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- Former Henrico County Coach Sentenced in Sex Abuse Case
Posted on 2/21/2010 - Missing Tech Student's Death Ruled Homicide
Posted on 2/3/2010 - Stepfather Charged in Shooting Death of Chesterfield Teen
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Felony (Larceny /Malicious wounding)
Successful Defense of Malicious Wounding Charges in Virginia Requires the Skills of an Attorney With a Proven Track Record of Successfully Representing Clients Against Malicous Wounding Charges
In additon to the usual reasons that teens should be educated about the consequences of sexual activity, parents need to know and explain to their children that sexual activity with persons under a certain age are illegal, and can lead to severe, lifelong consequences.
Judge Accepts Jury Recommendation on Sentence for Shooting of Richmond Man
DUI & Reckless Driving (Driving Under Influence)
Virginia's "Implied Consent" Statute Compels One Charged With DUI to Give Evidence Against Himself or Lose His License
What We've Been Saying! Former policeman attacks procedures in DUI arrest!
Field Sobriety Tests (FSTs) have been proven to be unreliable indicators of driver impairment, though most people do not know this. Find out what you should know before deciding whether to do them or not.
Virginia Divorce and Family Law Attorney
Virginia Teens Charged With Malicious Wounding Need Skilled Defense Lawyers
If your former husband or wife is not permitting you to have visitation with your children, you may want to contact me to help you understand your rights!
Mother Having Primary Physical Custody of Child Who Moves for Job Retains Status Over Father's Objection
Marijuana, Cocaine Drug and Alcohol Charges
Consent to Search Car, Truck or Van May Lead to Other Charges
Dangers of Teen Sexting International Issue
Scientific Facts on Teenage and Juvenile Drinking
Richmond Virginia Reckless Driving Attorney
Veteran's Day accident on Southbound I-95 near Richmond resulted in criminal charge being filed against a Georgia trucker for reckless driving.
Virginia Court Finds Implied Consent for Employee to Use Company Vehicle for Personal Use
Accident Fatality on I-95 Near Richmond Results in Reckless Driving Charge For Driver Who Fell Asleep
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MedPay Coverage is Critical for Your Protection if You Are Injured in an Auto Accident
Blog
DUI & Reckless Driving (Driving Under Influence)
Virginia's Mandatory Breath Test Law
Virginia's "implied consent" law requires any person operating a motor vehicle on the highway to submit to a blood or breath test if arrested for DUI/DWI.Mr. Stelly regularly appears in the courts of the City of Richmond, Henrico County, Chesterfield County, Goochland County, and Hanover County.
How a Preliminary Breath Test (PBT) Can Ruin Your DUI Defense
Taking a preliminary breath test (PBT) when stopped for suspicion of DUI in Virginia is not usually wise. Preliminary breath tests are voluntary, but can be used against you in court to prove the officer had probable cause to arrest for DUI or DWI.Mr. Stelly regularly appears in the courts of the City of Richmond, Henrico County, Chesterfield County, Goochland County, and Hanover County.
Virginia Breathalyzer Results Not Always Accurate to Prove DUI Cases
Virginia's implied consent law requires those arrested for DUI to submit to breathalyzer tests. However, an experienced and aggressive DUI lawyer may help you win your case.Mr. Stelly regularly appears in the courts of the City of Richmond, Henrico County, Chesterfield County, Goochland County, and Hanover County.
Preliminary Breath Test for Virginia DUI
When asked by a police officer, one suspected of DUI in Virginia need not take a preliminary breath test at the scene of the traffic stop.Mr. Stelly regularly appears in the courts of the City of Richmond, Henrico County, Chesterfield County, Goochland County, and Hanover County.
Virginia Senate Committee Approves New Traffic Laws
The Virginia Senate's Transportation Committee yesterday approved Bills that would alter speed limits, and existing law on seat belt and cell phone use.Mr. Stelly regularly appears in the courts of the City of Richmond, Henrico County, Chesterfield County, Goochland County, and Hanover County.
Exercising Your Rights Can Prevent a DUI Conviction
Knowing your rights during a traffic stop for suspicion of DUI can aid your case if you are charged. And, you will likely be charged, but perhaps not convicted. Two clients recently told me that by using the recommendation made to them by their attorney they avoided being charged and or convicted of DUI.Reckless Driving and DUI Are Crimes in Virginia
Reckless Driving and Driving Under the Influence (DUI) in Virginia are Class 1 misdemeanors. In Virignia, a Class 1 misdemeanor is punishable by a term in jail of up to 12 months, and a fine of up to $2500.00, either or both.
In addition to going on one's driving records, a conviction for DUI or Reckless Driving in Virginia will also go on one's criminal record, or "rap sheet."
Therefore, it is a good idea to confer with an attorney soon after you have been charged with either one of these offenses. An attorney can evaluate your case, with a mind to exploring what defenses you may have to the charges, and how he or she may be able to have the charge reduced to a lesser offense.
Some attorneys offer consultations for free, others charge a nominal fee. But don't be swayed by the cost, because a skilled, aggressive, courtroom battler is what you probably want, not a novice who may go to sleep at the wheel and overlook a chance to get you the best result possible.
Mr. Stelly regularly appears in the courts of the City of Richmond, Henrico County, Chesterfield County, Goochland County, and Hanover County.
Alleged DUI Crash in Tidewater Area Involved State Trooper
An allegedly intoxicated driver traveling the wrong way on I-264 in Virginia injured two people after crashing into their car. He then hit a state trooper who was trying to block his travel.
About 1 a.m., state police received several calls about a driver heading west in the eastbound lanes of I-264 near Laskin Road, said Sgt. Michelle Cotten, a state police spokeswoman.
The driver crashed the 1992 Lexus he was driving into a sedan carrying two people, who suffered minor injuries and were taken to a hospital, according to a news release
He then hit the patrol vehicle of Virginia State Trooper L.C. White, who had angled his car along the interstate’s left lane and shoulder in an attempt to stop the Lexus. The driver hit the trooper head-on, and he suffered minor injuries, according to the release.
The driver then traveled another 100 yards before his vehicle came to a stop, according to the release.
White arrested 44-year-old Cleveland N. Robertson of Hampton and charged him with driving under the influence, two counts of felony hit and run and driving the wrong way, according to the release
Attorneys Challenge Use of Intoxilyzer 8000 in DUI Cases
Two Florida attorneys are challenging their state's use of the Intoxilyzer 8000 breath testing device that is being brought into Virginia to replace the oft-criticized Intoxilyzer 5000 that has been in use for several years to prove a suspect's Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC). They claim that the machine is inherently inaccurate, produces false readings, and that it should not be the basis for DUI convictions.
Because blood tests to determine a suspected impaired driver's BAC is no longer optional in Virginia, the Intoxilyzer 5000 test result has been the key piece of evidence used to convict in Virginia when the reading is 0.08 or higher. The margin of error for the Intoxilyzer 5000 is alleged to be "only" +/- 0.02, but the tests results have been acceptable in the courts. As a result of this inaccuracy, people whose BACs are 0.08 or 0.09 are being convicted of DUI even though their actual BAC may be lower than 0.08, such as 0.07 or 0.06.
Virginia State Police Statistics Disprove Link Between Drinking and Auto Accidents
Traffic accident statistics compiled by the Virginia State Police (VSP) for calendar year 2007 (the most recent reporting period) dispel popular belief that alcohol is involved in most accidents.
Of the 145,405 auto crashes in that year, only 7,019 drivers out of 265,589 involved were deemd to have been "impaired." That is 2.9 per cent of the total crashes. The statistics for that year indicate that 97 percent of the drivers involved in crashes were not impaired by alcohol.
These percentages were consistent with those reported the previous year. Of 279,505 drivers involved in the 151,692 crashes reported in 2006, 7,392 drivers were impaired. Though the number of impaired drivers was higher than in 2007, the percentage of impaired drivers involved in auto accidents was 2.9 percent, and 97 percent of the crashes did not involve drunk drivers.
Drunk Driving News
Think the apple doen't fall far from the tree? Check out this news item from Indiana.
An Indiana State trooper stopped a 19-year man for speeding and then arrested him for drunk driving after determining his blood alcohol content was 0.17%. Troopers contacted the man’s father, the county coroner, to retrieve the vehicle. When the father arrived, he too was arrested for Indiana DUI after registering a BAC of .10%. Father and son were both booked on charges of driving while intoxicated.
Nude DUI Arrests in Cornhusker State
Where do you keep your wallet?
Around 6:00 pm on a Saturday in April, a caller contacted a State Patrol dispatcher to warn them of a reckless driver on Interstate 80, adding that the male and female in the car appeared to be naked.
Troopers were able to locate the vehicle and its naked 26-year-old male driver and his naked 26-year female passenger. The driver was arrested for driving under the influence in Nebraska and driving with a suspended license. The female was released -- hopefully after being given some clothes!
DUI Miscues
He never paid me any rent.
Washington State Patrol Trooper Trevor Downey was heading home after his shift when noticed a vehicle driving 30 mph in a 50 mph zone. As he approached the vehicle, it turned into a driveway and parked in the garage. When the driver was asked what he was doing, the unidentified 31-year Yakima man said it was his home.
Unfortunately, the driver had selected Trooper Downey’s home and parked in the trooper’s garage. The driver was charged with DUI, adding to his three prior convictions.
Tougher driving comes with DUI conviction
Chicago Tribune
| Tribune reporter
Motorists busted for drunken driving in Illinois after Wednesday will have to blow into a device to prove their sobriety every time they get behind the wheel—or their vehicle won't start.
December 29, 2008
The restriction is part of a new law that appears to be the state's biggest crackdown since 0.08 became the blood-alcohol standard in summer 1997.
The measure, one of the strictest in the nation, is aimed at first-time offenders convicted of driving under the influence. Those convicted will have 14 days to get a breath-alcohol ignition-interlock device installed in their vehicle's dash. With the device, if a driver has a blood-alcohol content above 0.024, the engine won't start.
Those with multiple DUI convictions previously could have been ordered to install the device.
As many as 40,000 offenders a year could be affected by the new law, which the General Assembly unanimously passed in 2007. The take-effect date was delayed so Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White could get ready to enforce it.
Sponsors responded to a concern from Mothers Against Drunk Driving that alcohol-related crashes and arrests had stopped declining in recent years. The group argued that technology could be used to get more drunken drivers off the roads.
"We were really trying to figure out what was the best way to move the ball forward a little bit," said state Sen. John Cullerton (D-Chicago), who sponsored the measure. "They suggested we try this technology, which has been proven."
Illinois is at least the fourth state to require the devices for first-time offenders, following New Mexico, Arizona and Louisiana, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
The bill's backers cited a 12 percent drop in alcohol-related traffic fatalities in New Mexico after that state implemented a similar law in 2005. Last year in Illinois, there were 508 deaths from crashes involving alcohol, according to state transportation officials.
"So often what we talk about when trying to prevent drunk driving is how to change human behavior, but these devices really allowed for an 'a-ha moment,' " said David Malham, a victim advocate with MADD-Illinois. "With this, it's not about changing human nature, it's about science interfering and preventing reckless behavior."
The Illinois Department of Transportation already is airing public service ads branding DUI offenders as "losers" and offering a re-enactment of an offender breathing into the ignition-lock device.
The devices will replace judicial driving permits, which judges issued to those convicted of drunken driving who needed to use a car to get to work or school. Now first-time offenders still will lose their license for 30 days, but will be allowed back on the road if they agree to have the devices installed in their vehicles.
Drivers who register a 0.08 or higher blood-alcohol level at the time of their arrest will be required to drive with the monitoring devices for five months. Drivers who refuse alcohol testing but are convicted must use the devices for 11 months.
The gadgets also will require drivers be tested periodically while the car is running. Drivers will have to blow into the device again within the first 5 to 15 minutes of a trip, then at least twice every hour.
If alcohol is then detected, the device instructs the driver to pull over to side of road and the engine is stopped. A report goes to the secretary of state's office for review and additional punishment is meted out.
The law isn't foolproof. There's nothing to prevent someone convicted of DUI from driving a car without the ignition-lock device. But the penalties for skirting the law are severe: if caught and convicted, a driver faces up to 3 years in jail.
"That's serious business," said Susan McKinney, who oversees the monitoring device program for the secretary of state. "There's no way we can ensure people won't find ways around it, but they'll pay heavily if they are caught."
The devices cost the driver $80 for installation and about $80 a month to rent. The secretary of state will charge another $30 a month to monitor drivers and administer the program.
"I've had people say, 'Wow, this sounds really inconvenient,' " Malham, of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, said. "And I say, well, 'Yeah, but driving drunk is not only inconvenient, it's dangerous and often deadly.'"
Felony (Larceny /Malicious wounding)
Malicious Wounding in Virginia Takes Three Forms
The Virginia Code specifies three separate instances in which one may be convicted of malicious wounding. The proof required for conviction of each varies, but the penalties for all are severe, ranging from life imprisonment, to a mandatory minimum of two years in prison.Mr. Stelly regularly appears in the courts of the City of Richmond, Henrico County, Chesterfield County, Goochland County, and Hanover County.
Unlawful Wounding: A Lesser Offense to Malicious Wounding in Virginia
A person charged in Virginia with malicious wounding faces serious penalties upon conviction. But, if the Commonwealth's evidence does not prove malicious intent beyond a reasonable doubt, the accused may be convicted at most of unlawful wounding, which is punished less severely.Mr. Stelly regularly appears in the courts of the City of Richmond, Henrico County, Chesterfield County, Goochland County, and Hanover County.
Former Henrico Policeman Faces Federal Ponzi Scheme Charges
Donald C. Lacey, a former Henrico County police officer, has been charged in Richmond federal court of bilking investors of millions of dollars in a real estate Ponzi-scheme.Mr. Stelly regularly appears in the courts of the City of Richmond, Henrico County, Chesterfield County, Goochland County, and Hanover County.
81 Year Old Virginia Man Jailed in Internet Sex Sting
Stockholders in the pharmaceutical companies that make Viagra and Cialis may find themselves getting bigger dividends this year if internet sex solicitation charges against an 81 year old Richmond, Virginia man "stand up" in court.Mr. Stelly regularly appears in the courts of the City of Richmond, Henrico County, Chesterfield County, Goochland County, and Hanover County.
Malicious Wounding Charge in Prince George Virginia Results in Not Guilty Verdict
A young man who reported his involvement in a fight to Prince George County (Virginia) police less than a half-hour afterward, and was assured by the officer that "it sounds like self-defense to me," thought the matter was over. He was later arrested on a charge of malicious wounding. Seven months later a circuit court judge found him not guilty in a bench trial.Mr. Stelly regularly appears in the courts of the City of Richmond, Henrico County, Chesterfield County, Goochland County, and Hanover County.
Search Warrants in Virginia
While search warrants are not necessary in every instance, both state and federal courts look with favor on evidence seized via a lawfully issued search warrant. The issuance of a serach warrant is designed to protect persons from unwelcomed and unjustified annoyance by government agents and law enforcement officers.Mr. Stelly regularly appears in the courts of the City of Richmond, Henrico County, Chesterfield County, Goochland County, and Hanover County.
Compensating Those Wrongly Imprisoned -- The Texas Approach is Better Than Virginia's
If you are convicted of certain felonies in Virginia, go to prison, and then found are to have been innocent, you may not get much in Virginia in comparison to other states. In Texas, for instance, an exonerated person is entitled to $80,000 per year of prison time.Milwaukee Man to Face Single Trial in Seven Murders Spanning Several Years
Virginia criminal defense attorneys usually do not have to contend with single trials when a client is charged with several crimes involving different victims and different instances. That is not the procedure in all states however. The advantages and disadvantages of separate trials is weighed.Mr. Stelly regularly appears in the courts of the City of Richmond, Henrico County, Chesterfield County, Goochland County, and Hanover County.
Deer Hunter Under Investigation in Shooting Death in King George, Virginia
A Virginia man must await the outcome of a Virginia Department of Game & Inlande fisheries probe to know whether he will be charged in the death of a fellow deer hunter.Mr. Stelly regularly appears in the courts of the City of Richmond, Henrico County, Chesterfield County, Goochland County, and Hanover County.
When Drug Dealers Call the Cops
As a criminal defense lawyer in Richmond, Virginia, I have been involved in hundreds of prosecutions in state and federal courts. All of them have been unique in some way, but one was a real doosie.
In a recent case I tried in Henrico County (Virginia) Circuit Court, a jury found my client not guilty of seven felony charges, including two counts of using a firearm in the commission of a felony, two counts of firing into an occupied vehicle, and two counts of attempted malicious wounding. While I would like to take all the credit for the outcome, upon reflection, I have determined the most likely reason is that people -- and specifically the people on this jury -- are just fed up with drug dealers, and are frustrated at the inability of law enforcement at all levels to win a "war on drugs" that has been on-going since Richard Nixon was elected president in 1968. You see, my client's actions that prompted the charges against him was taking the law -- and a gun -- into his own hands to stop a pair of drug dealers from selling his (tragically addicted) boss heroin. As the case unfolded, a couple of things became clear to me.
One, some drug dealers do not fear the police, or even long periods of incarceration (one of the drug dealers in the case had served prison terms of 8 and 2 years on previous convictions, and was on probation for the last one; the other was on probation for a distribution conviction just 6 months earlier for which he had received a 5 year suspended sentence). Like most law-breakers, they correctly assume that law enforcement officers are not going to shoot at them unless they attempt to shoot first. Moreover, they view themselves as businessmen who see jail as a potential -- though not certain -- risk that is worthwhile given the profit margin in drug sales.
Two, drug dealers do not like to be on the business end of a loaded gun wielded by anyone, but especially someone willing to risk his own life in a high-speed chase to stop them. My client would not have been charged except for the fact that these idiot dealers called the police themselves because they felt they should not have been exposed to such violence in carrying out their "business." Despite their confessions to the police that they were in the process of making a drug sale that my guy stopped, they were not charged with any crime (except for the driver, who was cited for driving while his license was suspended for his recent drug conviction) related to their attempt to sell a Schedule I controlled substance. On cross-examination, the chief investigator could only say there was "insufficient evidence" to bring any charges against them -- even though it was clear there was sufficient evidence to convict for an attempted drug sale.
At trial, the Deputy Commonwealth's Attorney had the distasteful task of letting the bad guys go free, to prosecute the "white hat." Perhaps the reasoning behind that decision was to set an example that private citizens must let the police handle drug cases and not take matters into their own hands. Law enforcement is better suited to solve crimes than "Joe Public," but in this case, twelve people disagreed.
Mr. Stelly regularly appears in the courts of the City of Richmond, Henrico County, Chesterfield County, Goochland County, and Hanover County.
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Felony (Larceny /Malicious wounding)
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