Opinion ID: 1058278
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Zedd v. Commonwealth

Text: Kiwani Scott retained attorney Gordon Andrew Zedd to represent her in an appeal of a misdemeanor conviction for reckless driving. The matter was originally set for trial on October 2, 2007 in the Circuit Court of the City of Norfolk. The day before the trial, Zedd contacted the prosecutor assigned to the case in order to request a continuance because of a scheduling conflict. The prosecutor agreed to continue the case to November 6, 2007 because its key witness, the state trooper who had charged Scott, was unavailable to attend the trial. Subsequently, Zedd contacted Scott and told her that she did not need to appear in court the next day. Zedd and the prosecutor appeared in the circuit court the following day and submitted a joint continuance order to the court. The court questioned Zedd about the whereabouts of his client. Zedd stated that he had excused his client. In response to the court's questions for why he had excused his client, Zedd noted the unavailability of the state trooper and the Commonwealth's inability to proceed. Additionally, the prosecutor highlighted to the court that this was a joint continuance motion due to a mutual inability to proceed. [2] At the conclusion of the proceedings on October 2, 2007, the circuit court issued a bench warrant charging Zedd with contempt of court. Pursuant to that warrant, Zedd was arrested and processed. On February 28, 2008, the court entered a final order finding Zedd guilty of contempt of court pursuant to Code § 18.2-456 and imposing a fine of $50. On appeal to the Court of Appeals, Zedd argued the evidence was insufficient to find him guilty of contempt because there was no evidence of contemptuous intent. Zedd also argued that the trial court denied him due process by erroneously employing summary, rather than plenary, contempt procedures. In addition, Zedd attempted to distinguish his case from Singleton's case, noting that unlike Singleton, he had appeared on the scheduled trial date. The Court of Appeals in an unpublished opinion held that Zedd's appearance in court on the scheduled trial date was insufficient to distinguish his case from Singleton's case. Accordingly, for the reasons stated in Singleton, 52 Va.App. at 672-73, 667 S.E.2d at 26, the Court of Appeals affirmed Zedd's conviction. Zedd v. Commonwealth, Record No. 2621-07-1, 2008 WL 5054692 (December 2, 2008). We awarded Zedd an appeal.