Reckless Driving Arlington Virginia

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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If you have been charged with a criminal offense of Reckless Driving in Virginia and you are wondering what the penalty is in VA, contact our law firm for help.

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Martin v. Commonwealth

Facts:

            While defendant sat in the driver's seat of a vehicle stopped at a tollbooth, a police officer approached the vehicle, smelled alcohol, and arrested defendant for reckless driving, Arlington Virginia. After defendant, a habitual offender, was convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol, the trial court imposed a felony sentence under Va. Code Ann. § 46.2-357(B)(2) because defendant's drunken driving had allegedly endangered the vehicle's passengers. Accordingly, defendant sought review, claiming nobody had been endangered and as such, the trial court should have imposed a misdemeanor sentence, pursuant to Va. Code Ann. § 46.2-357(B)(1). In reversing, the court held that even though defendant had been negligent in operating the vehicle, defendant's intoxication had not been such that it had elevated defendant's conduct to the level of reckless driving. Thus, the court held the evidence had failed to prove that defendant's drunken driving had endangered others, as required by Va. Code Ann. § 46.2-357(B)(2).

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Holdings:

The Virginia Court made the following holding:

·         Va. Code Ann. § 46.2-357 reads: B. Any person found to be an habitual offender under this article, who is thereafter convicted of driving a motor vehicle or self-propelled machinery or equipment in the Commonwealth while the order of the court prohibiting such driving is in effect, shall be punished as follows: 2. If such driving, of itself, does endanger the life, limb, or property of another, such person shall be guilty of a felony punishable by confinement in the state correctional facility for not less than one year nor more than five years or, in the discretion of the jury or the court trying the case without a jury, by confinement in jail for twelve months and no portion of such sentence shall be suspended except that (i) if the sentence is more than one year in the state correctional facility, any portion of such sentence in excess of one year may be suspended or (ii) in cases wherein such operation is necessitated in situations of apparent extreme emergency which require such operation to save life or limb, said sentence, or any part thereof may be suspended. 3. If the offense of driving while an order of adjudication as an habitual offender is in effect is a second or subsequent such offense, such person shall be punished as provided in subdivision 2 of this section, irrespective of whether the offense, of itself, endangers the life, limb, or property of another.  

Reckless Driving Arlington Virginia

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