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19.2-130.1 is being changed so that if a judge issues a capias and orders the defendant held without bond the magistrate cannot give that defendant a bond when he is arrested.
18.2-472.1(G)(2) is being changed so that the certificate of analysis only has to "provided with" the notice of right to demand the analyst's presence instead "attached to" it.
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COMMENT: Yes, someone must have actually stood in court and argued, "Why yes, Judge, the Commonwealth gave me timely notice and gave me both pieces of paper. However, they didn't staple the papers together and therefore they can't introduce the analysis."
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19.2-386.16(B) is being changed so that if you abduct someone or pander a juvenile prostitute you lose your car.
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COMMENT: Cuz that'll keep'em from doing that.
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9.1-903(J): If a sex offender doesn't have a legal residence he has to register the location of his cardboard box.
54.1-3420.1: Pharmacists have to keep track of who is getting schedule II drugs and keep it for a year.
18.2-308: You can now take your concealed weapon into the bar with you, but if you drink alcohol it is a class 2 misdemeanor. HOWEVER, federal, state, and local law enforcement officers are not subject to this law (because officers are all immune to alcohol).
18.2-308: It is not illegal to have a concealed firearm in a car if it is locked in a compartment or a container.
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COMMENT: Think goodness. No more weapon concealed in the locked glove compartment charges.
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46.2-857: It is reckless driving for two motorcycles to ride side by side in one lane, UNLESS the drivers are two officers on duty.
46.2-857: It is okay for cars in separate lanes to be side by side when one is passing the other.
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COMMENT: You've got to be kidding me. It's currently illegal to drive side by side while passing right now (law in effect 01 July 10)? What court is buying that argument?
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46.2-301.1: If you know someone has no license and that he has previously been convicted of driving without a license and you allow him to drive your car, you have committed a class 1 misdemeanor.
19.2-73(B): An officer with probable cause that a driver has driven under the influence within three hours can legally arrest the driver even if he did not see the driving (the law used to require the arresting officer to have seen it).
46.2-341.18(E): If someone with a commercial driver's license commits manslaughter in a commercial vehicle he cannot have a commercial license for 5 years.
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COMMENT: Really? Do we want someone who has committed manslaughter in a commercial vehicle to be back out there in another one?
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4.1-309.1: It is no longer legal to drive a school bus filled with kids while possessing or drinking alcohol.
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COMMENT: Sadly, this has to be in reaction to specific facts which occurred somewhere.
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29.1-521.1: If you bait an area to keep hunters from being able to hunt there legally, it is a class 3 misdemeanor.
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COMMENT: Hmmm . . . If you are interfering with hunters around these parts your worries probably shouldn't center around whether or not you are going to get a class 3 misdemeanor.
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3 comments:
18.2-308: It is not illegal to have a concealed firearm in a car if it is locked in a compartment or a container.
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COMMENT: Think goodness. No more weapon concealed in the locked glove compartment charges.
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By your comment I assume that your county would unlikely prosecute such a case. However, as a defense attorney in Northern VA, my client wasn't so lucky w/his situation up here. My client, (former federal law enforcement and former special forces) had his handgun locked in his SUV's center console [though the officer said it was unlocked, 2 witnesses including his teenaged daughter in the car said it was locked].
Citing Keith v. Commonwealth, 17 Va. App. 620 (1994), the GDC judge accepted Commonwealth's argument that even if the gun was locked in the center console, it was still "readily accessible" under Va. Code 18.2-308 because it was "near or about the carrier's person." My client, who was also a firearm instructor, had a concealed weapon permit that had just expired shortly before the traffic stop.
Much to my shock, the prosecutor's best offer was a conviction as charged, suspended jail, a fine, and forfeit right to re-apply/validate his concealed weapon permit for a year. At trail phase, judge wouldn't hear about my client's background on firearm saftey and instruction (which I argued was relevant to support his claim he locked the gun in the center console), and found him guilty. About 10-15 minutes into my sentencing argument, in which I established my client was like Captain America, the GDC judge finally realized my client was a good guy and thus suggested a deferred finding.
So, in the more reasonable jurisdictions this new law would seem unnecessary, but....
Matt K.
Attorney-at-Law
Actually, I was not kidding about that one. You are correct that this would likely not be prosecuted in the jurisdiction I'm currently in. However, before I became a prosecutor, I was a defense attorney in Central Virginia and defended several people who had the pistol locked in the glove compartment (not even the central console). Usually, the prosecutor was satisfied with forfeiture of the firearm and dismissal. It always bothered me and I'm glad to see the law changed.
I actually had a Judge dismiss a glove compartment case because no evidence was introduced as to the location of the glove compartment in this particular model of car, therefore, no evidence the gun was readily accessible to the driver!
Great result, but never saw that "logic" coming.
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