How Do I Get Out of Reckless Driving in Virginia?

To get out of reckless driving in Virginia, three basic options are available. All these options are based on the presumption of innocence that applies in all criminal cases. Basically, the law presumes that every arrest is illegal, every defendant is wrongfully accused, and the state’s version of events is always wrong. If prosecutors cannot disprove all three presumptions, the defendant gets out of reckless driving in Virginia.

So, a Leesburg criminal defense lawyer doesn’t have to “prove” anything. A lawyer must simply prevent that state from overcoming these three presumptions. Additionally, even if the state can meet its three-tiered burden of proof, a successful resolution is usually available. Most prosecutors believe a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. Obtaining a conviction as a result of an agreed plea, even if that conviction is for a lesser-included offense is better than gambling at trial.

Procedural Defense

Technically, reckless driving is operating a motor vehicle “on any highway recklessly or at a speed or in a manner so as to endanger the life, limb, or property of any person.” Pragmatically, reckless driving is usually committing two traffic violations at once, such as zipping in and out of lanes without signaling.

Sometimes, police officers personally witness reckless driving. Other times, they receive third party tips about reckless driving. Legally, these tips must be reliable to hold up in court.

There’s a difference between reliability and accuracy. A broken clock is unreliable, even though it’s accurate twice a day.

Officer-provided tips are usually reliable as a matter of law. Police officers often radio ahead to other officers who make arrests. In this context, it’s like the police department is one body with many parts.

Non-officer-provided tips are often less than reliable. To determine reliability, judges often focus on the contents of the tip, mostly its specificity. Information like “a black SUV” is far too generic to be reliable. Any added details, such as a make/model or a partial plate number, usually make the tip reliable.

The tipster’s motive is an issue as well. Did the tipster call police out of a concern for public safety, or was the tipster a tattletale who wanted the defendant to get in trouble?

Substantive Defense

A substantive defense is basically a lack of evidence. The mens rea (criminal intent) element in a reckless driving case is usually hard to prove.

Basically, “reckless” means a conscious disregard for the safety of other people. The aforementioned lane-zipper certainly disregards the safety of others. But the state must prove the lane-zipper consciously disregarded this safety. If s/he was rushing to the hospital for an emergency, the safety disregard was probably begrudging as opposed to conscious (“I don’t want to drive in this manner but I have no choice at this time”).

Actus rea (criminal act) is difficult to prove in other cases. Reliable tipsters can legally send police officers to the scene of a crime, but officers can only testify about what they saw, not what someone else told them.

Affirmative Defense

Affirmative defenses rarely apply in reckless driving cases. In other cases, affirmative defenses include coercion, police entrapment, and self-defense.

Coercion is extreme pressure to commit a crime that removes a person’s free will. Entrapment applies if the officer induced a defendant to commit a crime, and the defendant had no predisposition to commit that offense. Self-defense is a proportional response to an immediate violent threat.

 Connect With a Tough-Minded Loudoun County Lawyer

There’s a big difference between an arrest and a conviction in criminal law. For a confidential consultation with an experienced criminal defense attorney in Leesburg, contact Simms Showers, LLP, Attorneys at Law. Virtual, home, and jail visits are available.

Source:

fairtrials.org/the-right-to-a-fair-trial/the-presumption-of-innocence/