Opinion ID: 1058473
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: jurisdiction upon transfer

Text: Before addressing Porter's assignments of error, we first consider an issue raised sua sponte by this Court and addressed by the parties in supplemental briefs and argument. Based on our review of the record, we inquired whether the transfer of Porter's trial to Arlington (and the subsequent transfer back to Norfolk after the jury's verdicts) created issues of either subject matter or territorial jurisdiction that would affect the judgments rendered by the circuit court. Well in advance of trial, Porter filed a motion in the Circuit Court of the City of Norfolk requesting a change of venue and to which the Commonwealth agreed. The circuit court then entered an order on September 13, 2006, which granted a change of venue but did not specify a new location for trial. On October 2, 2006, the circuit court entered another order which orders that the trial of the above-referenced case be transferred to the circuit court of the Fourth Judicial Circuit located in Arlington, Virginia. The Circuit Court of the County of Arlington (Arlington) is the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit. The Fourth Judicial Circuit is limited to the City of Norfolk (Norfolk). It is unclear from the circuit court's order whether it was transferring the place of trial with the Norfolk Circuit Court sitting in Arlington or whether it was intended that the trial be conducted in Arlington as a trial in that circuit. Subsequent to these orders, a number of additional orders were entered in Norfolk under the caption of the Norfolk Circuit Court; [6] none of these orders related to the change of venue. Porter's trial began in Arlington, with Judge Griffith sitting as the trial judge, on February 26, 2007. A series of felony trial orders were entered, all with the caption In the Circuit Court of the County of Arlington, and reflecting the trial proceedings from February 26 to March 14. However, all these orders were entered on the same date, July 13, 2007, on stationery of the Clerk of the Circuit Court of Norfolk. [7] The felony trial orders recited the trial proceedings on the respective dates and none were endorsed by counsel. These orders included an order of March 7, 2007, which set out the jury's verdict of guilty on the charge of capital murder as well as a March 14, 2007, order reciting the jury's sentence of death. In that same March 14, 2007, order, the circuit court confirmed the jury verdict and found Porter guilty of capital murder, but also granted his motion to refer this matter to the Probation Office for the Circuit Court of Norfolk, Virginia and continued the case to July 16, 2007 in the Circuit Court of the City of Norfolk. All remaining orders in the record reflect the caption of the Circuit Court of the City of Norfolk including the July 18, 2007 order sentencing Porter to death. At no place does the record reflect that Porter questioned or inquired into the circuit court's authority to sit in Arlington, to try the case in Arlington, or to undertake any of the later proceedings in Norfolk. More importantly, Porter has never objected to any defect, real or imagined, relating to the circuit court's jurisdiction or authority to act in either Arlington or Norfolk. In fact, during the course of the trial in Arlington, Porter filed five motions captioned In the Circuit Court of Norfolk County [sic] (sitting in Arlington County). [8] There can be no question that Porter was fully cognizant of, and actively participated in, a trial in Arlington pursuant to his motion to change venue, which he knew was being conducted by the same circuit court judge who began (and concluded) the case in Norfolk. The record does not contain an order under Code § 17.1-105, or otherwise, designating Judge Griffith to sit in the Circuit Court of Arlington County. The record also does not contain an order, as would appear to be required by Code § 19.2-253, whereby the Clerk of the Circuit Court of the City of Norfolk transmitted the record in Porter's case to the Clerk of the Circuit Court of Arlington County so that such court shall proceed with the case as if the prosecution had been originally therein. With this factual background in mind, Porter now argues in response to our inquiry that the judgments of conviction and sentence are void because the provisions of § 17.1-105 are mandatory and limit a court's otherwise rightful exercise of its subject matter jurisdiction. Porter cites our decision in Moore v. Commonwealth, 259 Va. 431, 527 S.E.2d 406 (2000) to support his argument. The Commonwealth responds by noting that Code § 17.1-513 grants subject matter jurisdiction in felony cases to all circuit courts and argues the Norfolk Circuit Court was never divested of that authority. Consequently, the Commonwealth concludes the orders of the circuit court could not be void, but at most voidable, and that Porter has waived any objections to voidable orders. Upon consideration of the arguments, briefs and our precedent, we conclude that a lack of subject matter jurisdiction is not implicated in this case and that any irregularities as to the circuit court's authority raised at most an issue of territorial jurisdiction, which was waived by Porter's failure to timely object to any such defect. Jurisdiction is a term which can engender much confusion because it encompasses a variety of separate and distinct legal concepts. We addressed this topic and differentiated the categories of jurisdiction in Morrison v. Bestler, 239 Va. 166, 387 S.E.2d 753 (1990). A court may lack the requisite jurisdiction to proceed to an adjudication on the merits for a variety of reasons. The term jurisdiction embraces several concepts including subject matter jurisdiction, which is the authority granted through constitution or statute to adjudicate a class of cases or controversies; territorial jurisdiction, that is, authority over persons, things, or occurrences located in a defined geographic area; notice jurisdiction, or effective notice to a party or if the proceeding is in rem seizure of a res; and the other conditions of fact must exist which are demanded by the unwritten or statute law as the prerequisites of the authority of the court to proceed to judgment or decree. Farant Inv. Corp. v. Francis, 138 Va. 417, 427-28, 122 S.E. 141, 144 (1924). While these elements are necessary to enable a court to proceed to a valid judgment, there is a significant difference between subject matter jurisdiction and the other jurisdictional elements. Subject matter jurisdiction alone cannot be waived or conferred on the court by agreement of the parties. Lucas v. Biller, 204 Va. 309, 313, 130 S.E.2d 582, 585 (1963). A defect in subject matter jurisdiction cannot be cured by reissuance of process, passage of time, or pleading amendment. While a court always has jurisdiction to determine whether it has subject matter jurisdiction, a judgment on the merits made without subject matter jurisdiction is null and void. Barnes v. American Fert. Co., 144 Va. 692, 705, 130 S.E. 902, 906 (1925). Likewise, any subsequent proceeding based on such a defective judgment is void or a nullity. Ferry Co. v. Commonwealth, 196 Va. 428, 432, 83 S.E.2d 782, 784 (1954). Even more significant, the lack of subject matter jurisdiction can be raised at any time in the proceedings, even for the first time on appeal by the court sua sponte. Thacker v. Hubard, 122 Va. 379, 386, 94 S.E. 929, 930 (1918). In contrast, defects in the other jurisdictional elements generally will be considered waived unless raised in the pleadings filed with the trial court and properly preserved on appeal. Rule 5:25. One consequence of the non-waivable nature of the requirement of subject matter jurisdiction is that attempts are sometimes made to mischaracterize other serious procedural errors as defects in subject matter jurisdiction to gain an opportunity for review of matters not otherwise preserved. See Restatement (Second) of Judgments, § 11 (1980). Id. at 169-70, 387 S.E.2d at 755-56. Our recitation in Morrison reflects the long-standing distinction between subject matter jurisdiction, which cannot be granted or waived by the parties and the lack of which renders an act of the court void, and territorial jurisdiction or venue. The latter goes to the authority of the court to act in particular circumstances or places and is waived if not properly and timely raised. The judgment of a court which is defective in territorial jurisdiction or venue is thus only voidable and not void. Id. ; Southern Sand and Gravel Company, Inc. v. Massaponax Sand and Gravel Corporation, 145 Va. 317, 326, 133 S.E. 812, 814 (1926). All the circuit courts of the Commonwealth have original jurisdiction of all indictments for felonies and of presentments, informations and indictments for misdemeanors. Code § 17.1-513. As we recognized in Garza v. Commonwealth, 228 Va. 559, 323 S.E.2d 127 (1984), this statute means what it says. [A]ll circuit courts have jurisdiction over all felonies committed in the Commonwealth. Id. at 566, 323 S.E.2d at 130. Thus, both the Norfolk Circuit Court and the Arlington Circuit Court had subject matter jurisdiction for the trial of the charges against Porter. Even though Porter did not raise the argument, we note that the grant of subject matter jurisdiction under Code § 17.1-513 is not limited by Code § 19.2-239, which sets forth that [t]he circuit courts, except where otherwise provided, shall have exclusive original jurisdiction for the trial of all presentments, indictments and informations for offenses committed within their respective circuits. (Emphasis added.) The jurisdiction referenced in Code § 19.2-239 is a grant of territorial jurisdiction, not the subject matter jurisdiction conferred under Code § 17.1-513. We reach this conclusion for at least two reasons. First, if Code § 19.2-239 dealt with subject matter jurisdiction, such a construction would render the Code § 17.1-513 grant of original jurisdiction of all . . . felonies to all circuit courts to be meaningless and superfluous. Such a statutory construction is to be avoided. The rules of statutory interpretation argue against reading any legislative enactment in a manner that will make a portion of it useless, repetitious, or absurd. On the contrary, it is well established that every act of the legislature should be read so as to give reasonable effect to every word. . . . Jones v. Conwell, 227 Va. 176, 181, 314 S.E.2d 61, 64 (1984). [E]very part of a statute is presumed to have some effect and no part will be considered meaningless unless absolutely necessary. Hubbard v. Henrico Ltd. P'ship, 255 Va. 335, 340, 497 S.E.2d 335, 338 (1998). In addition, Code § 19.2-239 contains the clear proviso except where otherwise provided. The change of venue statute, Code § 19.2-251, otherwise provide[s], and venue was changed in this case. As a matter of law, venue cannot be an issue of subject matter jurisdiction, and that otherwise provided example confirms Code § 19.2-239 could not encompass subject matter jurisdiction. Venue and jurisdiction, though sometimes confounded, are, accurately speaking, separate and distinct matters. Jurisdiction is authority to hear and determine a cause, or it may be defined to be the right to adjudicate concerning the subject matter in the given case. . . . Venue is merely the place of trial. . . . Texaco, Inc. v. Runyon, 207 Va. 367, 370, 150 S.E.2d 132, 135 (1966) (internal quotation marks omitted). Thus, while both the Arlington and Norfolk circuit courts had subject matter jurisdiction over Porter's charges under Code § 17.1-513, the authority to conduct that trial, that is, the territorial jurisdiction authorizing the court to adjudicate among the parties at a particular place, was initially in the Norfolk Circuit Court, as the place of the offense, under Code § 19.2-239. Nonetheless, if trial was had in Arlington, so that a violation of Code § 19.2-239 occurred, that defect went solely to the circuit court's lack of authority to exercise territorial jurisdiction and is waived if not timely raised. See Morrison, 239 Va. at 169-70, 387 S.E.2d at 755-56; Southern Sand and Gravel, 145 Va. at 326, 133 S.E. at 814; Gordon v. Commonwealth, 38 Va.App. 818, 822-23, 568 S.E.2d 452, 453-54 (2002). [9] Porter asked for the change of venue he duly received. When offered the opportunity to move from Arlington, when the trial began, Porter specifically declined to do so. After the jury's verdicts, Porter specifically requested the transfer back to Norfolk, which the circuit court duly granted. Until raised by this Court, Porter never objected to or questioned in any way the exercise of the circuit court's authority or any potential defects in that authority by virtue of conducting proceedings in either Arlington or Norfolk. Porter clearly failed to raise an objection under Code § 19.2-244, which requires questions of venue to be raised before verdict. Code § 19.2-244. Porter received exactly what he requested in terms of a different venue for his trial. He cannot take a different position at this point without violating our rule prohibiting approbation and reprobation. Cangiano v. LSH Bldg. Co., 271 Va. 171, 181, 623 S.E.2d 889, 895 (2006) (A party may not approbate and reprobate by taking successive positions in the course of litigation that are either inconsistent with each other or mutually contradictory); see also Powell v. Commonwealth, 267 Va. 107, 144, 590 S.E.2d 537, 560 (2004); Cohn v. Knowledge Connections, Inc., 266 Va. 362, 367, 585 S.E.2d 578, 581 (2003); Smith v. Settle, 254 Va. 348, 354, 492 S.E.2d 427, 431 (1997); Leech v. Beasley, 203 Va. 955, 961-62, 128 S.E.2d 293, 297-98 (1962). Nonetheless, Porter contends the circuit court's judgment was void, thus requiring reversal and a new trial, based on his reading of Code § 17.1-105 as a mandatory limit on a circuit court's subject matter jurisdiction. [10] To support that position, Porter relies on Moore and Gresham v. Ewell, 85 Va. (10 Hans.) 1, 6 S.E. 700 (1888). Porter contends these cases establish precedent that a judicial act is void, not voidable, when a lack of proper designation of the trial judge occurs. We disagree. We initially note some doubt that Code § 17.1-105 applies in the circumstance of a change of venue. [11] On its face, Code § 17.1-105(A) appears directed at those instances where illness, disability, or other similar disqualifying circumstance necessitates a judge from another circuit to sit in the affected jurisdiction. Code § 17.1-105(B) appears directed at conflicts of interest which require recusal of all the judges in the circuit and necessitates a judge from another jurisdiction to sit. None of the circumstances indicated in Code § 17.1-105 occurred in this case. Furthermore, nothing on the face of Code § 17.1-105 references a judicial designation when there is a change of venue. However, it is unnecessary for us to resolve whether Code § 17.1-105 may have applied in this case and a designation order should have been entered for Judge Griffith to sit in Arlington. We can assume, without deciding, that if Code § 17.1-105 was applicable when venue changed in this case, a missing order of designation would only have affected the circuit court judge's authority to act in the exercise of territorial jurisdiction. As noted earlier, that issue is waived if not timely raised. Porter made no objection to the circuit court judge's purported lack of authority under Code § 17.1-105 and he cannot now attack the circuit court's judgment on that basis. Rule 5:25. Porter's citations to Moore and Ewell are similarly unpersuasive. In Moore, the defendant argued his prior juvenile court proceedings were void because the statutory directive to give notice to both his parents was absent from the record. 259 Va. at 434, 527 S.E.2d at 407. Porter contends that Code § 17.1-105 is like the juvenile notice statute at issue in Moore, which the majority of the court held was mandatory in nature and limit[s] a court's rightful exercise of its subject matter jurisdiction. 259 Va. at 438, 527 S.E.2d at 409. The Court in Moore concluded the lower court never acquired the authority to exercise its jurisdiction. Id. at 440, 527 S.E.2d at 411. Even though the juvenile court's subject matter jurisdiction was not at issue, the defendant was permitted to collaterally attack the underlying judgment because the majority found it void, not voidable. The dissenting opinion in Moore, foreshadowing our decision in Nelson v. Warden, 262 Va. 276, 552 S.E.2d 73 (2001), noted that the majority incorrectly equates statutory provisions that are `mandatory' with those that are prerequisites to a juvenile court's exercise of its subject matter jurisdiction. . . . The mandatory nature of a requirement, standing alone, does not always make that requirement jurisdictional. 259 Va. at 446, 527 S.E.2d at 414-15 (J. Kinser, dissenting). However, Porter's reliance on Moore is misplaced because we specifically overruled that case in Nelson. The resolution of Nelson reflects the frailty of Porter's position because the defendant in Nelson lost on the same statutory notice defect Moore was allowed to raise, specifically because the view that the defect was an unwaivable jurisdictional defect (a premise in Moore ) was overruled in Nelson. Thus the pertinent comparison is between the defendant Baker in the seminal parental notification decision in Commonwealth v. Baker, 258 Va. 1, 516 S.E.2d 219 (1999) (per curiam), affirming Baker v. Commonwealth, 28 Va.App. 306, 504 S.E.2d 394 (1998), who made timely objection throughout the proceedings  making the defects cognizable on appeal  and the defendant in Nelson, who failed to timely raise the claim at trial. Nelson overruled Moore on the point that the failure to object was a waiver of the argument given the non-jurisdictional nature of the failure to adhere to the statutory requirement, thus vitiating Porter's reliance on this theory. In Nelson, we embraced the dissent in Moore and acknowledged that the majority's analysis in Moore is flawed and stated: After noting the Court's emphasis on the distinction between subject matter jurisdiction and the authority to exercise that jurisdiction, the Court's next step should have been to demonstrate the difference resulting from the distinction. Yet, we made a distinction without a difference for, with our very next step, we elevated the failure of a court to comply with the requirements for exercising its authority to the same level of gravity as a lack of subject matter jurisdiction. 262 Va. at 281, 552 S.E.2d at 75. We then stated: We indicated supra that we thought a different outcome could have resulted in David Moore from the distinction we drew between subject matter jurisdiction and the authority to exercise that jurisdiction. In our opinion, the different outcome should have consisted of a finding that the statutory requirement of notice to parents was not jurisdictional but procedural in nature, that a failure to notify parents could be waived by a failure to object, and, correspondingly, that a failure to comply with the requirement rendered subsequent convictions voidable and not void. To the extent David Moore conflicts with these views, it is overruled. 262 Va. at 284-85, 552 S.E.2d at 77. Porter contends the failure to follow Code § 17.1-105 and obtain a designation order for the conduct of his case in Arlington and the return to Norfolk caused the circuit court's judgments to be void because the court lacked the authority to exercise its otherwise valid subject matter jurisdiction. As just illustrated, we specifically rejected that argument in Nelson when we overruled Moore. Thus, the circuit court had subject matter jurisdiction over Porter's trial which was never affected by the transfer of venue and its judgments could not be void on that basis. If a defect in the circuit court's exercise of its authority occurred, it was subject to waiver, and that is what happened in the case at bar. While the circuit court's judgment may have been subject to a timely objection, and thus have been a voidable judgment, Porter's failure to object settles the issue. Porter's citation to Ewell is similarly unavailing. [12] Ewell involved a judgment our predecessors determined to be null and void because a judge from another jurisdiction rendered that judgment without a proper designation to conduct court in the jurisdiction where trial occurred. 85 Va. at 2, 6 S.E. at 701. However, as pointed out by the dissent in Ewell, the majority's underlying analysis suffers from the same fatal flaws that caused us to overrule Moore. See 85 Va. at 5-8, 6 S.E. at 701-03 (Lewis, C.J., dissenting). Ewell involved a collateral attack upon a circuit court judgment which had been rendered in Lancaster County by a visiting judge for whom no order of designation had been entered as required by a statutory predecessor to Code § 17.1-105. The plurality in Ewell held the visiting judge entering the order exceeded his jurisdiction in acting as a judge without the authority of the law, and the said judgment is without authority, and null and void. 85 Va. at 3, 6 S.E. at 701. In an analysis mirroring the majority in Nelson and the dissent in Moore, the dissent in Ewell correctly stated: The judgment is collaterally assailed, and being a judgment rendered by a court of general jurisdiction, acting within the scope of its powers, and proceeding according to the course of the common law, and held at the time by one of the county judges of the state, it must, I think, be held to be valid. For no principle is better established than that a judgment of such a court, when collaterally drawn in question, is not affected by errors or irregularities which do not show a want of jurisdiction, or an excess of jurisdiction. . . . . In short, my opinion is, that the provisions of the statute above referred to are directory merely, and that the county court having undisputed jurisdiction of the case in which the judgment was rendered, a failure to comply with the requirements of the statute could not affect the validity of the judgment in this collateral proceeding. The writ of prohibition cannot be permitted in a case like this to take the place of a writ of error or of an appeal, though they are in some cases concurrent remedies. 85 Va. at 5-7, 6 S.E. at 701-02 (Lewis, C.J., dissenting). The plurality in Ewell was incorrect in construing the trial court's judgment as void, instead of voidable, and permitting a collateral attack by virtue of a defect in the exercise of the court's authority under its territorial jurisdiction for the same reason as the majority erred in Moore. The trial courts in Ewell and Moore had subject matter jurisdiction over the respective cases and the resulting judgments could not therefore be void and subject to collateral attack in a later proceeding based on a defect other than subject matter jurisdiction. Ewell and Moore erroneously elevated a defect in something other than subject matter jurisdiction to the same level of consequence. The failure of the appellant in Ewell to timely object to the court's exercise of its jurisdiction should have ended that case and, as we noted in Nelson, the same should have occurred in Moore as well. After Nelson, Ewell can have no validity and to the extent it conflicts with our opinion in Nelson, it is overruled. [13] Whatever defects may have occurred with respect to the transfer of Porter's case to Arlington, and in returning to Norfolk, would only have affected the circuit court's exercise of its territorial jurisdiction and could only have rendered the resulting judgments voidable if subject to a proper and timely objection. Having failed to raise any objections, Porter has waived any such jurisdictional defects and the judgment of the circuit court is therefore unaffected. Additionally, as we have already stated, we will not permit Porter to approbate and reprobate in the absence of a valid challenge to subject matter jurisdiction.