Reckless Driving In Virginia Penalty

For a lot of our clients, a charge of Reckless Driving can result in the loss of their job, their security clearance, etc.

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Warner v. Commonwealth

Facts:

An officer activated his signal and pursued the car defendant was driving; it turned into a gas station, accelerated, and re-entered the road without stopping or slowing down, causing other vehicles to brake or stop. Defendant pled guilty to reckless driving in district court. He argued the prosecution failed to prove that he endangered a person or the operation of a law enforcement vehicle, as required to convict him of violating § 46.2-817(B). The appellate court disagreed. He endangered the officer, himself, and nearby motorists; that no one was harmed was immaterial. His penalty for reckless driving arising from the same incident did not bar his prosecution for felony eluding under Va. Code Ann. § 19.2-294; as arrest warrants for the two offenses were issued on the same date, they were brought in a "single proceeding, " even though, for jurisdictional reasons, they were resolved by two different courts.

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Holdings:

The Virginia Court made the following holding:

In the context of the double jeopardy bar, considering Va. Code Ann. §§ 46.2-852 and 46.2-817(B) together, both contain different elements. The reckless driving statute, § 46.2-852, requires that the accused be driving on a highway, whereas the felony eluding statute, § 46.2-817(B), does not necessitate that the accused drive on a particular roadway. Section 46.2-852 provides that a violation may occur if the accused endangers any property of a person. Section 46.2-817(B), however, provides that a violation occurs only where the accused endangers the operation of a law enforcement vehicle, but not the law enforcement vehicle itself.

Reckless Driving In Virginia Penalty

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