Reckless Driving in Virginia – Dismissal!

Did you know that a charge of reckless driving in Virginia could be dismissed if the officer doesn’t appear in court?

Last week I was in Stafford County General District Court (the traffic court), and the judge called several defendants’ names. She then said that the ticketing officer did not come to court. The only defendant who was actually there had his charge dismissed!

The law behind this is simple: the Commonwealth of Virginia has to prove that you committed the crime that you are charged with. For traffic offenses (like reckless driving), the Commonwealth relies upon the ticketing officer to testify about the charge in question. If the officer doesn’t appear in court on time, the Commonwealth has essentially dropped the charge against you.

But here’s the rub – this outcome is extremely rare. In most instances, the officer will be present in court on time. The schedule is arranged where he typically only has to appear in each court once per month. And if he’s not there on time, he will usually notify the court, and the judge would typically continue the case to his next available court date. That’s definitely not a dismissal.

For reckless driving in Virginia, you don’t have a choice whether or not you appear in court. If you don’t appear (or hire a traffic attorney to appear for you), you could face charges of “failure to appear.”

If you have a Stafford reckless driving ticket, your best option is to hire me to defend it.