COURT OF APPEALS OF VIRGINIA
Present: Judges Bumgardner, Humphreys and Clements
Argued at Salem, Virginia
ANTHONY TERRELL CHAMBERS
MEMORANDUM OPINION * BY
v. Record No. 1302-02-3 JUDGE ROBERT J. HUMPHREYS
JANUARY 28, 2003
COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA
FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE CITY OF LYNCHBURG
Mosby G. Perrow, III, Judge
Sidney H. Kirstein for appellant.
Michael T. Judge, Assistant Attorney General
(Jerry W. Kilgore, Attorney General, on
brief), for appellee.
Anthony Terrell Chambers appeals his conviction, after a
bench trial, for distribution of cocaine, in violation of Code
§ 18.2-248. Chambers contends the trial court erred in granting
the Commonwealth a continuance, after his trial had begun,
pursuant to Code § 19.2-183(C). Finding appellate review
procedurally barred, we affirm Chambers' conviction.
Code § 19.2-183 provides as follows:
§ 19.2-183. Examination of witnesses;
assistance of counsel; evidentiary matters
and remedies; power to adjourn case. —
* Pursuant to Code § 17.1-413, this opinion is not
designated for publication. Further, because this opinion has
no precedential value, we recite only those facts essential to
our holding.
A. The judge before whom any person is
brought for an offense shall, as soon as may
be practical, in the presence of such
person, examine on oath the witnesses for
and against him. Before conducting the
hearing or accepting a waiver of the
hearing, the judge shall advise the accused
of his right to counsel and, if the accused
is indigent and the offense charged be
punishable by confinement in jail or the
state correctional facility, the judge shall
appoint counsel as provided by law.
B. At the hearing the judge shall, in the
presence of the accused, hear testimony
presented for and against the accused in
accordance with the rules of evidence
applicable to criminal trials in this
Commonwealth. In felony cases, the accused
shall not be called upon to plead, but he
may cross-examine witnesses, introduce
witnesses in his own behalf, and testify in
his own behalf.
C. A judge may adjourn a trial, pending
before him, not exceeding ten days at one
time, without the consent of the accused.
Here, after Chambers' trial began on December 17, 2001, the
Commonwealth called Investigator Saxon, of the Lynchburg Police
Department Vice Unit, as its first witness. During his
testimony, the Commonwealth attempted to introduce the lab
analysis certificate for the drugs. However, Chambers objected,
contending that the certificate was hearsay because the
Commonwealth had failed to comply with the terms of Code
§ 19.2-187. Specifically, Chambers represented to the court
that he notified the Commonwealth of his request for the
certificate ten days before trial, as required by Code
§ 19.2-187, but that the Commonwealth failed to provide him a
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copy of the certificate within the time period prescribed by the
statute. Chambers argued that because Code § 19.2-187 required
the Commonwealth to forward him the requested copy of the
certificate within seven days prior to trial, the certificate
was inadmissible as hearsay. 1 The Commonwealth responded that it
had never received Chambers' request for the certificate and
asked the court for an adjournment "so that [Chambers] can get
his lab certificate."
The trial court granted the Commonwealth a four-day
adjournment pursuant to Code § 19.2-183(C). Chambers objected,
stating that he would "oppose any continuance" and that he did not
agree to the continuance, nor did he concede that the continuance
"cure[d] the problem." The trial reconvened, and was ultimately
completed, on December 21, 2001.
On appeal, Chambers contends that Code § 19.2-183(C) does not
provide a trial court with the discretion to impose an adjournment
during a "trial," but only during a preliminary hearing.
Specifically, Chambers contends that because the statute appears
in Chapter 12, of Title 19.2, which, by its title, relates to
"Preliminary Hearings," the "language of Code Section 19.2-183
makes it quite clear that this statute relates" only to
1
Chambers acknowledged that he sent the request for the
certificate to the clerk, with a carbon copy to the
Commonwealth. He further acknowledged that the clerk sent him a
copy of the certificate four days prior to trial.
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preliminary hearings. Chambers further argues that to permit Code
§ 19.2-183 to relate to trial proceedings, such as in his case,
amounts to a violation of constitutional due process because it
denies the defendant his "right[] to a[n] orderly, continuous,"
and prompt trial.
However, the record here demonstrates that Chambers failed to
raise either of these arguments before the trial court. In fact,
Chambers lodged only a bare objection to the court's action in
granting the adjournment and made no argument concerning the trial
court's reliance on Code § 19.2-183(C).
We will not consider Chambers' assertions of error for the
first time on appeal. "No ruling of the trial court . . . will be
considered as a basis for reversal unless the objection was stated
together with the grounds therefor at the time of the ruling,
except for good cause shown or to enable the Court of Appeals to
attain the ends of justice." Rule 5A:18. "Rule 5A:18 applies to
bar even constitutional claims." Ohree v. Commonwealth, 26
Va. App. 299, 308, 494 S.E.2d 484, 488 (1998).
The main purpose of requiring timely
specific objections is to afford the trial
court an opportunity to rule intelligently
on the issues presented, thus avoiding
unnecessary appeals and reversals. In
addition, a specific, contemporaneous
objection gives the opposing party the
opportunity to meet the objection at that
stage of the proceeding.
Weidman v. Babcock, 241 Va. 40, 44, 400 S.E.2d 164, 167 (1991)
(citations omitted). Thus, "[t]he Court of Appeals will not
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consider an argument on appeal which was not presented to the
trial court." Ohree, 26 Va. App. at 308, 494 S.E.2d at 488.
Therefore, because we find no cause on this record to
invoke the ends of justice exception to Rule 5A:18, Chambers'
arguments on appeal are barred from our consideration, and we
affirm his conviction.
Affirmed.
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