Commonwealth v. Moncrea

Summary

The Supreme Court of Virginia reverses the Court of Appeals of Virginia and reinstates Frederick Lewis Moncrea’s sentencing order. The Court holds that the order’s provision placing Moncrea on supervised probation “until released by the Court or the Probation Officer” did not establish a violation of the five-year limitation in Code § 19.2-303. Because no violation had occurred and the record did not show that the trial court intended to impose more than five years of supervised probation, the Court declines to address whether the alleged error would make the order void ab initio or merely voidable.

Holdings

1. A sentencing order stating that supervised probation continues until released by the court or probation officer does not, on its face, violate Code § 19.2-303, which limits supervised probation to five years but does not require the trial court to specify a period of supervision.
2. The sentencing order was not shown to violate Code § 19.2-303 and therefore was not void ab initio on the asserted ground.
3. Because the sentencing order contained no demonstrated error, the court did not need to decide whether Moncrea preserved the issue or whether the alleged defect would render the order void ab initio or merely voidable.

Questions Presented

1. Whether a sentencing order providing for supervised probation until released by the court or probation officer violates Code § 19.2-303 when the order does not specify a probation period.
2. Whether the sentencing order is void ab initio because the indefinite probation language could permit more than five years of supervised probation.
3. Whether the court needed to decide whether Moncrea preserved his challenge or whether the order was void ab initio rather than merely voidable.

Disposition

reversed