Impact of Melendez-Diaz is lessening over time

DUI case could have impact on implied consent

By Correy E. Stephenson
Published: April 29, 2013
Tags: Constitutional, Criminal, DUI, U.S. Supreme Court

A U.S. Supreme Court decision addressing the constitutionality of blood draws from drunken driving suspects may have a limited effect in Virginia – for the time being. In the April 17 decision, which split the justices 5-4, the high court held that the natural breakdown of alcohol in the bloodstream does not automatically justify an [...]

Roanoke jury slams two drunken drivers for $5M

By Peter Vieth
Published: March 19, 2013
Tags: DUI, Million-Dollar Verdicts, Roanoke County Circuit Court, Wrongful Death

A fatal accident blamed on two different drunken drivers has brought a $5 million verdict against both drivers. A Roanoke County jury delivered the verdict March 11 after a five-day trial over who was to blame for the death of a highway construction worker impaled by a tractor blade. The two drivers claimed the construction [...]

Punitives OK for one plaintiff, but cut in half for another

By Peter Vieth
Published: February 22, 2013
Tags: DUI, Fairfax County Circuit Court, Judge Bruce D. White, Traffic Offenses

A Fairfax circuit judge has approved a punitive damages award of $100,000 for a plaintiff in a drinking-and-driving case. But for the other plaintiff in the case, he cut the same award in half, giving her $50,000. Reston lawyer Robert T. Hall, who represented both the driver and her passenger in the car-wreck case, said [...]

High court grants its first contested innocence writ

By Peter Vieth
Published: November 9, 2012
Tags: Criminal, DUI, Supreme Court of Virginia News, Traffic Offenses, Virginia Court of Appeals News

The Supreme Court of Virginia for the first time has granted a writ of actual innocence over the objection of the commonwealth. When the Court of Appeals of Virginia split five-five on a rehearing of a panel decision, that panel decision should have stood as the court’s judgment, the high court decided Nov. 1. The [...]

Many subpoenas, few court appearances, DFS says

By Deborah Elkins
Published: October 5, 2012
Tags: Criminal, DUI, General Assembly, Melendez-Diaz, Traffic Offenses, U.S. Supreme Court

Forensic technicians have been keeping up with the increased workload imposed by a 2009 Supreme Court case requiring technicians to spend more time in court, but their case backlog is growing again, according to a report by the Virginia Department of Forensic Science. In May, DFS made “a big push to get cases out,” DFS [...]

Judges split over new interlock law for DUIs

By Peter Vieth
Published: July 30, 2012
Tags: Bar Associations, Criminal, DUI, General District Courts

Virginia judges have split in their application of the new ignition interlock law for first-time DUI offenders. Some judges have applied it only to cases in which the offense occurred after the law went into effect on July 1. Others have applied the new law to cases in which the driver was stopped before July [...]

New laws: Voter ID, ultrasound, DUI measures now in effect

By The Associated Press
Published: July 5, 2012
Tags: DUI, General Assembly, Gov. Bob McDonnell

(AP) As of July 1, Virginians have to bring identification to the polls with them, undergo pre-abortion sonograms and pay for ignition interlock devices on their cars if they are convicted of drunken driving. Laws passed by the long-running, often fractious 2012 General Assembly took effect at the first of the month. Other new laws [...]

Chesterfield hits drunken drivers with a second whack

By Peter Vieth
Published: May 10, 2012
Tags: DUI, General District Courts, Traffic Offenses

Some wayward motorists are getting hit with a double whammy after conviction in traffic court. Local governments, including Chesterfield County, are taking the offenders into civil court to demand reimbursement for the cost of an officer stopping them and writing the ticket. In many cases, the “cost” is a fixed fee of $350, but the [...]

Lawyers react to new tough-on-crime laws

By Peter Vieth
Published: April 12, 2012
Tags: Bar Associations, Criminal, DUI, General Assembly, Traffic Offenses

ROANOKE – Lawyers who ignore the General Assembly should not complain about the new batch of tough-on-crime laws limiting judges’ discretion and creating backlogs in traffic court. That’s one legislator’s reaction to complaints from courthouse lawyers about the 2012 General Assembly. A meeting April 10 of the Roanoke Bar Association offered the latest airing of [...]