Predators Act, Code §§ 37.2-900 to -921 ("SVPA"). He claims that the circuit court's violation of a scheduling deadline for the initial probable-cause hearing required the circuit court to dismiss with prejudice the SVPA petition. We hold that this statutory procedural requirement, even if violated, did not require the relief that Rickman seeks.

I

In 2003, Rickman was convicted of five counts of aggravated sexual battery, two charges of forcible sodomy, one…