Archibald G. Robertson v. Commonwealth of Virginia

Summary

The court affirmed Robertson's contempt judgment because a trial court may summarily punish disobedience of a lawful oral order, even when the order is legally erroneous, so long as the court has jurisdiction and authority to make it. The court also held that the statutory bar on using an accident statement to contradict a witness was valid and that the statement was not shown to be privileged because Robertson offered only an unsupported assertion of confidentiality. No separate opinions were filed.