Traffic Offenses | Virginia Lawyers Weekly

Traffic-fine fight pits state against localities

By Peter Vieth
Published: November 4, 2011
Tags: General Assembly, Traffic Offenses

Complaints about “speed traps” may prompt the Virginia General Assembly to recalibrate how the state and various localities divide the money that goes with the traffic fines.
Under longstanding practice, Virginia’s local governments have passed their own traffic laws, which frequently correspond to state traffic statutes. Local prosecutors can choose to proceed under local law, which [...]

Va. Calibration Test DNA on Federal Parkway

By Deborah Elkins
Published: October 17, 2011
Tags: Judge Liam O'Grady, Traffic Offenses, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

An Alexandria U.S. District Court affirms defendant’s conviction for speeding on the George Washington Memorial Parkway, despite defendant’s claim the magistrate judge improperly admitted readings of a Lisar laser device without proving recent calibration; because Virginia’s guidelines for calibrating speed-detection devices are administrative, the National Park Service was not required to adopt the measures through [...]

Store-Bought Tag Prompts Pickup Stop

By Deborah Elkins
Published: October 17, 2011
Tags: Judge D. Arthur Kelsey, Traffic Offenses, Virginia Court of Appeals

A defendant who was driving a pickup truck at 10:00 p.m. on a February night, with three people in the cab and a store-bought farm use tag, gave a state trooper reasonable suspicion to stop the truck to determine if in fact it was being used as a farm vehicle, and the Court of Appeals [...]

A different kind of moving violation…

By Paul Fletcher
Published: June 27, 2011
Tags: Fairfax Circuit Court, Judge Brett A. Kassabian, Judge Michael F. Devine, Personal Injury, Traffic Offenses

A 2010 car crash case on the Beltway in Fairfax County lit up the Internet in Northern Virginia last week when some of the allegations against the defendant were publicized.
The plaintiff claimed that the defendant was drunk, speeding at 85 mph and having sex at the time of the crash.
Just when most readers were [...]

DUI Conviction Upheld for Vehicle Seat-Switcher

By Deborah Elkins
Published: June 14, 2011
Tags: Supreme Court of Virginia, Traffic Offenses

The Supreme Court of Virginia says an intoxicated defendant who switched seats with the person who was driving a vehicle stopped by police, because defendant feared the actual driver would be deported if arrested, can be convicted of driving under the influence because she was an “operator” of the vehicle under Virginia law.
This appeal presents [...]

No Miranda Warnings Before Field Sobriety Tests

By Deborah Elkins
Published: March 24, 2011
Tags: Judge Cleo E. Powell, Traffic Offenses, Virginia Court of Appeals

An officer did not have to give Miranda warnings to defendant driver before advising about the physical components of the field sobriety tests and asking the driver if he had any physical problems that would affect the tests; the Court of Appeals says this conversation did not involve testimonial communication, and defendant’s physical performance [...]

Prosecutor Can Pursue First-Offense Breath Test Refusal

By Deborah Elkins
Published: March 9, 2011
Tags: Justice Donald W. Lemons, Supreme Court of Virginia, Traffic Offenses

A commonwealth’s attorney is authorized to prosecute a charge of first-offense refusal to take a breath test in violation of Va. Code § 18.2-268.3, even though the offense is civil in nature, and the Supreme Court of Virginia affirms the judgment against appellant.
Appellant argues that under Virginia law only the Attorney General was permitted to [...]

BAC Certificate Comes In, Despite Arrest Delay Claim

By Deborah Elkins
Published: March 8, 2011
Tags: Judge James W. Haley Jr., Traffic Offenses, Virginia Court of Appeals

A defendant who alleges he was not arrested within three hours of driving under the influence because the officer did not perform “any physical act” of arrest, loses his challenge to admission of the certificate of analysis under Virginia’s implied consent law; the Court of Appeals affirms defendant’s conviction for DUI, second offense within five [...]

Key Position Means Driver Was ‘Operating’ Vehicle

By Deborah Elkins
Published: January 19, 2011
Tags: Justice Harry L. Carrico, Supreme Court of Virginia, Traffic Offenses

A defendant discovered passed-out behind the wheel of a vehicle, with the key in the ignition turned to the “on” or “accessory” position, was “operating” the vehicle under Virginia law, and the Supreme Court of Virginia affirms his conviction of DUI, fourth offense within 10 years.
We have previously reviewed several driving under the influence cases [...]

DUI Reversed After Invalid Arrest

By Deborah Elkins
Published: January 19, 2011
Tags: Justice Charles S. Russell, Supreme Court of Virginia, Traffic Offenses

The Supreme Court of Virginia reverses a defendant’s DUI conviction because the trial court erred in admitting a certificate of analysis from a blood test after a police officer arrested defendant for a misdemeanor offense not committed in the officer’s presence.
Because the applicability of the implied consent law is explicitly limited to situations in which [...]

Virginia Lawyers Weekly