Facts
- John Cannington (husband) and Jodelle Cannington (wife) were married and lived together in Maryland.
- The parties separated while still living in Maryland.
- After the separation, John moved to Virginia, where his parents lived; Jodelle remained in Maryland.
- Jodelle gave birth to the couple’s son, and she and the child continued to reside in Maryland.
- John provided financial support to Jodelle and the child.
- The child frequently visited John and John’s parents in Virginia.
- Jodelle also traveled to Virginia at times for personal business and to transport the child for visits.
- On a prior occasion, John arranged travel for Jodelle to fly from Washington Dulles International Airport (located in Virginia) to Houston, Texas, and she used Dulles for that trip.
- In early 1999, Jodelle asked John to arrange another trip for her to Houston. John reserved travel that required her to depart from Dulles.
- According to the record described in secondary sources, if Jodelle had not departed from Dulles, she still would have driven into Virginia to leave the child with John’s parents, as she had done many times before.
- When Jodelle arrived at Dulles for her flight, she was personally served with John’s Virginia pleadings seeking divorce and related relief (including determinations concerning support, custody, and division of assets).
- Jodelle moved to dismiss for lack of in personam jurisdiction, arguing John secured her presence in Virginia through fraud or trickery by arranging the trip to make service possible.
Issues
- Whether a Virginia court has in personam jurisdiction over a nonresident spouse who is personally served with process while physically present in Virginia.
- Whether personal jurisdiction based on in-state personal service is defeated when the defendant claims the plaintiff procured the defendant’s entry into Virginia by fraud or trickery.
Decision
- The court denied Jodelle’s motion to dismiss.
- The court held that Virginia could exercise in personam jurisdiction because Jodelle was physically present in Virginia and personally served there.
- The court rejected the fraud/trickery argument on these facts, concluding Jodelle did not show that John deceptively caused her to enter Virginia solely to obtain service.
Legal Principles
- A court may exercise in personam jurisdiction over a nonresident defendant who is personally served with process while the defendant is physically present in the forum state (transient, or “tag,” jurisdiction).
- An asserted exception based on fraudulent inducement requires a factual showing that the plaintiff’s deceptive conduct caused the defendant’s presence in the forum for the purpose of service.
- Prior voluntary travel to the forum and an independent reason to enter the forum support a finding that in-state service was not obtained by fraud, even if the plaintiff anticipated service would occur.
Conclusion
Because Jodelle was personally served while present in Virginia at Dulles Airport, and because the court found she failed to prove John brought her into Virginia by fraud or trickery, the circuit court held that tag jurisdiction applied and denied the motion to dismiss.