Lavonta Montreal Bland v. Commonwealth of Virginia, 0937161

In August 2013 Lavonta M. Bland and his brother committed shootings; one victim died and another was seriously injured.
Bland was arrested in North Carolina on September 9, 2013 and served with Virginia warrants on October 3, 2013 charging second-degree murder, malicious wounding, firearm offenses, and felon-in-possession.
A grand jury returned a first set of direct indictments on October 16, 2013 charging first-degree murder, aggravated malicious wounding, robbery, conspiracy, and firearm offenses; Bland was arrested on those indictments October 22, 2013.
The general district court nolle prosequied the original warrants November 25, 2013; the circuit court denied Bland’s November 4 motion to dismiss the indictments.
The Commonwealth nolle prosequied the first indictments in March 2014; a second set of direct indictments charging the same offenses was returned April 2, 2014.
Bland was tried, convicted, and sentenced to 98 years; he appealed claiming denial of a preliminary hearing and violation of statutory and constitutional speedy-trial rights.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether Bland was denied a preliminary hearing under Va. Code § 19.2-218	Commonwealth: no denial because final prosecution was by direct indictment after initial warrants/indictments were nolle prosequi	Bland: entitled to preliminary hearing on the original arrest warrants before direct indictment returned	Court: No. §19.2-218 applies only when indictment is returned on a charge for which defendant was arrested; here the operative charges were different and prior warrants/indictments were nolle prosequi
Whether Bland’s statutory and constitutional speedy-trial rights were violated	Commonwealth: clock runs from April 2014 direct indictments; interruptions were mostly defendant-requested or tolled, so no statutory or constitutional violation	Bland: clock should run from his initial arrest/earlier indictments, producing excessive delay and prejudice	Court: No. Time ran from April 2014 indictments; trial commenced within statutory period (with excusable tolling); constitutional Barker factors do not show presumptive prejudice or harm

Webb v. Commonwealth, 204 Va. 24 (1963) (§19.2-218 applies only when indictment follows an arrest on that felony charge)
Triplett v. Commonwealth, 212 Va. 649 (1973) (defendant entitled to preliminary hearing on initial charges before indictment on those charges)
Waye v. Commonwealth, 219 Va. 683 (1979) (no denial of preliminary hearing where defendant was not arrested on the later charged offense)
Arnold v. Commonwealth, 18 Va. App. 218 (1993) (nolle prosequi of warrants "clears the slate" so a later indictment does not require earlier preliminary hearing)
Wright v. Commonwealth, 52 Va. App. 690 (2008) (no preliminary hearing required when original charges were nolle prosequi before direct indictment)
Ashby v. Commonwealth, 33 Va. App. 540 (2000) (nolle prosequi and subsequent re-indictment restarts speedy-trial clock)
Herrington v. Commonwealth, 291 Va. 181 (2016) (confirming that direct indictment can be pursued in lieu of arrest/ preliminary hearing)
Harris v. Commonwealth, 258 Va. 576 (1999) (speedy-trial calculation restarts after nolle prosequi and re-indictment)
Barker v. Wingo, 407 U.S. 514 (1972) (four-factor test for constitutional speedy-trial claims)