DUI Attorney Virginia

ALFRED MCKINLEY JONES v. CITY OF LYNCHBURG
COURT OF APPEALS OF VIRGINIA
23 Va. App. 167

On April 12, 1995, appellant filed a motion for review of his administrative suspension.  After hearing appellant’s testimony, the court rescinded the license suspension, finding that the police lacked probable cause to arrest appellant.  Despite the general district court’s ruling, the City of Lynchburg prosecuted appellant in the general district court pursuant to Lynchburg Code § 25-162, which prohibits drunk driving.  On May 2, 1995, appellant filed a motion to dismiss on grounds of acquittal, based on the ruling that there was no probable cause for his arrest.  The general district court overruled the motion and on May 3, 1995, convicted appellant of drunk driving.  After appealing his conviction to the circuit court, appellant again filed a motion to dismiss on grounds of acquittal. On August 8, 1995, the circuit court denied appellant’s motion.

Issue:

Whether the trial court erred in failing to dismiss the drunken driving charge as barred on double jeopardy and collateral estoppel grounds?

The Court held that an administrative license suspension is a civil penalty and does not constitute “punishment” for double jeopardy purposes.  Because the license suspension proceeding “did not impose punishment within the meaning of the double jeopardy clause, appellant was not twice placed in jeopardy in violation of the United States Constitution when prosecuted for driving while intoxicated.  For these reasons, this court held that the doctrines of double jeopardy and collateral estoppel did not bar appellant’s prosecution for drunk driving.  Because the trial court did not err, we affirm appellant’s conviction.

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.

Originally published here.

The SRIS Law Group is a law firm with offices in Virginia, Maryland & Massachusetts.  The law firm assists clients with criminal/traffic defense, family law, immigration, civil litigation, bankruptcy & military law.  The law firm has Virginia offices in Fairfax County, Richmond, Virginia Beach, Loudoun County, Prince William County & Fredericksburg, Virginia.  The Maryland offices are in Montgomery County & Baltimore.  The Massachusetts offices are in Boston & Cambridge.

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