Johnson v. Commonwealth

478 S.E.2d 539 (1996)

252 Va. 425

Steven Jerome JOHNSON

v.

COMMONWEALTH of Virginia.

Record No. 952053.

Supreme Court of Virginia.

November 1, 1996.

Steven D. Benjamin (Betty Layne DesPortes; Steven D. Benjamin & Associates, on briefs), Richmond, for appellant.

Eugene Murphy, Assistant Attorney General (James S. Gilmore, III, Attorney General, on brief), for appellee.

Present: CARRICO, C.J., and COMPTON, STEPHENSON, LACY, HASSELL and KEENAN, JJ. and POFF, Senior Justice.

RICHARD H. POFF, Senior Justice.

The principal issue framed on this appeal is whether the accused was denied his statutory right to a…