by admin | Aug 5, 2013 | Traffic Charges
Last week, a Springville resident was involved in a crash. 28-year old Nathan A Devenish was driving a Banshee ATV and was accompanied by two children – his 10-year old daughter sitting behind him and a 4-year old boy who was sitting in front. The incident occurred on Sunday, July 21, near the Sandy Beach area of Utah Lake at around 5 o’clock in the evening. Devenish was driving erratically and was at high speed when a bump caused the back of the ATV to lift up and fishtail. As a result, he lost control of the quad bike, crashing into a vehicle parked on the southeast end of Utah Lake. Considering the severity of the crash and the fact that neither of the kids was wearing a helmet, it is really lucky that the accident did not end as tragically as it could have. The boy escaped with no more than minor abrasions on his body while Devenish’s daughter suffered injuries on her back and head. Both children were rushed to Utah Valley Regional Medical Center in Provo, from where the Devenish’s daughter was transported to Primary Children’s Medical Center by helicopter since she required treatment for a fracture she had sustained. Deputies from the Utah County Sheriff’s Office, who responded to the crash, have reason to believe that Devenish may have been driving under the influence of alcohol. A blood sample was taken from him, but the result won’t be in for several weeks. While Devenish did own up to drinking, he says the accident happened because the ATV’s throttle got stuck. For the time being, the...
by admin | Jul 17, 2013 | Fairfax DUI / DWI, Traffic Charges
June 29, 2013 was not a good day for Jovan Chesmon Smith. Whatever intent he may have had when he left home, it surely did not include ruining a pleasant weekend by having a run in with the authorities and getting arrested for driving under the influence. According to Grazia Moyers, Virginia Beach Police Department, the incident took place at 7.15 pm when Smith was driving north on Independence Boulevard. As he turned left on Euclid Road, he accelerated and rammed into a vehicle in the next lane. In an effort to take control, Smith overcorrected his vehicle, causing him to cross over the median. Before he knew it, he had crashed into a police car. To make matters worse, the police car was not unoccupied. It was carrying, at that time, a police officer and his chaplain. Finally, Smith’s out of control car flipped on its side and came to rest in front of Best Buy, on the sidewalk. On the brighter side, nobody involved in the crash were injured in any way. 32-year old Smith was arrested on the spot and faces several charges, the first of which is driving under the influence. At the time of the incident, his blood alcohol concentration was higher than 0.20. This is significantly above the legal limit to drive in Virginia, which is 0.08. In fact, according to the police department, this is Smith’s second DUI charge within 5-10 years. This makes him a repeat offender, automatically inviting a higher penalty. The other charges that have been brought against Smith include following too close, unauthorized use of inspection sticker, no...
by admin | Jul 1, 2013 | Traffic Charges
30-year old Michelle Lynn Warnick has a penchant for creating trouble which usually seems to end in hi-speed chases. Not content with being arrested on May 5 after a police pursuit. Warnick allegedly put up a repeat performance on June 22. However, unlike the earlier episode that landed two other people apart from Warnick in the hospital, this one was a mild incident. It all started on Saturday afternoon, June 22, around 2 o’clock when the staff at the Best Buy on Retail Commons Parkway, Martinsburg, spotted Warnick shoplifting a cellphone case. They allege that they tried to detain her and two employees escorted her to an office until the authorities arrived. Warnick, however, managed to shove them aside, running out of the store on foot and later escaping in a red Jeep Liberty. The policemen who arrived at the retail outlet in response to the complaint, chased down Warnick who was not just speeding but negotiating turns recklessly and travelling left off center, according to a police report. She was finally cornered on Apple Harvest Drive where she abandoned the Jeep and hid in a barn where the police finally discovered her. They also recovered a small purse a few feet away from her containing heroin, syringes, and drug related paraphernalia. A second purse in the jeep had a bottle with over two dozen Oxycodone pills – a prescription drug. Michelle Lynn Warnick was arraigned the following day (Sunday, June 23) on felony charges of possession with intent to distribute heroin and Oxycodone and fleeing in a vehicle with reckless indifference. In addition, misdemeanor charges of driving on...
by admin | Jun 30, 2013 | Traffic Charges
Texting while you are driving became a primary offense on July 1 in Virginia. That means police officers can pull you over solely for texting or emailing while you are behind the wheel. It has been illegal to text and drive in the Commonwealth since 2009 but it was a secondary offense which meant police needed another reason to stop drivers they saw texting such as a defective light or erratic driving. Texting And Driving First Citation Under the new law the first citation for texting at the wheel will be a fine of $125 dollars, with every offense after that carrying a fine of $250 dollars. The new law raises a number of legal questions. It states that a driver cannot “manually enter multiple letters or texts” while driving or “read any email or text message transmitted to the device.” But drivers will still be able to use their hands to make phone calls and receive directions using a smartphone’s Global Positioning System. It may be difficult for a law enforcement officer to differentiate between someone entering in a phone number, which remains legal, and entering in text which isn’t, from the road. Cell Phone & Reckless Driving Using a cell phone or other device while driving could also lead to a more serious offense of reckless driving. The Virginian-Pilot reported an opinion of Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli who said a reckless driving charge would be appropriate if the use of a hand-held communication device led a driver to “seriously endanger others or their property.” The Attorney General gave his response to a request from Del. Scott Surovell,...
by admin | Jun 24, 2013 | Fairfax DUI / DWI, Reckless Driving, Traffic Charges
There have been a lot of stories about how some people have “talked their way” out of a ticket. In fact, it’s so common to try and find some “other” reason for poor driving that a poll in USA Today found the Top Ten most common reasons for excusing poor driving. In cases involving suspected DWI, the excuses (real or not) have a lot in common. The most popular reasons for not getting a ticket range from “I didn’t know it was broken” (number 3) and “I was lost” (number 2) and “I couldn’t see the sign” (number 1). Whether these excuses become good defenses to a DWI often depend on the driver working with a DWI attorney who can present the true facts. The reality for anyone who is cited for a DWI, however, is that police are supposed to follow very strict rules, excuses or not, for giving a DWI citation. Whether these rules are followed is often decided by being sure an experienced DWI attorney helps the driver. In one Fairfax County case, a woman caused an accident during rush hour. Though she seemed to be intoxicated, the woman insisted on getting medical treatment instead of agreeing to a field sobriety test. The police officer, who had the breathalyzer test ready, watched as the ambulance loaded the woman for the hospital. Hours later, the officer decided not to cite the woman for DWI. The woman may have avoided a DWI citation: but the officer received a disciplinary action for “shirking his duty.” As with the modern reasons for trying to talk an officer out of a...
by admin | Jun 18, 2013 | Reckless Driving, Traffic Charges
Want to Know How Much Your Reckless Driving, Speeding or Other Virginia Ticket is Going To Increase Your Insurance? Increased insurance premiums should be the only concern most drivers should have when they receive a Reckless driving or other traffic ticket in Virginia. The fact is, jail time and a loss of license are simply not realistic consequences except for a small percentage of drivers who were either going very fast or have horrible driving records. However, every single driver is required to carry insurance. And it is likely that your insurance company will review your record. The website Insurance.com has created a special calculator which allows a person to get an estimate of how much their insurance will increase if they are convicted for different types of driving violations. The calculator is based on a review of nearly 500,000 insurance policies across the United States. The Law Office of Faraji Rosenthall has no relationship with Insurance.com and has no idea how legitimate their claim is. However, a quick search indicates that the website has been reviewed by such reputable sites as Forbes.com and Washingtonpost.com. The calculator tells the user how much their insurance will increase based on the user’s location, marital status, whether they own or rent their home, years with the current insurance carrier, age and current premium. These are all factors most insurance companies consider when determining how much to charge. The calculator then determines how much a person can expect their premium to increase as a percentage of their current payments. This new tool takes all the guess work out of trying to figure out...
