Virginia DUI Lawyer
Virginia Reckless Driving/Speeding
Henrico County Traffic Cop Pecka wins Police Motorcycle Competition
Category: Virginia Reckless Driving/Speeding
Henrico County Police Officer M.C.Pecka won top honors at the Chesapeake Bay Police Motorcycle Rodeo competition held recently in Portsmouth Virginia. A series of obstacle courses were set up in the parking lot of a Wal-Mart in Portsmouth. Pecka and Officer E.J. Leabough of the Henrico County Police Department finished first and second in a number of events and teamed up with officers from the Alexandria Police Department to win the team competition. Proceeds from the event raised $12,000 for the March of Dimes Foundation.
Click here to see how difficult the obstacle course was.
So what does Officer Pecka win for his first-place finish in the competition? Last week, the Henrico Division of Police received a new, hand-held radar unit from Kustom Signals Inc. as recognition of Pecka's accomplishments. Great, so now Henrico County police can write more speeding tickets. Virginia has already been ranked as the most expensive state in the country for speeding tickets.
So if you are speeding in Henrico County and you see flashing lights behind you coming from a motorcycle, do not attempt to elude the officer in the parking lot of the local Wal-Mart! Seriously, if you are ever stopped for speeding or other traffic offense in Virginia, you should always be polite and cooperative with the officer. This matters a lot more to judges and prosecutors than it really should. After all, who is ever happy that they have been given a ticket. However, I regularly see people get convicted of the criminal offense of Reckless Driving Speeding who otherwise would have had their charges reduced or dismissed because they could not keep their mouth shut at the roadside. As one ex-police officer told me, more people talk themselves into tickets than talk themselves out of tickets.
So what do you do if you have been charged with Reckless Driving Speeding in Henrico County or anywhere in Virginia? You contact an experienced Virginia Traffic Lawyer like Henrico County Reckless Driving Speeding Lawyer Bob Battle. Battle's law firm helps hundreds of motorists every year get their Reckless Driving Speeding charges reduced or dismissed, usually without the client even having to appear in court on the trial date.
Police Officer Broadsides, Kills Motorist En Route to Shoplifting Call
Category: Virginia Reckless Driving/Speeding
Not even a police officer responding to call is exempt from road safety.
Fairfax County Commonwealth's Attorney Raymond Morrogh charged county police officer Amanda Perry, 22, with reckless driving after she broadsided and killed a motorist on Route 1 in south Alexandria, Va. Feb. 12, according to NBC4.com in Washington.
Killed was 33-year-old Ashley McIntosh, a Kindergarten teacher engaged to be married. The officer was traveling 50 miles an hour when she ran a red light at Boswell Drive and struck McIntosh's Toyota sedan, according to reports. McIntosh was pronounced dead at Inova Fairfax Hospital.
Issued a summons at police headquarters, Perry remains on restricted duty pending an internal administrative review.
"We are disappointed in Mr. Morrogh's decision to charge our member with reckless driving," said Fairfax Coalition of Police President Marshall Thielen. "Based on our knowledge of the case, we believe our member did not operate her vehicle a reckless manner. We hope for a more appropriate adjudication of this case and will defend our client in court."
Lt. Gov. Bolling Summons Assembly to Repeal Speeding Ticket Initiative
Category: Virginia Reckless Driving/Speeding
Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling asked the Virginia General Assembly to repeal the speeding ticket tax which took effect last July. Bolling said funding highways with ticket surcharges seemed sound at the start but has failed in practice.
"It's my belief the abusive driver fees should be repealed," Bolling wrote. "While it may be possible to address some of the concerns that have been raised... through revisions to the 2007 legislation, I believe that would be a mistake."
Under current law, anyone convicted of driving either 20 MPH over the speed limit or 80 MPH on any road is subject to the remedial fees. On Interstate 85, which has a top legal speed of 70 MPH, a 10 MPH speeding ticket automatically becomes "reckless driving" which carries a mandatory remedial fee of $1,050 in addition to a fine of up to $2,500 imposed by a judge, according to thenewspaper.com.
Program Fell $57 Million Shy of Projections
Bolling, a former state senator from Mathews County, wrote the public lost confidence in the program after learning "less serious traffic offenses" were included and fees only applied to Commonwealth residents. As evidence, the lieutenant governor noted the tax generated only a sliver ($2.8 million) of the projected $60 million in revenue. He said road safety has been negligible with traffic deaths setting a 17-year-high in 2007.
However, the architect of the program -- Del. Dave Albo (R-Springfield) -- wants to save his project. Albo would expand the fees to include out-of-state drivers but eliminate them for certain minor infractions such as reckless failure to use a turn signal and speeding less than 25 MPH over the limit. It would, however, boost the maximum possible speeding penalty to $4,420. This sum would be imposed in the form of a $120 tax on each mile-per-hour driven in excess of 25 MPH over the posted limit, with the total fine capped at $1,920. This means driving 96 MPH in a 55 zone brings that hefty fee in addition to a court-imposed penalty of up to $2,500.
Virginia government study shows new Civil Remedial Fees don't increase safety; they only increase license suspensions
Category: Virginia Reckless Driving/Speeding
An article in the Washington Post details the findings of a report prepared by the Virginia Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission which found that, despite the rhetoric of politicians in favor of the new Civil Remedial Fee laws, the laws have not increased safety on Virginia highways; however, they will drastically increase the number of license suspensions.
The report found that arrests for speeding and DUI have actually increased in the second half of 2007 over the second half of 2006. The report speculates that the drop in reckless driving/speeding charges may be because of a dislike of the fine by many police officers. Officers have discretion to write someone who is caught doing above 80 mph with a mere speeding ticket. Reckless driving/speeding is a criminal misdemeanor in Virginia and the civil remedial fees add an additional $1,050 fine to these tickets for Virginia residents.
The report also shows that thousands of motorists are unwilling or unable to pay the fees. As the fees were approved in February, a person convicted of a felony or misdemeanor driving offense has to pay $250 to $1,050 a year for three consecutive years. If the motorist fails to pay, the Department of Motor Vehicles will suspend the person's driver's license.
The report states that the DMV may have to issue more than 300,000 license suspensions to drivers over the next two years for failure to pay this civil remedial fee.
For more information on this issue, visit the website of Richmond Virgina DUI and Reckless Driving Speeding Lawyer Bob Battle.
Do the math-saying you can't afford to hire a lawyer for your Virginia reckless driving speeding charge may cost big bucks
Category: Virginia Reckless Driving/Speeding
Virginia Reckless Driving Speeding lawyer Bob Battle, who has helped thousands of motorists charged with this serious criminal misdemeanor offense to have their charges reduced or dismissed, usually without the accused even having to go to court, often speaks to people who conclude that they cannot afford to hire a lawyer for their reckless driving speeding charge. A recent example demonstrates what Battle was already well aware of- those people who choose to represent themselves often wind up costing themselves an additional $3,000 to potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars when compared to similar motorists who were smart enough to hire an experienced reckless driving speeding lawyer. That is why Bob Battle is presently writing a new Consumer Guide which will be titled "The Shocking Truth about Reckless Driving Speeding Charges in Virgina."
A recent example dramatically illustrates this point. Recently, Bob Battle spoke to a woman who had a Reckless Driving Speeding case in Hanover County, Virginia. Battle had already been retained to represent another motorist charged with Reckless Driving Speeding on the same date. Battle's client was actually doing faster than the other woman, who told Battle that she could not afford to hire a lawyer and represented herself.
Battle's client did not have to miss work and take vacation days to appear in court on his trial date. Battle negotiated a plea agreement with the prosecutor to reduce the speed and the judge continued the case to be dismissed. The cost to Battle's client for court costs and traffic school was approximately $100.
Now let's take a look at the costs of the woman who chose to represent herself. Hanover County traffic court prosecutors, like most counties in Virginia, will not plea bargain with individuals who are not represented by lawyers. The judge in Hanover County General District Court, like most judges in Virginia, view their mandate from the Virginia General Assembly to be similar to that of an umpire in baseball. If the evidence shows that the driver was doing 85 mph or above, they will be convicted as charged. This woman was found guilty of reckless driving speeding, asked the judge for a traffic school disposition, and her request was denied. Let's look at her costs:
fines and court costs: $400mandatory civil remedial fees: $1050
increased insurance: approximately $3000 over three years (If the judge also suspends the person's license, the increase is much higher.)
Lost days from work: 1 or 2
Criminal record: permanent class one misdemeanor criminal record
Points on Virginia driving record: 6 (Virginia only has 3, 4 & 6 point offenses)
Loss of a job or potential job due to criminal record: possibly hundreds of thousands of dollars!
This woman's decision to save some money on legal fees wound up costing her a ton of money, her clean criminal record, 6 points on her driving record, huge increases in insurance premiums, and, potentially, the loss of current or future jobs.
To learn more about the seriousness of Virginia Reckless Driving Speeding laws and how you can avoid winding up like the woman described in this article, watch the videos and read the articles at www.VirginiaRecklessDrivingInfo.com.
Virginia's "Move Over" Law Ignored in Two I-95 Close Calls in Henrico and Chesterfield County
Category: Virginia Reckless Driving/Speeding
Virginia's "Move Over Law" means just that.
If a highway motorist notices a Virginia State Trooper stopped on the shoulder, the driver must move one lane away from the incident. Two troopers last weekend in the Richmond area wished passing motorists would have followed the law. Both escaped injury but in each case, a motorist lost control of the vehicle, side-swiping the stopped vehicle and crashing into the guardrail.
Chesterfield County north of Colonial Heights was the scene of one incident. Sgt. D.Y. Wyatt had stopped the driver of a pickup and the driver of a car each for speeding. His unmarked car was parked between the two vehicles he had stopped.
As Wyatt was speaking with the car's driver, a 50-year-old woman driving in the right lane veered onto the shoulder and barely missed hitting the sergeant, sideswiping his cruiser. She then hit the pickup and guardrail. The woman was taken to Southside Regional Medical Center for treatment.
The second incident happened at the Dunbarton Road intersection in Henrico County. Senior state trooper S.L. Townes Jr. had stopped a motorist for speeding and was writing the ticket in his car. Just then, a 77-year-old man driving a camper towing a trailer sideswiped Townes' car and smashed into the guardrail.
Highway motorists in Virginia should remember that failure to heed Virginia's "Move over" law is a Class 1 misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in jail and a $2,500 fine. The Virginia Code Section is 46.2-921.1 and it states:
§ 46.2-921.1. Drivers to yield right-of-way or reduce speed when approaching stationary emergency vehicles on highways; penalties.The driver of any motor vehicle, upon approaching a stationary emergency vehicle, as defined in § 46.2-920, that is displaying a flashing, blinking, or alternating emergency light or lights as provided in §§ 46.2-1022, 46.2-1023, and 46.2-1024, shall (i) on a highway having at least four lanes, at least two of which are intended for traffic proceeding as the approaching vehicle, proceed with caution and, if reasonable, with due regard for safety and traffic conditions, yield the right-of-way by making a lane change into a lane not adjacent to that occupied by the stationary emergency vehicle or (ii) if changing lanes would be unreasonable or unsafe, proceed with due caution and maintain a safe speed for highway conditions.
Violation of any provision of this section shall constitute a Class 1 misdemeanor. If the violation resulted in damage to property of another person, the court may, in addition, order the suspension of the driver's privilege to operate a motor vehicle for not more than one year. If the violation resulted in injury to another person, the court may, in addition to any other penalty imposed, order the suspension of the driver's privilege to operate a motor vehicle for not more than two years. If the violation resulted in the death of another person, the court may, in addition to any other penalty imposed, order the suspension of the driver's privilege to operate a motor vehicle for two years.
Henrico County judge rules that Virginia's Civil Remedial Fees are unconstitutional
Category: Virginia Reckless Driving/Speeding
Henrico County General District Court Judge Archie Yeatts ruled this morning that Virginia's controversial new Civil Remedial Fees for certain traffic offenses are an unconstitutional violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the United States Constitution.
Henrico County Traffic Lawyer Bob Battle has previously written about the Equal Protection Clause issue in the "Virginia DUI Lawyer." The winning legal argument raised was extremely straightforward. The motion filed on behalf of the defendant stated that the Virginia Civil Remedial Fees were unconstitutional because they were only levied against Virginia motorists and not against out-of-state motorists convicted of the exact same offenses.
The Attorney General's Office, working with the Henrico County Commonwealth's Attorney's office, argued that this new law did not violate the Equal Protection Clause because there were two reasons that provided a "rational basis" for the distinctions among Virginia motorists and out-of-state motorists.
The first reason was that more Virginia motorists use the highways and roads of Virginia and the second reason was the increased difficulty in collecting the fines against out-of-state motorists. Henrico County General District Court was the wrong place to make these arguments! The interstate highways located in the county have some of the most notorious speed traps in a state now notorious nationally for its speed traps. Henrico County is one of the busiest and toughest jurisdictions on Reckless Driving Speeding cases in the state. (For example, anyone convicted of doing 90 mph and above goes to jail for at least one day.) The General District Court judges in Henrico County literally see thousands of out-of-state motorists every year that are charged with traffic offenses in Henrico County.
The state will appeal Judge Archie Yeatts' ruling to Henrico County Circuit Court.
With his order, Yeatts instructed Henrico General District Court clerks not to collect any Civil Remedial Fees.
Read the full opinion of Judge Yeatts- Henrico County Judge's Opinion Declaring Civil Remedial Fees Unconstitutional.
Richmond Traffic Court Clerks and Richmond Area Judges Not Fans of Virginia's Civil Remedial Fees for Traffic Convictions
Category: Virginia Reckless Driving/Speeding
The city of Richmond clerk's office in the traffic division for the Richmond General District Court is making no bones about its dislike of Virginia's new "civil remedial fees" for certain traffic convictions. Irving Wright, clerk of the traffic division of Richmond General District Court was quoted in the Virginia Lawyers Weekly as saying,
"They say it's a remedial fee, but I don't know that we'll remedy anything.".
In fact, the payment window at the Richmond traffic court clerk's office has a sign prominently displayed which says, "The fees are set by the General Assembly and any comments, complaints, suggestions or argument should be made to members of that body and not to the court or clerk's office."
Apparently even the Richmond-area judges are skeptical about the law and its constitutionality. Richmond lawyer Craig Cooley, who has already filed a legal challenge to the civil remedial fees, also related to the Virginia Lawyers Weekly:
I haven't talked to a judge yet who doesn't think it's a violation of equal protection. I don't know that I've talked to one who is coming up for reelection.
Cooley, an outstanding lawyer who also has a great sense of humor, was referring to the pressure the judges will be under in ruling on the constitutionality of a law that was passed by the same politicians that will decide whether they are re-appointed to the bench.
Henrico County Legal Action Challenges Constitutionality of Virginia's Civil Remedial Fee for Traffic Convictions
Category: Virginia Reckless Driving/Speeding
Two Virginia lawyers were so anxious to challenge the Constitutionality of the new Civil Remedial Fee for traffic convictions that they filed without the one important necessity before the Henrico County General District Court could consider their Motion- a client! One of the basic tenets of the American judicial system, something that a lawyer learns in their first week in law school, is that the courts only hear actual pending "cases and controversies." Thus, there must be a client with legal "standing" to raise the issue. Judges and courts have never been in the business of issuing advisory opinions.
The new Virginia Civil Remedial Remedial Fees for Traffic Offenses law only applies to those charged with Reckless Driving Speeding, DUI, or one of the other included offenses after July 1, 2007, who are also licensed in Virginia. Thus, it will be late July/early August before the courts will be flooded with cases that the mandatory huge fines will be added to on top of what happens in court.
Why are lawyers like Virginia Reckless Speeding Lawyer Bob Battle chomping at the bit to attack these huge fees? Easy- we feel these laws, which unfairly apply only to Virginia drivers, are unconstitutional. The fees violate the United States Constitution for two reasons: they are a separate and additional punishment and therefore violate the Double Jeopardy Clause, and they violate the Equal Protection Clause because they apply only to Virginians and not to out-of-state residents. Furthermore, there is an argument that the laws violate the Virginia State Constitution because the fines are not going to Virginia's Literary Fund, in violation of Article VIII, Section 8 of the Virginia Constitution.
Virginians Outraged Over Civil Remedial Fees for Traffic Offenses
Back on May 31, 2007, Virginia Reckless Speeding Lawyer Bob Battle posted an article on the huge increase in fines for Reckless Driving, DUI and other traffic offenses. The law does not apply to mere speeding tickets; it applies to Reckless Driving Speeding convictions. However, Virginia criminalizes speeding 20 or more miles above the speed limit or doing 81 mph or more in a 65 mph zone. Thus, someone who was doing nothing the least bit "reckless" could now be facing a "$3,550 Speeding Ticket."The new law applies to anyone charged after July 1, 2007, and the law only applies to Virginia drivers.
These excessive fines have outraged Virginia drivers. A petition to repeal the Virgina Civil Remedial Fees for Traffic Offenses already has over 72,000 signatures.
Even before the passage of these excessive fines, it was prudent to hire an experienced lawyer to defend these cases. Richmond Virginia Reckless Driving Speeding Lawyer Bob Battle has helped 1000's of motorist to escape Reckless Driving convictions- most of the time successfully representing these clients without their even having to go to court. Read more about Virginia Reckless Speeding Law.
Virginia Police Arrest for Driving on Suspended License Ruled Illegal
Category: Virginia Reckless Driving/Speeding
In Cross v. Commonwealth, decided Tuesday, the Virginia Court of Appeals, in extending the holding of a November 2006 ruling of the Virginia Supreme Court (Moore v Commonwealth) requiring that a motorist charged with Driving on a Suspended License be issued a Summons and released, ruled that a motorist who was being placed under arrest for Driving on a Suspended License committed no offense when he resisted arrest and fled. Virginia law allows an individual to use reasonable force to resist an unlawful arrest. The motorist was found to be in possession of cocaine and also charged with misdemeanor obstruction of justice.
The Court of Appeals reversed the defendant's conviction for possession of cocaine pursuant to Moore and held that his intended conditional plea to the obstruction charge, although not allowed for misdemeanors, rendered his plea of guilty invalid and allowed the defendant to withdraw his guilty plea. A "conditional plea of guilty" means that an accused is pleading guilty with the understanding that he is appealing a legal issue in the case. Virginia law only allows these conditional pleas for felony allegations. Click here to read the full Court of Appeals opinion in Cross v. Commonwealth
In November 2006, in the case of Moore v Commonwealth, the Virginia Supreme Court ruled, in a drug prosecution of a driver arrested for Driving on a Suspended License, that the violation of the requirement under Virginia Code § 19.2-74 that police issue a Summons to a person detained for a Class 1 misdemeanor and forthwith release him from custody upon his promise to appear at a specified time and place, rendered the fruits of a later search of the individual unconstitutional.
The Virginia Supreme Court held that the Fourth Amendment forbids expansion of the search incident to arrest doctrine to include a search incident to citation. The judgment of the Court of Appeals upholding his conviction was reversed and the charges were dismissed.
Virginia Police Are Expanding Aerial Enforcement to Help Curb Speeding and Aggressive Drivers
Category: Virginia Reckless Driving/Speeding
A recent Washington Post article points out that police in Virginia have turned to aerial enforcement because it is "one of the most effective ways to spot aggressive drivers." Using a trained trooper's eyes and what basically is a high-tech stopwatch, known as VASCAR, this type of enforcement is immune from radar detectors and jammers. And few drivers look skyward when scanning for speed traps.
The airborne effort is the latest offensive against aggressive drivers, who lawmakers and police are increasingly targeting because of their roles in causing accidents, highway deaths and everyday driver frustration.Maryland increased penalties against aggressive drivers in 2001, and Virginia passed a law in 2003 designating highway safety corridors and funding additional airborne missions to fight aggressive drivers.
"The recent upsurge in enforcement is a direct result of the department placing an increased emphasis on speeding and reckless drivers," said Lt. Nick E. Saunders, commander of the Virginia State Police aviation unit, which has a fleet of four Cessna 182s based across the state, including one at Manassas Regional Airport.
Virginia State Police Unveil "Muscle Cars" in Continued Speeding Crackdown
Category: Virginia Reckless Driving/Speeding
The Virginia State Police bought 32 Dodge Chargers for about $21,000 apiece as part of a pilot program to add a new breed of car to its fleet. Trooper Tom Cashin designed the graphics. Cashin, who works in New Kent County, received the department's first Charger about three weeks ago. He designed the vehicle's sleek new graphics, which are being added to every Charger. New Kent County, located between Richmond and Williamsburg on I-64, is one of Virginia's busiest counties for writing Reckless Driving/Speeding tickets. Reckless Driving/Speeding can and will be written for any speed above 80 mph on the highway. Reckless Driving/Speeding is also a criminal offense in Virginia. (To learn more about Reckless Driving/Speeding in Virginia, go to BobBattleLaw.com)
Not all of the 32 Dodge Chargers will have Trooper Cashin's impressive design since twelve of the cars are marked, 13 are unmarked and seven are "slick tops," meaning they are marked with state police logos but have no easy-to-spot emergency light bar on top.
Continue reading "Virginia State Police Unveil "Muscle Cars" in Continued Speeding Crackdown"