VA: 4A claim waived for failure to fully brief it

Defendant’s Fourth Amendment claim on appeal was waived by failure to fully argue it, as in “Fourth Amendment rights were violated because ….” Ducharme v. Commonwealth, 2019 Va. App. LEXIS 187 (Aug. 6, 2019):

On appeal, appellant argues that military procedures for obtaining a search warrant should not have applied in his case because he was tried in state court and the search warrant should have been obtained by a state police officer from a state court judge. He also argues that the affidavit prepared by Special Agent Henson was not reviewed by a neutral and detached magistrate because the general reviewing the affidavit did not catch the “cut and paste” typographical error.

However, appellant cites no authority to support his arguments. The analysis section of the argument in his opening brief consists of two paragraphs of conclusory statements, his argument makes no claim that his “Fourth Amendment rights were violated because ….,” and his only reference to the Fourth Amendment is found in two quotations from cases stating the applicable standard of review.

The trial court’s ruling is presumed to be correct, and appellant must show that reversible error occurred. …