20 Va. App. 578 - Cheeks v. Commonwealth’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

12 state decisions

Most-quoted passages

The sentences later courts lift from this opinion, ranked by how many decisions quote each — the parts of the opinion doing the work. These counts are smaller than the citation total above because most of the 12 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “A. If a child fifteen years of age or older is charged with an offense which, if committed by an adult, could be punishable by confinement in a state correctional facility, the court shall on motion of the attorney for the Commonwealth and prior to a hearing on the merits, hold a transfer hearing and may retain jurisdiction or transfer such child for proper criminal proceedings to the appropriate circuit court having criminal jurisdiction of such offenses if committed by an adult. Any transfer to the appropriate circuit court shall be subject to the following conditions: 1. The child was fifteen or more years of age at the time of the alleged commission of the offense. 2. Notice as prescribed in §§ 16.1-263 and 16.1-264 shall be given to the child and his parent, guardian, legal custodian or other person standing in loco parentis or attorney. An important consideration in interpreting the meaning of a statute is whether it is mandatory and jurisdictional or directory and procedural. When asked to decide whether various provisions relating to juvenile transfer proceedings are jurisdictional in nature, the Supreme Court has analyzed the provisions “to determine whether they impart a substantive right to the juvenile or merely impose a procedural requirement.” A mandatory provision in a statute is one that connotes a command and the omission of “ “which renders the proceeding to which it relates illegal and void, while a directory provision is one the observance of which is not ”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. Karim v. Commonwealth · 22 Va. App. 767 - Karim v. Commonwealth

2. “[Compliance with the Code sections at issue here, relating to procedures for instituting proceedings against juveniles and for transferring jurisdiction to a circuit court, are mandatory and jurisdictional. The failure to strictly follow the notice procedures contained in the Code denied appellant a substantive right and the constitutional guarantee of due process.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 26 Va. App. 776 - Williams v. Commonwealth