No. 25-6809

Michael Wayne Keller v. Chadwick Dotson, Director, Virginia Department of Corrections

Lower Court: Fourth Circuit
Docketed: 2026-02-13
Status: Pending
Type: IFP
IFP
Tags: commonwealth-instruction heat-of-passion jury-instruction legal-standard malice-definition trial-court-error
Key Terms:
DueProcess
Latest Conference: N/A
Question Presented (AI Summary)

Was the definition of malice given to the jury a proper Virginia model jury instruction defining heat of passion, and did counsel for appellant request a proper, specific, and complete jury instruction defining heat of passion, and did the trial court err by allowing Commonwealth Jury Instruction '#14'?

Question Presented (OCR Extract)

1) Was the definition of malice given to the jury a proper Virginia model jury instruction defining heat of passion? 2) Did counsel for appellant request a proper, specific, and complete jury instruction defining heat of passion? 3) Did the trial court error by allowing Commonwealth Jury Instruction “#14”?

Docket Entries

2025-08-20
Petition for a writ of certiorari and motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis filed. (Response due March 16, 2026)

Attorneys

Michael Keller
Michael Wayne Keller — Petitioner
Michael Wayne Keller — Petitioner