Reckless driving and speeding in the same day (Alexandria, Oakton: flat fee, lawyer)

[joshben]

First, i'm going to request that others please refrain from flaming me. I realize that i broke the law. I realize that i should drive slower, and will do so in the future. I am posting to solicit any useful advice to minimize the damage to my record (driving and criminal). I also realize that there are already many threads regarding reckless driving in Virginia, but i didn't find any that mentioned receiving multiple summons in the same day.

Anyways, my story:

This past sunday morning, I was driving from Maryland to Berryville, VA (I am a MD resident). I was running late to meeting some people. Actually, in full disclosure, weather it helps or hurts my case, i was late for the start of a bike ride, which is something i never like to be late for. So i was in a bit of a rush. I realize that, in the grand scheme or whatever (and especially in the view of the courts, i'm sure), a bike ride is a fairly frivolous thing. I was clocked by radar doing 88 in a 55 zone on VA267-W. I stopped, was courteous/cooperative, signed the summons and continued on my way. Now I was running even later, and I (stupidly) figured that i wouldn't be unlucky enough to be pulled over twice in a day, though i did consciously keep the speed below the 80mph mark. Should've kept it below the 60mph mark. I was clocked again (half hour later) doing 75 in a 55 on VA7-W. Stopped again, courteous/cooperative, and the officer knocked it down to 74 for a speeding violation instead of reckless driving. I was nearly to my destination and carefully obeyed the limit the rest of the way, as well as on the way home that evening.

So, i guess this is a plea for any advice and information that may help me. These summons were both issued by VA state troopers, but the first one summons me to the Fairfax cnty courthouse, and the second to Loudon cnty. Will these two cases affect each other? Will the judges, DA's or officers in either case have knowledge of the other? Presumably, if they do, it will be a bad thing for me.

I have a Maryland license, and have never been stopped in VA, so i'm not concerned about civil remedial fees. I have however, been convicted of speeding twice in MD in the past 5 years. Will anybody in the courtroom have this information?

I guess that this should also serve as a warning to those who think that they won't get pulled over twice in the same day. It will happen, at least if you're in VA.

Geez, i'm dumb. (Though i don't need anyone else to reiterate this fact for me, i'm fully aware on my own)

[Stripes17]

Originally Posted by joshben

I have a Maryland license, and have never been stopped in VA, so i'm not concerned about civil remedial fees. I have however, been convicted of speeding twice in MD in the past 5 years. Will anybody in the courtroom have this information?

Wow, a bad day! I don't know the answers you seek, but here's some experience. We had a guy in our office (I worked in Oakton, VA at the time) who commuted down from Frederick, MD everyday. He did pick up the occassional speeding violation going to and from the office. He always told us that aside from the fine, he didn't care about the tickets because VA & MD were not reciprocating states, meaning they did not share driving records/tickets. Now that was in the early 1990's so things may have changed since. I'm not sure, but I thought I'd offer that at least.

[Crew Chief]

Hire a lawyer and take your lumps...

[joshben]

Originally Posted by Crew Chief

Hire a lawyer and take your lumps...

Yeah, i figure it'll go something like that. Anyone know of any lawyers who can represent me in both counties (Fairfax and Loudon)? I'm guessing it'll be easier and less expensive if i can hire one attorney instead of two.

[Beenaroundabit]

Instead of hiring an attorney, I'd pay the fines and be done with it. By the time you pay for an attorney AND spend the time to appear in both courts, you will have spent WAY more than two citations combined.

Besides, you aren't likely to get a reduction on 88 in a 55 in VA - maybe on 81, but not on 267. Also, two citations in one day WILL be known about because they were issued by the same agency, albeit by different officers in different jurisdictions (hence the different appearance locations). They'll appear on the same VSP database.

Just because MD and VA don't share the same database as far as driving records, it doesn't mean your driving record in MD (or in any other state, for that matter) is somehow "hidden" from the court. It just means that it isn't automatically available, meaning when they query VA records, they won't get MD at the same time by default/agency agreement. However, the officer or the court can specifically request your records from MD via a separate request. And any officer worth his salt will do just that, requesting any and all records he (or she) can get about the person they cited. The trooper will likely have that ready when he shows up in court.

[intel_junkie]

Originally Posted by joshben

Yeah, i figure it'll go something like that. Anyone know of any lawyers who can represent me in both counties (Fairfax and Loudon)? I'm guessing it'll be easier and less expensive if i can hire one attorney instead of two.

I would not just show up to court and pay both of these and be done with it. A conviction of reckless by speeding in VA, has the same weight on your criminal record as a DUI. Reckless by speed is a class 1 misdemeanor and it will stay on your criminal record permanently. Depending upon what your officer wrote on your summons, anything over 80mph is statuatory reckless driving. Then there is reckless by speed, that is 20mph over the speed limit, which the second trooper cut you a break, to reduce it to 19 mph over the speed limit.

It will not bode well in VA courts and they will conclude you did not take the first charge seriously.

Nova judges are strict, unless you get lucky, in your case, I wouldn't bet on that. If you had an excellent driving record on your MD license and were facing one simple speeding charge, I would go without an attorney. However, you've got a reckless by speed and a 19pmh over the speed limit, priors on your MD license, you will need an attorney, because VA courts will know about both charges (they may pull up the wrong one in the system and notice it) and yes VA police officers have buddies in MD, that can pull your MD driving record.

I got a referral to use Jennifer Wexton. She used to be an assistant prosecutor in Loudon County. She has also represented out of state (MD driver) in Loudon County court before, with a worse MD driving record than yours. The police officer had a friend that pulled his MD driving record and Jennifer still got the charge reduced to 19mph over the speed limit. So that case my gave you some confidence given your situation.

She also came up to Alexandria Distrcit Court, so I don't think Fairfax is a problem. I don't know if she'll charge you one flat fee for both charges or not, however. You'll have to ask her.

She's in Leesburg and handles everything by email. You just show up to court and she takes care of the rest.

-Lawyer Name & Contact info:
Jennifer Wexton
703-777-6161
20 West Market St., Suite A
Leesburg, VA 20176
Ritenour Paice & Mougin- (http://www.rpmattorneys.com/home.htm - broken link)

You can read more about what she's done here:
http://www.city-data.com/forum/north...endations.html

[stoopidspeeder]

I'm feeling for you...I, too, just received a RD summon last weekend. So far, I've received two different sides: 1) plead guilty w/ explanation and hope that the judge will reduce your fine or 2) plead not guilty, but you're taking chances b/c you'll have to cross-examine the police officer who stopped you. In the unlikely event where the officer isn't present, then it's most likely that your charges will be dismissed, but if he is there, be prepared to show any mistake on his part which is hard. But I'm looking into getting advice from legal counsel. Right now, I'm mostly worried about getting the charge reduced to a mere traffic violation. That entertains -3 points in the eyes of DMV, but that's better than having a criminal record. Just know what your priorities are dude. I think it should be not having the criminal record. That can screw up your life majorly. The "it's not my fault" defense that one attorney suggested didn't bid well with me b/c I know I did something wrong. I just didn't know about the 80+ mph law. I always thought it was 20+. But I guess it's a lesson I learned! While ignorance isn't bliss here, I think the forgiveness route is the safest. I'm still trying to think whether an attorney is going to help or hurt.

[Waterboy526]

FYI it's easy to get driving records from anywhere by using the national data base which can even be accessed on the cruiser laptops that the VSP use. That being said, you would be suprised that a lot of violations from other jurisdictions are not researched properly and even though the VSP wrote both tickets they might not even know you recieved another violation on the same day if they don't do their homework. Like I said, you would be suprised how many officers/troopers come to court without doing their homework.