Virginia Frederick County Reckless Driving Public Highway VA Fairfax Prince William Loudoun Alexandria Arlington

Commonwealth of Virginia v

Commonwealth of Virginia v. Gary Lynn Mowery

CIRCUIT COURT OF FREDERICK COUNTY, VIRGINIA

August 7, 1969

The defendant now moves to set aside the verdict as contrary to the law and the evidence.

Issue:

Whether the evidences are sufficient for the guilty of defendant's "engage in a race between" motor vehicles on the public highways?

The evidence of the officers (the defendant neither took the stand nor introduced testimony in his own behalf) shows that over a distance of approximately five miles on three different highways the defendant followed very closely but always immediately behind the other vehicle, never pulling out as though to pass, never pulling abreast or going ahead, and never apparently materially changing the distance between his car and the lead car. The law allows reasonable inferences to be drawn from proven facts, in this case admitted facts. There was speed, even excessive speed, of two vehicles; there might even be inferred a competition or some sort of contest; and there might even be the possibility of an inference that one vehicle was endeavoring to out-speed the other. But from the facts the inference is just as strong if not stronger that the vehicles were merely endeavoring to maintain the same or approximately the same speed. This latter interpretation is not the usual and ordinary of "engage in a race between." In the words of the routine criminal instruction, if the circumstances are susceptible of two or more interpretations any one of which points to the innocence of the defendant, that interpretation pointing to innocence must be accepted.

The Court held that Given that the facts were susceptible of two interpretations, one of which indicated defendant's innocence, the interpretation pointing to innocence had to be accepted. This, in light of the above and the principles requiring penal statutes to be construed strictly and against the State, defendant's conduct did not bring him beyond a reasonable doubt within the penalties of the statute. For the foregoing reasons the motion to set aside the verdict is sustained, and judgment will be entered in favor of the defendant.

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

Virginia Frederick County Reckless Driving Public Highway VA Fairfax Prince William Loudoun Alexandria Arlington

By: Atchuthan Sriskandarajah

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