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Virginia Hopewell City Reasonable Doubt Reckless Driving Intoxicated Convicted Lawyers

by

Atchuthan Sriskandarajah

LINDA EUGENE HALL v. COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA

COURT OF APPEALS OF VIRGINIA

25 Va. App. 352; 488 S.E.2d 651; 1997 Va. App. LEXIS 522

August 5, 1997, Decided

Facts:

The defendant appealed from the judgment of the Circuit Court of the City of Hopewell (Virginia), which, after a bench trial, convicted her of reckless Hopewell Police Officer testified he arrived at the designated location and found appellant’s car stopped in a heavily travelled area and that the appellant was “passed out behind the wheel. The police officer opined that appellant’s car was a traffic hazard which posed a threat to appellant’s safety and to the safety of other motorists. However, he never saw the car in motion prior to or during his investigation and he confirmed that he had not observed appellant driving the vehicle. The appellant told him she was headed home to Chesterfield while the direction of her vehicle was such that she was really “coming from Chesterfield. A strong odor of alcohol was escaping from the vehicle and there were two open alcoholic beverage containers therein. Appellant admitted she had been drinking. The prosecutor elected not to proceed on the charge for which appellant was arrested and amended the charge to reckless driving.

Issue:

Whether the evidence was sufficient to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that defendant drove a vehicle recklessly on a highway in violation of Va. Code Ann. 46.2-852.?

Discussion:

This court held that the circumstances in which the police officer found appellant’s car were such as to give rise to an inference that appellant drove her car to the location where the police officer found her. In fact, it has been held in similar circumstances that a defendant could be convicted of driving or operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated. However, the circumstances in appellant’s case do not give rise to an inference that she drove her car in a reckless manner. To support a conviction for

reckless driving

in violation of Code 46.2-852, the Commonwealth must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the accused drove the vehicle in a reckless manner “so as to endanger the life, limb, or property” of another.The essence of the offense of reckless driving lies not in the act of operating a vehicle, but in the manner and circumstances of its operation. this court held that under the facts shown by this record, the Commonwealth has failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that appellant was guilty of reckless driving in violation of Code 46.2-852.

Conclusion:

This court hence found that the evidence was insufficient and reversed the conviction

Disclaimer:

These summaries are provided by the SRIS Law Group. They represent the firm s unofficial views of the Justices opinions. The original opinions should be consulted for their authoritative content

Atchuthan Sriskandarajah is a

Virginia lawyer

and owner of the SRIS Law Group. The SRIS Law Group has offices in Virginia, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina & California. The firm handles criminal/traffic defense, family law, immigration & bankruptcy cases.

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