Love estate drops lawsuit against Huguely
The estate of Yeardley Love nonsuited a nearly $30 million wrongful death lawsuit against Love’s former boyfriend George Huguely June 11. Huguely was convicted of second-degree murder in the 2010 death of Love and sentenced to 23 years in prison.
Her mother, Sharon Love, filed the civil suit in 2012, and it’s been continued four times. Most recently the suit was put on pause while a federal case was heard in Maryland in which Chartis Property Casualty balked at paying off a $6 million policy held by Huguely’s mother and stepfather. A Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals panel ruled in Chartis’ favor, and Love has asked the entire appeals court to revisit the ruling.
Through his attorney Matt Green, Huguely asked Judge Rick Moore to hold off on signing the motion to nonsuit until June 20, when the Fourth Circuit will decide whether it will reconsider the ruling.
The Supreme Court of Virginia has ruled a plaintiff can nonsuit at any point and doesn’t have to give a reason. Moore said normally he immediately signs the motion, but “I really do think it’s important in a case like this to hear you out.”
The three-week jury trial was scheduled to begin July 30. Love has six months to file the suit again, and Green believes she will.
And while he knows public sympathy isn’t with his client, Green said, “It’s just taxing on George to get emotionally ready every 18 months for trial.”
“I think that without Otto, this would not have happened… I really think Otto is someone who did not die in vain.”—President Donald Trump on UVA student Otto Warmbier, who was brutalized in North Korea, at a press conference during his summit with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un.
Flood couple ID’d
The people swept away in their Toyota Prius by recent Ivy Creek flash flooding on Old Ballard Road have been identified as Sugar Hollow residents Robert and Carroll Gilges, who were 82 and 79 years old, respectively. They were found dead on May 31 and June 5.
Another creek death
A wheelchair belonging to Cedars Healthcare Center resident Thomas Charles Franklin, aka Colonel, was found June 10 beside a nearby creek. Franklin, 65, an Army veteran, was found around 200 yards downstream and pronounced dead at UVA Medical Center, according to police.
Train crash indictment
Dana William Naylor Jr., the driver of the garbage truck that was hit by an Amtrak train carrying GOP congressmen in Crozet in January, has been indicted on one count of involuntary manslaughter and one count of DUI maiming. Truck passenger Christopher Foley died in the crash.
Martese settlement?
Martese Johnson, the former UVA student whose bloody face went viral after Virginia ABC agents approached him in March 2015 on suspicion of using a fake ID and slammed him to the ground, has a July 10 settlement hearing scheduled for his $3 million lawsuit against the agents and ABC.
Crime spree
Last summer Matt Carver, now 27, racked up 21 felony counts that included terrorizing a Crozet woman when he broke into her house. He also kicked out the window of a cop car, leaping out at 45mph while handcuffed and going on the lam for 15 hours. In court June 6, Carver apologized for his meth-fueled rampage, and was sentenced to 28 years in prison.
Topless suit settled
Morgan Hopkins was one of the few people arrested August 12—for topless busking. Her indecent exposure charge was dismissed, and her lawsuit against the city and police Sergeant Russell Handy was settled June 5.
Crime in the community
The Virginia State Police released its annual Crime in Virginia report for 2017. Violent crimes like murder and rape decreased throughout the state by 3.9 percent, and property crimes dropped almost 3 percent. However, drug arrests were up nearly 16 percent, and 71 percent of all drug arrests were for marijuana. Charlottesville and Albemarle bucked that trend, with drug arrests decreasing—by 43 percent in Charlottesville. Here’s what the offense totals looked like on the local level.
