VA: Lying to police during consensual encounter then refusing admittance to home isn’t obstruction

Obstruction conviction reversed: “[T]here is no statute or case law that stands for the proposition that lying to law enforcement officers during a consensual encounter, or failing to admit them to one’s home on request, constitutes an obstruction of justice offense in the Commonwealth and as noted, to the extent similar actions have been criminalized, it has been done via other statutory offenses that have additional requirements and with which Maldonado was not charged.” Maldonado v. Commonwealth, 2019 Va. App. LEXIS 165 (July 16, 2019).*

Defendant’s claim that the warrant lacked probable cause and lacked particularity is rejected. “The search warrant in this case plainly met all of these requirements.” United States v. Margulies, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 117415 (S.D. N.Y. July 15, 2019).*

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