VA DUI News

Marcus Vick Pleads Guilty to Virginia DUI

Brother of former NFL player was charged with drunk driving in VA last June.

Marcus Vick entered a guilty plea in Norfolk Court to several criminal charges, including driving under the influence in Virginia.

Vick, 24, was arrested last June after briefly evading a bicycle patrol that had responded to a quarrel. Vick pleaded guilty to Virginia DUI, eluding police and driving on the wrong side of the road. The judge did not sentence Vick to jail but did suspend his license for one-year and ordered him to pay a $530 fine.

Vick is a former quarterback for Virginia Tech, though he was dismissed from the team in 2006 after a series of problems. He is the younger brother of former Virginia Tech and Atlanta Falcon quarterback Michael Vick, who is currently in jail on federal charges associated with a dog fighting operation.

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Assistant Police Chief Nabbed for Virginia DUI

Newport News places Dawn Barber on administrative leave after arrest for drunk driving in Virginia.

The Assistant Police Chief for Newport News, Virginia was arrested last Saturday for drunk driving. According to Virginia State Police, Dawn Barber, 44, was stopped on Interstate 64 around 9:40 pm and a breath test indicated she had a blood alcohol content of .12%. The legal limit for intoxication in Virginia is .08%. Barber was consequently charged with driving under the influence in Hampton, Virginia. There is no word as to what initiated the traffic stop.

Barber is a 21 year veteran with the Newport News police department. She was named assistant police chief of administration and support in 2005, making news as the highest ranking position in the police department to be held by a woman. Barber oversees the 911 dispatch center, fleet operations, property and evidence, recruiting and crime analysis divisions. She was responsible for oversight on the construction of the new police headquarters which opened last year.

Barber has been placed on administrative leave pending an internal investigation.

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Boat Operator Charged with Virginia DUI

Man involved in boating accident that killed his passenger.

Kirk Riffey, from Cheaspeake, was charged with driving under the influence in Virginia following a fatal boating accident.

Riffey was operating a powerboat on the southern branch of the Elizabeth River when he struck a functioning channel marker. His passenger, Bobby Ray Ussery from Virginia Beach, was killed in the incident.

The Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries is considering additional charges.

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Wild Details of Representative Fossella’s Virginia DUI

Fossella’s PR campaign can’t keep info and questions out of press in VA drunk driving case.

Details of Vito Fossella’s arrest for driving under the influence in Virginia are forming an intriguing image. The US Congressman from New York was arrested last week for drunk driving in Alexandria, Virginia after running a red light. At the time, he told officers he was rushing to help his ailing daughter get to a hospital. It was later learned that, in fact, he had been at a White House function honoring the Super Bowl champions New York Giants and then at a dinner with other New Yorkers.

It has now been revealed that Fossella and a friend only referred to as ‘Brian’ went to Logan Tavern in Washington, DC after the dinner. Waiters describe the two being very intoxicated and at one point ‘Brian’ passed out in front of the men’s room. Staff called a cab for the pair but it is not known if they took the cab or walked to their vehicles. Shortly after midnight, Fossella was arrested for DUI in Alexandria, over 8 miles away. His blood alcohol level was more than twice the legal limit.

After being booked for drunk driving, Fossella called a blond woman described as a ‘good friend’ to pick him up. The woman has since been identified as retired Air Force Lt. Colonel Laura Faye. Faye and Fossella reportedly met in 2003 while she was a House military liaison for the Air Force. The press is curious as to why Faye was called when Fossella’s Chief of Staff lives in Alexandria. Faye is a single mother with a 3-year old daughter. A relative of Faye’s said who fathered the child is ‘vague’.

Fossella’s camp has retained the services of a high priced Republican public relations crisis consultant. That in itself is raising questions about the need for such expensive damage control.

If you have been arrested for drunk driving in Virginia, you will need to hire a Virginia DUI lawyer.

New York Congressman Arrested for DUI in Virginia

Representative Vito Fossella charged with drunk driving in suburban Washington DC.

Vito Fossella, a member of the US House of Representatives, was arrested for driving under the influence in Virginia. The Republican lawmaker was stopped in Alexandria, Virginia for running a red light, and, after detecting a strong smell of alcohol, police asked him to submit to field sobriety tests and a breath test. Fossella reportedly failed the field tests and registered a preliminary blood alcohol content of .133%. When a second breath test was taken during booking for Virginia DUI, the result was .17%. The legal limit for driving while intoxicated in Virginia is .08%.

Fossella was driving a white Honda Civic at 12:10 am when arrested for drunk driving. When asked to recite the alphabet between D and T, Fossella started “A, B”, prompting the officer to explain the request again. Fossella then said “D, E, F, H, G, H, I, J, L” before stopping. He initially told the arresting officer that he was going to pick up his sick daughter, but later acknowledged he had been at a White House Super Bowl event for the NFL champions the New York Giants and then went to dinner where drinks were consumed.

Under Virginia DUI laws a first offense for drinking and driving is a misdemeanor. Because Fossella’s BAC was above .15% he faces at least five days in jail. In addition, Fossella is subject to an automatic House ethics investigation. Fossella apologized to his constituents and said he would not resign. His staff has denied that he has a drinking problem.

Fossella, 43, has represented Staten Island and Brooklyn, New York since 1997 when he won a special election. An strong ally of George Bush and Dick Cheney, the representative is seeking re-election in November, making the drunk driving arrest in Virginia a potential political liability.

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Police Officer Charged With Virginia DUI

Officer accused of drunk driving in Virginia when he crashed police cruiser on interstate.

Andrew Page, an officer with the Roanoke Police Department, was charged with driving under the influence in Virginia after crashing a fully marked police cruiser. Page was driving north on Interstate 81 in Pulsaki County around 10:15 pm when he ran off the highway and hit a guardrail.

Virginia State Police received a call to 911 about six minutes before the accident reporting a motorist driving erratically.

Page, 33, was not in uniform and he cooperated with police at the scene. He submitted to a breath test, which yielded a blood alcohol level of 0.16%, or twice the legal limit for Virginia DUI. Page received very minor injuries though he totaled the city owned 2005 Ford Crown Victoria.

The Roanoke police department has said that Page has been suspended without pay pending an internal investigation. The department has refused comment on whether Page was on-duty or conducting official police business at the time of the DUI accident.

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Virginia Starts New Fee for Major Traffic Offenses

Heavy fine for DUI meant to deter drivers

Starting on the first of July, ‘civil remedial fees’ will take effect in the state of Virginia. The measure adds an extra fee to certain traffic offenses, including $2,200 for a Virginia DUI and $3,000 for a felony conviction.

State legislators want the penalty to deter bad driving, though the bill is also openly acknowledged as a source of revenue. More than 65 million dollars is expected to be generated through offenses like reckless driving, running a red light, failing to yield, speeding and drunk driving. Money collected from the fees will help pay for state transportation needs.

Those charged with violating traffic laws that are subject to the new fine can pay their fee over three years. Failure to pay will result in the suspension of driver’s license. The fines apply only to residents of Virginia.

For a complete list of offenses and fees, log onto the following site: www.courts.state.va.us/publications/hb_3202.pdf

Drunk Driving Violated Life Insurance Policy

Court Says Drunk Driving Violated Life Policy

Richmond, Va. Nov. 18 - ING Groep NV, the largest Dutch financial-services company, can refuse to pay a life insurance claim from the widow of a West Virginia man who drank before dying in a car crash, a federal appeals court in Richmond, Va., ruled.

Under terms of the policy, claims are payable only if an accident is "unexpected," the three-judge panel said. The man's blood-alcohol level was 50 percent higher than the legal limit, so he knowingly put himself at risk, the court said.

So the widow gets nothing because the husband was .12% and....death was to be expected? So am I "at risk" if I'm speeding? Riding a motorcycle? Why is sky diving not risky, but DUI is? Or are we looking at yet another example of the "DUI exception"?

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Drunken Driving Law Challenged

Constitutional Integrity of Virginia Drunk Driving Law Questioned.

Fairfax, VA - The constitutionality of the state's drunk driving laws have been questioned by two Fairfax county prosecutors and a judge who argue that the current law does not allow drivers any possibility of disproving drunkenness.

General District Court Judge Ian M. O'Flaherty challenges the Virginia state law that states that drivers with a blood alcohol level (BAC) of 0.08 or more are drunk. He also ruled that a defendant's option to the presumption of innocence is not established in the law.

According to a 1985 Supreme Court ruling, it is a violation of the Fifth Amendment to require a defendant to provide defense. O'Flaherty states that prosecutors must prove the cases, and the defendant must not be duty-bound to act in any way.

Flaherty's argument, which is not officially the first to make such a ruling, is being discussed among DUI attorneys and prosecutors nationwide. Defense lawyers across the country are expected to use the argument as leverage in their cases.

O'Flaherty does not approve of using blood alcohol content (BAC) levels that are measured 90 minutes or more after arrest. Sometimes officials determine BAC after the suspected drunk driver has been taken to the police station, and O'Flaherty argues that this BAC is not accurate. Since this measurement lacks precision, the evidence would thus lack validity.

The law states that defendants can in fact use their own evidence to defend their innocence.

County prosecutors often request that the judge dismiss DWI cases so that they can then file an appeal. Recently O'Flaherty found some defendants to be not guilty of DWI because he could not conclude that they were drunk. His ruling resulted from insubstantial BAC evidence.

The inherent reliability of blood alcohol tests is questioned by the cases, and could affect cases nationwide.

Mothers Against Drunk Drivers (MADD) finds O'Flaherty's ruling to be a threat to the enforcement of drunk driving laws. The group fears that evidence will be too easily deemed as "unconstitutional."

Attorney Kathryn S. Swart believes that defense attorneys may cross-examine police in order to delegitimize evidence. She believes that the Constitution does not state that a defendant must bear the burden of providing evidence from the presumption of a blood alcohol level measurement.

October 28, 2005

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Dismissals of Drunk Driving Cases Jolt DUI Lawyers

Optimism, Anxiety After Fairfax Ruling.

By Jamie Stockwell and Tommy Nguyen
Washington Post Staff Writers
Saturday, August 13, 2005

"...denies a defendant's right to the presumption of innocence" rules Judge

It was a creative legal argument -- perhaps brilliant, some said -- and after a brief reflection, a Fairfax County judge bought it, declaring that key components of the state's drunken driving laws are unconstitutional.

In a decision that could prompt similar challenges nationwide, Judge Ian M. O'Flaherty cited a decades-old U.S. Supreme Court ruling when in the past month he dismissed charges against three alleged drunk drivers.

O'Flaherty, one of 10 judges who preside over traffic cases in Fairfax County District Court, ruled that Virginia's law is unconstitutional because it presumes an individual with a blood alcohol content of 0.08 or higher is intoxicated and denies a defendant's right to the presumption of innocence.

As a district judge, O'Flaherty does not establish formal precedent with his rulings. But reports of the constitutional argument have quickly found their way onto Web logs and into the offices of defense attorneys and prosecutors across the country, prompting some to explore tactics to exploit or attack the Fairfax decisions.

"There will be similar motions everywhere, no doubt about that," said Steven Oberman, chairman of the DUI defense committee at the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. "There are lawyers everywhere who are looking at this issue again in a different light."

A lot will depend on each state's interpretation of its drunken driving laws, Oberman added, and whether a person with a 0.08 blood alcohol level is presumed, by law, to be intoxicated. If so, as is the case in Virginia, other elements must still be proven, including whether the defendant also failed a roadside sobriety test.

Corinne Magee, the attorney whose challenge of the state's drunken driving law led to O'Flaherty's ruling, said the decision was based on the 1985 U.S. Supreme Court case Francis v. Franklin , which dealt with a prosecutor's obligation to prove all elements of a crime beyond a reasonable doubt.

After closely reading the decision, Magee said she realized that it could apply to the state's drunken driving laws.

"I expected him to convict on other evidence in the case," Magee said of O'Flaherty, who presided over the case in which her client was accused of driving with a blood alcohol content of 0.21, more than twice the legal limit.

"I was surprised when he dismissed the case . . . but I think it was based on a very careful reading of the Francis case."

Magee said she was troubled by the law because it presumes intoxication at 0.08 and that the driver was at that level while driving, even if the test was administered hours after the driver was stopped. She said a person's blood alcohol level can fluctuate depending on when the last drink was consumed and how that person's body metabolizes alcohol.

But prosecutors, and even some defense attorneys, disagree, and said yesterday that laws in the 50 states that have established a presumption of intoxication at 0.08 have been upheld even when similar arguments were raised.

"If this ruling became the law of the land, it would be devastating for all DUI cases," Fairfax County Commonwealth's Attorney Robert F. Horan Jr. said. "For all these years, it has passed muster, and now one judge has decided it doesn't. "Our hope is to get it through to circuit court and let it play out and go from there."

Moreover, Horan said, O'Flaherty misinterpreted the obscure and rarely cited 20-year-old case. Because of carefully phrased statutes, defendants in drunken driving cases have to prove they were not intoxicated, he said.

Because prosecutors can appeal only cases dismissed by a circuit court judge, Horan said his office plans to prosecute three other DUI cases in circuit court.

O'Flaherty did not return a call seeking comment.

A. E. Dick Howard, a constitutional law professor at University of Virginia, said O'Flaherty's ruling appears misguided, an "idiosyncratic ruling" that if followed could "create massive upheaval and seismic shock in courtrooms across the country."

"I think the Francis case simply does not apply, not like this," Howard said.

Patrick O'Connor, president of the Northern Virginia chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, said he was not aware of any other state judges who have made similar decisions. O'Flaherty's ruling, he said, undermines the work of law enforcement and prosecutors to keep drunk drivers off the roads.

O'Connor, whose son was killed three years ago in a crash caused by a driver who had a blood alcohol content of 0.15, said he would have been devastated if that driver had not been prosecuted.

"In that case, if they had thrown out that evidence as unconstitutional, then there would have been no consequence for that driver's action," he said.

"I'd be angry . . . at the thought that someone could drink and drive, take a life away and possibly walk free, when all the health and medical evidence support that a driver with .08 is impaired to drive."

Source:
Washington Post

If you have been arrested for a drunk driving in Virginia you will need to hire a DUI attorney in Virginia.