Virginia Lawyers Weekly

Although defendant, who was on the ground near his overturned vehicle, said a woman who had been driving the vehicle had “fled,” the jury was entitled to reject this statement as a fabrication, based on testimony from other witnesses at the scene who did not observe a woman at or leaving the scene, according to the Court of Appeals.

At trial, defendant requested a jury instruction under the second paragraph of Va. Code § 46.2-894 on the duties owed by a driver who is “unable to provide the information due to his medical attention.” The trial court refused defendant’s request, finding there was no evidence to support an instruction based on the second paragraph of the statute, and instructed the jury regarding the duties as set forth in the first paragraph of Code § 46.2-894.

Defendant contends he suffered head injuries in the accident and the trial court erred in failing to give the jury an instruction based on the second paragraph of Code § 46.2-894. We disagree.

Although there was evidence defendant’s head was bleeding, his arm and chest were bruised and he was stumbling and lying down in a field immediately after the accident, both witnesses testified that defendant stood, spoke to them both, walked away from the scene on his own accord and continued walking along Oliver Creek Road. There was no evidence defendant was injured such that he was “prevented from complying” with the first paragraph of Code § 46.2-894. It was not error for the trial court to refuse an instruction based on the second paragraph.

The appellate court affirms defendant’s convictions of unauthorized use of a vehicle, damage to property, leaving the scene of an accident and driving on a suspended license, third offense.

Davis v. Commonwealth (McClanahan, J.) No. 0430-08-2, May 12, 2009; Fluvanna County Cir.Ct. (Cullen) Richard T. Harry Jr. for appellant; Susan M. Harris, AAG, for appellee. VLW 009-7-216, 4 pp.

Close this Window Bookmark and Share This Page

Save to Browser Favorites / Bookmarks

Print RSS Feed Ask backflip blinklist BlogBookmark Bloglines BlogMarks Blogsvine BuddyMarks BUMPzee! CiteULike co.mments

Connotea del.icio.us Digg diigo DotNetKicks DropJack dzone Facebook Fark Faves Feed Me Links Friendsite folkd.com

Furl Google Hugg Jeqq Kaboodle kirtsy linkaGoGo linkedin LinksMarker Ma.gnolia Mister Wong Mixx MySpace

MyWeb Netvouz Newsvine oneview OnlyWire PlugIM Propeller Reddit Rojo Segnalo Shoutwire Simpy Slashdot

Sphere Sphinn Spurl Squidoo StumbleUpon Technorati ThisNext Tumblr Twitter Webride Windows Live Yahoo!

Email This to a Friend

Copy HTML: 

 If you like this then please subscribe to the RSS Feed.

More »