First on WTOP: Va. Supreme Court reverses conviction of man serving 2 life sentences for 2018 Loudoun murders
Virginia’s Supreme Court has ruled the man serving two life sentences for the 2018 murders of a Loudoun County mother and her adult son should get a new trial.
In June 2021, Brian Kuang-Ming Welsh was sentenced by Circuit Court Judge James Fisher to two life sentences for the murders of Mala Manwani, 65, and her 32-year-old son, Rishi, in their Aldie home.
On Thursday, Virginia’s Supreme Court reversed a ruling by Virginia’s Court of Appeals that said the trial judge’s refusal to permit testimony from a firearms expert for the defense was, at most, a harmless error.
On Jan. 29, 2018, Welsh shot the Manwanis several times inside their home on Tomey Court in Aldie, according to prosecutors. Their bodies were discovered two days later.
A jury convicted Welsh in February 2021. Prosecutors said during the trial that Welsh killed the two in an effort to steal $3,000 from Rishi Manwani, who had been dealing drugs from the home he shared with his mother.
During trial, Welsh’s attorney, Thomas Walsh, had sought to present a challenge to the findings of the Commonwealth’s firearms expert that cartridge cases found at the scene matched Welsh’s pistol.
The defense said its expert would testify about toolmark and firearm identification, and describe how a different workflow and analysis would reach findings that contradicted the prosecution’s witness.
The judge prohibited the jury from hearing from the defense’s expert, and Welsh was convicted on two counts of murder and two counts of felony use of a firearm. Virginia’s Court of Appeals affirmed the Loudoun County Circuit Court conviction.
In the Virginia Supreme Court’s opinion, written by Justice Wesley Russell Jr., the court said since the defense expert sought to criticize the prosecution witness’ methodology, and not attack her personal veracity, the trial court should have allowed a “battle of the experts,” citing earlier appeals opinions that, “It is for the jury to determine what weight to accord the testimony of each expert.”
In addition, on the issue of harmless error, the High Court wrote, “We conclude that it cannot be said with confidence, ‘that the error did not influence the jury, or had but slight effect.'”
In reversing the judgment of the Court of Appeals, the Supreme Court said the matter should be remanded to the Loudoun County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office to determine whether the case will be retried.
“I was expecting this decision. Mr. Welsh is looking forward to defending himself if this goes to trial again,” defense attorney Walsh said.
WTOP is seeking comment from the office of Commonwealth’s Attorney Bob Anderson.
A spokesperson for Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares, whose office argued the case before Virginia’s Supreme Court, referred questions to the Loudoun prosecutor.