COURT OF APPEALS OF VIRGINIA
Present: Judges Alston, Huff and Senior Judge Coleman
Argued at Salem, Virginia
TRAVIS WADE SPENCE
MEMORANDUM OPINION ∗ BY
v. Record No. 1492-10-3 JUDGE SAM W. COLEMAN III
APRIL 3, 2012
COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA
FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF BUCHANAN COUNTY
Patrick R. Johnson, Judge
Helen E. Phillips (Charles H. Slemp, III; McGlothlin & Phillips,
PLLC; Slemp Law Office, PLLC, on brief), for appellant.
Donald E. Jeffrey, III, Senior Assistant Attorney General
(Kenneth T. Cuccinelli, II, Attorney General, on brief), for appellee.
Travis Wade Spence (appellant) appeals his convictions of first-degree murder and
obstruction of justice. On appeal, appellant contends the trial court erred in denying his motion to
set aside the verdict because trial counsel did not render him effective assistance. However, claims
raising ineffective assistance of counsel are not cognizable on direct appeal.1 See Blevins v.
Commonwealth, 267 Va. 291, 296, 590 S.E.2d 365, 368 (2004). “Claims of ineffective assistance
of counsel may no longer be raised on direct appeal. Code § 19.2-317.1, which had allowed direct
appeal of such claims under certain circumstances, was repealed in 1990. 1990 Va. Acts, c. 74.”
Browning v. Commonwealth, 19 Va. App. 295, 297 n.2, 452 S.E.2d 360, 362 n.2 (1994).
∗
Pursuant to Code § 17.1-413, this opinion is not designated for publication.
1
Claims of ineffective assistance of trial counsel may be raised for the first time in a state
habeas corpus proceeding without violating Virginia law that non-jurisdictional issues that could
have been raised at trial and on direct appeal are not cognizable in a petition for a writ of habeas
corpus. See Walker v. Mitchell, 224 Va. 568, 571, 299 S.E.2d 698, 699 (1983).
Accordingly, we do not address the merits of appellant’s argument, and appellant’s convictions are
affirmed.
Affirmed.
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