Opinion ID: 1058965
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Issues Abandoned or Waived

Text: Muhammad advances 102 assignments of error in his appeal. The Commonwealth maintains that Muhammad failed to sufficiently argue in his brief assignments of error 33, 34, 43, 45, 47, 52, 53, 68, 70, 78, 79, 80, 82, 83, 88, and 96. Rules 5:17(c)(4) and 5:27 require that a brief contain [t]he principles of law, the argument, and the authorities relating to each assignment of error, and further require that [w]ith respect to each assignment of error, the principles, the argument, and the authorities shall be stated in one place and not scattered through the petition. In his reply brief, Muhammad contests the Commonwealth's assertion only as to assignments of error 43, 52, 78, 79, 80, 81, and 83. [2] Accordingly, assignments of error 33, 34, 45, 47, 53, 68, 70, 82, 88, and 96 are waived. Consequently, we will consider only assignments of error 43, 52, 78, 79, 80 and 83 as being in controversy. Assignment of error 43 pertains to the admission of crime scene and autopsy photographs. Assignment of error 52 refers to testimony of Officer Cindy Martin concerning her observations of brain matter at the scene of the Ramos shooting. With respect to both of these assignments, there is insufficient argument in the brief. Having been directed by Muhammad to particular page citations where he claims to have presented these arguments, we agree with the Commonwealth's observation that Muhammad merely restates his assignment of error and makes reference to pages in the appendix where his trial court arguments can be found. We have previously held that such a practice is improper and is insufficient to meet the requirements of our Rules. Schmitt v. Commonwealth, 262 Va. 127, 138, 547 S.E.2d 186, 194 (2001), cert. denied, 534 U.S. 1094, 122 S.Ct. 840, 151 L.Ed.2d 719 (2002). Failure to adequately brief an assignment of error is considered a waiver. Powell v. Commonwealth, 267 Va. 107, 135, 590 S.E.2d 537, 554, cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 125 S.Ct. 86, 160 L.Ed.2d 157 (2004). Therefore, assignments 43 and 52 are deemed waived. The remaining assignments of error claimed by the Commonwealth to be waived by lack of argument pertain to unadjudicated criminal conduct evidence presented at the bifurcated sentencing proceeding. Assignment of error 78 refers to evidence of the killing of Kenya Cook in Tacoma, Washington. Assignment of error 79 refers to a shooting into Temple Beth El Synagogue in Tacoma, Washington. Assignment of error 80 refers to testimony about the presence of a .308 caliber rifle found pointing to a particular apartment in Tacoma, Washington. Assignment of error 83 refers to evidence of a sharpened spoon handle in Muhammad's cell in the Prince William County jail. For each of these assignments of error related to unadjudicated criminal conduct, Muhammad cites pages in the section of his brief entitled Statement of Facts and one page in the Argument section of his brief. The references in the Statement of Facts are to arguments made in the trial proceeding. Even giving Muhammad the benefit of examining additional pages of his brief not referred to as the location of his argument, Muhammad does not make particularized arguments in his brief concerning each of the categories of evidence he finds objectionable, except for evidence of the alleged escape attempt contained in assignment of error 81, which the Commonwealth agrees was not waived. Assignments of error 80 and 83 raise issues of lack of notice of presentation of unadjudicated criminal conduct; however, there is no argument of the question in the brief itself. Assignments of error 78, 79, 80, and 83 are not sufficiently argued in the brief. We will not consider them. Rule 5:17(c)(4); Rule 5:27; Elliott v. Commonwealth, 267 Va. 396, 422, 593 S.E.2d 270, 286 (2004), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 125 S.Ct. 875, 160 L.Ed.2d 825 (2005); Williams v. Commonwealth, 248 Va. 528, 537, 450 S.E.2d 365, 372 (1994), cert. denied, 515 U.S. 1161, 115 S.Ct. 2616, 132 L.Ed.2d 858 (1995).