Virginia Code

Va. Code Ann. § 18.2-54 (2026)

Conviction of lesser offenses under certain indictments

✓ current as of May 2026

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On any indictment for maliciously shooting, stabbing, cutting or wounding a person or by any means causing him bodily injury, with intent to maim, disfigure, disable or kill him, or of causing bodily injury by means of any acid, lye or other caustic substance or agent, the jury or the court trying the case without a jury may find the accused not guilty of the offense charged but guilty of unlawfully doing such act with the intent aforesaid, or of assault and battery if the evidence warrants.

Code 1950, § 19.1-251; 1960, c. 366; 1975, cc. 14, 15.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 6 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1977–2023 · leading case: Boone v. Commonwealth, 415 S.E.2d 250 (Va. Ct. App. 1992).

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Boone v. Commonwealth, 415 S.E.2d 250 (Va. Ct. App. 1992). · cites it 4× “Trower denied any homosexual advances and testified that defendant attacked and robbed him without provocation.”

Commonwealth v. Vaughn, 557 S.E.2d 220 (Va. 2002). · cites it 2× “But see Code § 18.2-54; Brown v. Commonwealth, 222 Va.”

Steven Joseph Blevins v. Commonwealth of Virginia, 762 S.E.2d 396 (Va. Ct. App. 2014). · cites it 2× “, Code §§ 18.2-54 (unlawful wounding); 19.2-266.”

Singh v. Holder, 568 F.3d 525 (5th Cir. 2009). “See Va. Code Ann. § 18.2-54 . Thus, Singh’s citations are inapposite.”

Jackson v. Commonwealth, 237 S.E.2d 791 (Va. 1977). · cites it 2× “Code § 18.2-54. But at the conclusion of the evidence the trial court narrowed the issue by granting without objection Instruction 10 which read as follows: “Under the indictments in this case charging the defendant with the wounding of William Louis Hawkes and Maggie Dagner, if…”

Shaun Steven Reed v. Commonwealth of Virginia (Va. Ct. App. 2023). · cites it 2× “2 The sentencing order incorrectly cites Code § 18.2-54 for the assault conviction, and therefore we remand this case to the trial court for correction of the clerical error.”

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