Driving Under the Influence Reckless Driving Warrant VA Alexandria Richmond Arlington Fairfax County

CHRISTOPHER DRIVER, II v

CHRISTOPHER DRIVER, II v. COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA

Court of Appeals of Virginia

August 16, 1988, Decided

The driving under the influence charge was dismissed by the general district court, and the circuit court found him not guilty of reckless driving.Approximately one hour after his arrest, the defendant was taken to the police station where he was advised of Code 18.2-268, Virginia's "implied consent law." He requested a blood test. The arresting officer testified that the blood test was unavailable. Therefore, the officer asked that defendant take a breath test. Defendant refused and also refused to sign a "Declaration of Refusal" form prepared by the magistrate. The defendant was then charged with unreasonable refusal to submit to a blood or breath test. The trial court found the defendant guilty of that offense and suspended his license for ninety days.

Issue:

Whether the trial court properly found that the defendant is guilty of the offense for unreasonable refusal to submit to a blood or breath test?

Discussion:

The Court held that the defendant agreed to take a blood test. Since no reason is given in the record for why the two people certified to take blood were not available, there is insufficient evidence to establish that the blood test was not available to the defendant and thus, that his refusal to take the breath test was unreasonable. The burden of proof is always upon the Commonwealth, and this burden never shifts, though the burden of going forward with the evidence may shift from time to time during the trial as exigencies may require. For the above reasons, we conclude that the judgment of the trial court must be reversed and the warrant dismissed.

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

Driving Under the Influence Reckless Driving Warrant VA Alexandria Richmond Arlington Fairfax County

By: Atchuthan Sriskandarajah

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