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71 Wash. & Lee L. Rev. Online 1 (2014-2015)

handle is hein.journals/waleelro71 and id is 1 raw text is: Commonwealth v. Morris: The Disappearance of 169 Years of the Common Law? Horace* Table of Contents I. Introduction ................1..................... II. The Statutes..................3............3 III. The Court's Precedent ............5...........5 IV. Post-Morris Decisions ...................... 11 I. Introduction In Commonwealth v. Morris,' the Supreme Court of Virginia properly decided that the writs of coram vobis and audita querela may not be used to modify a final criminal conviction order more than twenty-one days after its entry.2 The court decided the inapplicability of coram vobis under Virginia Code § 8.01-6773 and its own precedent.4 It decided the inapplicability of audita querela under the English common law, citing cases from 1670, 1701, and 1792.5 In the course of the opinion it conflated Virginia Code §§ 1-200 and 1-2016 and held in dictum that Virginia's adoption of the common law of England ends in 1607 .... From * Horace is a judge of an inferior Virginia court and a graduate of Washington and Lee School of Law. 1. 705 S.E.2d 503 (Va. 2011). 2. See id. at 509 (finding that the alleged errors of fact were not sufficient for the purposes of coram vobis and holding that the writ of audita querela may not be used to seek postconviction relief from criminal sentences). 3. VA. CODE ANN. §§ 8.01-677 (2012). 4. See Morris, 705 S.E.2d at 506-08 (discussing the coram vobis issue). 5. See id. at 508-09 (discussing the audita querela issue). 6. VA. CODE ANN. §§ 1-200, -201 (2012). 1

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