Meet District Attorney Tom Keith

Part II – Accusations Against Keith and His Subsequent Retirement…

Many want to know is who is this Tom Keith? And what gives him the right to question the judge’s ruling? It seems the name “Tom Keith” has been in the media a lot! A group of about thirty ministers and their followers called for his resignation on September 11th, calling him a “racist” who could not fairly prosecute all persons fairly.

In fact, he “retired” just a couple of months later, only midway through his term. Of course, this may be nothing more than hollow name calling, and if all of the people slinging accusations at him are promoting their own race to the exclusion of other races, it calls into question the quality of any racially tinged claims.

The infamous Hunt case changed the opinions of many about Keith a few years ago. That was a case where a man was convicted twice, in 1984 and again in 1990 for raping and  killing a woman. According to reports, DNA evidence excluded Hunt as the rapist in 1994, and Keith did not call for a re-investigation of the case. It wasn’t until the real murderer was found, and he confessed, that Keith apparently acknowledged Hunt’s innocence. That’s a dangerous game to play, as Mike Nifong so recently discovered.

Tom Keith is approximately retired now, he’s sixty-five years old, and he could focus on something else in life like fishing, defending indigent innocents, or suing con artists. He’s left his mark… he’ll be remembered. But causing a huge stir over a lousy traffic ticket on his way out seems trivial.

Judge Hutchins should be commended for standing her ground, and doing what she feels is right whatever the government’s “magical” speed box of guilt says – that’s what heroes and wise judges do during witch trials. It is insane to demand that people at X arbitrary speed be placed in cages like animals. And a license suspension is not necessary in every case. Certain people such as veterans with perfect records deserve a break at any speed.  It will be interesting to see how the case turns out...

Meet District Attorney Tom Keith

Part I – To Force Her Honor’s Hand…

Tom Keith has just retired after almost completing his fifth term as the DA for Forsyth County, North Carolina. Keith will be remembered by some as a great man. Others claim he is too biased to serve as DA. And the few who don’t know this man will have one last chance to gather an opinion of him… because he isn’t ready to leave the spotlight just yet.

Just before his retirement, Keith stirred up a huge fight with Judge Laurie Hutchins, challenging her ruling on a speeding case. The defendant in the case was caught going 122 miles per hour in a 65 mile per hour zone. He had no prior criminal record, and the judge found him guilty of going 79 in a 65 mile per hour zone… a reduced violation. This is not uncommon even at very high speeds if the driver has a perfect record. At a minimum, one would expect that this outcome saved the defendant a license suspension under NC’s insane 15 MPH+ suspension rule.

Keith was furious, and has since filed a motion to overturn the ruling with the Superior Court. One hundred, twenty-two miles per hour! Triple digits are fast on any highway, but the judge heard the case and is standing by her decision. Maybe she thought this guy deserved a break. Maybe her gut told her something that we aren‘t aware of. Maybe the skill of the defense attorney paid off. But it was in her courtroom, and she ruled as she believed was right, refusing to back down to Keith. In part II, more details will emerge about the showdown over whether judges should have the discretion to give people a break on speeding charges.
To be continued…

Traffic Defense Bar to Tiger: Don't Talk

It's very interesting to watch the events unfold in the Tiger Woods accident scandal.  According to reports, Tiger wrecked his large SUV backing out of his driveway.  Apparently, he hit a fire hydrant and then ran the massive SUV into a tree.  Police in Florida haven't charged him with anything, but in Virginia he would probably be looking at a reckless driving charge depending on whether he was on a "public highway", and even then state laws vary.  But one thing is for sure: Tiger should completely ignore the media types that are calling out for him to make a statement. 

They don't care about Tiger or his career.  They only want to peek, poke and prod into his private life, examining rumors that the accident was the result of some sort of inappropriate or salcious behavior.  Any traffic defense attorney who is worth a rat's ass would tell him to make no statement whatsoever to the police or the press.  Every single word he says can and will be used against him.  The cops aren't his friends, they're getting paid for trying to pin charges against any and every person they can.

If the police charge him with something that doesn't include jail time or license suspension, his lawyer may advise him just to pay the fine, especially if he wouldn't even have to appear in court.  And if he is charged, his own statements will eventually be scrutinized with a microscope in the press, and therefore by the prosecutors.  So he would benefit by keeping quiet and preserving the advantage of trial by surprise.

Largely thanks to the "DUI exception to the Constitution", the traffic laws are now so heavily enforced and basic trial rights are so minimally observed that the defense has very few advantages.  Best to make maximum use of one, which is the right to remain silent.  The critics?  What does Tiger have to prove to them?

Virginia State Troopers Participate in Operation CARE - both citations and fatalities rise...

Last year during Labor Day weekend, Virginia State Police participated in operation C.A.R.E., which is supposedly designed to make the highways safer and reduce fatalities. They issued 8,492 speeding tickets and 2,407 reckless driving citations last year, but this year they were even more productive.

Yes ladies and gentlemen, this past labor day weekend your state troopers cited 9,386 motorists for speeding and 2,587 for reckless driving. But despite the fact that the number of citation increased, this provided no appreciable safety boost on our highways. Fatalities actually increased from 2008 to 2009.

The numbers released by the state police are causing many to question whether the Operation C.A.R.E. is about safety or money. In addition, some critics feel that the program actually creates additional hazard for the troopers as well as the persons being stopped and cited.

Warning! State Troopers Writing Tickets Tomorrow in Louisa!

The Richmond Times Dispatch website has just published a report that the VA State Police have announced a special traffic crackdown tomorrow on US 15 and I-64 between mile markers 133 and 142. Please do not be a victim of your own poor driving or of our very efficient and vigilant state troopers. If you do get cited for reckless driving by speed tomorrow in Louisa, feel free to call me immediately at (540) 462-3863. I'll be glad to help.

OK, it's not reckless driving, but...

Washington DC Mayor Adrian Fenty recently got cited for speeding. His mayoral ride, the tiniest little thing you've ever seen, is one of those smart cars. It really represents a big departure from what we normally see politicians driving. In fact, according to an article in the Washington Post, his previous car was a Lincoln Navigator, one of those big bohemoth SUVs featuring maximum luxury and minimum gas mileage. The funny thing is that it seems like a calculated move to appeal to "greens" and show your part for saving Mother Earth.

What is ironic is that the good mayor is still driving the Lincoln back and forth from home to the office, only using the 2-seater smart car for daytime (i.e., "photo opportunity") journeys during his workday. I guess the greens will just have to take what they can get. At any rate, the mayor's car was ticketed as a result of one of those foolish little speed cameras that have become a pox upon the drivers of the District.

According to this report, the car was "caught" going 43 in a 30 MPH zone. OMG!!! That is 13 MILES PER HOUR OVER THE SPEED LIMIT!!! THIRTEEN! Hizzoner is lucky, because in Virginia, thirteen miles per hour over the speed limit can get you charged with a CRIME, which is not just any old civil infraction or non-jailable misdemeanor. It is a First Class Misdemeanor just like DUI, possession of marijuana, and shoplifting! As my readers know, Virginia law says that anybody travelling 81 in a 70 (eighty one miles per hour in a seventy mile per hour zone) on I-85 South of Petersburg can (and will) be charged with reckless driving. That's only eleven miles over the limit, and people are charged with reckless driving for thirteen miles over every day. Of course the mayor wasn't going 81 miles per hour. But on the other hand, he was at 143% of the speed limit. At 81 in a 70, a driver is only at 116% of the limit.

One of my clients recently fell into this unfortunate group at an alleged speed of 86 in a 70. She didn't get convicted, but many of the people caught in the Virginia reckless driving racket never even show up for court. They just figure they are beat from the start and never even bother to fight the charge. That's not really true, depending on the quality of the case you and your attorney can prepare before going to court. But especially for out of state drivers, the trip back to VA combined with the cost of the ticket if they lose is prohibitive. Wait 'til they find out some of the prohibitions of having a permanent criminal record!

While the mayor was not charged with a crime (and his driving would not constitute a crime in Virginia either), the point is that everybody speeds.

Victim of Speeding Laws or Inconceivably Hypocritical Asshole? You Decide...

Meet Tom Riall, pictured in the screenshot at left taken from newburytoday.co.uk. This guy is going to blow your mind when you find out his attitude on reckless driving by speed. First, you should be aware that this jerk is an executive for Serco, which oversees thousands of cameras on Britain’s roads which are used to ticket drivers for speeding.

He's really, really concerned about the dangers of speeding. For example, last year he and his company supported the "Safe Drive Stay Alive campaign". He even made a statement to show the public how much his business cares about highway safety. "In courts and prisons we see the direct consequences of reckless and dangerous driving every single day. For far too many young people it ends with a prison sentence - but for the families left behind the pain lasts much longer.” (emphasis added).

Riall should be pretty familiar with the subject of reckless driving. He has been cited numerous times for traffic violations including speeding, and was most recently caught doing 103 MPH in a 70 MPH zone. I am not making this up. Undeterred by his previous proclamations about dangerous driving, Riall was actually heard to plead with the Court for lenience, begging to be let off the hook without a license suspension. His children are in private school, he reasoned, and a license suspension might have a negative effect on their long term educational prospects? What? Did he really ask for a break at over 100 MPH "for the kids"?

At the risk of overstating the obvious, this guy is arrogant beyond belief. If I were a judge in Virginia and he came before my Court with this charge, I would impose a sentence that he would not forget. First I would sentence him to the maximum term of 12 months in jail. I would also suspend his license for 12 months. I would then fine him $2,500. Then I would lecture him from the bench.

"Mr. Riall" I would say, "you and your employer Serco are snitches. You do not care about highway safety, but rather about the revenue that can be derived from ratting out your fellow drivers for the exact same behaviour that you have engaged in. You are a disgrace. You actions reveal the sad truth about speeding tickets, which are designed simply as a revenue source rather than a safety measure. We could easily control speeding by mandating that all new cars be sold with speed governing devices, but the loss of revenue will not be tolerated by an equally hypocritical government made up of legislators, police, prosecutors, bureaucrats, and yes, judges like myself who also speed. I cannot sentence you more harshly even though you deserve it. But I would hope that the government would rescind every one of Serco's contracts based on your misconduct."

Then I would resign from the bench in protest, and I would return to defending drivers like you and me who are humans that are increasingly being subjected to the judgment of machines in order to fill government coffers. By the way, Serco issued a statement after the trial, stating "Mr Riall has apologised to the company and his apology has been accepted." Shame on Tom Riall and Serco.

VDOT Actually Takes Steps to Improve Traffic Safety; VA DMV and State Troopers Expected to Protest

Here's an interesting approach to safety: VDOT has started painting zig-zagged lines on roads in congested areas in the hopes of slowing down drivers. When I first read that I thought it was probably a waste of money like most governmental expenditures. But then I discovered that there was actually scientific evidence behind this.

In the UK and Australia they have tried the zig zag method. Apparently it works at decreasing accidents. This is what we call the scientific method. I just call it common sense. I can only imagine the reaction of the criminal justice system. Surely they fought this tooth and nail. Less accidents and speeding = less revenue for the cops, courts, and Commonwealth's DMV. Their proposed solution to speeding is to write tickets and cite speeders, many of whom are charged with reckless driving.

Their only tool is a hammer. When you only know how to solve problems with a hammer, everything looks like a nail. But we are not nails, we are human beings. The drivers of Virginia deserve to be treated as people who can make mistakes rather than subjects of the state's hammering power.

Possibly the Dumbest Article on Reckless Driving... Ever

It is rare that I see an article of this low calibre railing against the evils of speeding (see screenshot at left). Everybody speeds. Everybody knows they speed. Nobody denies that they have ever violated the speed limit. But AAA has come out with a stroke of disingenuity in the name of safety.

I support highway safety because I want to be safe on the highways. But at the same time I am not naive enough to expect to encounter a world in which the highways are free from risk. Deer run out in the road all the time. As a motorist, I accept the risk that I will hit one and suffer a fatal accident.

At the same time, I believe we should encourage driving at reasonable speeds. We already do that by taxing gasoline, which causes speeders to pay a surcharge not incurred by their more efficient and economical brethren. I do not believe in putting people in cages for driving too fast unless they hurt someone through their negligence. Jail ain't good for anybody. AAA seems to take a different opinion.

This article begins with the unlikely claim "Agressive Driving up 56%". Huh? A 56% increase from when? 1932? The headline seems unlikely at best. Then the article goes on to explain that "As many as 56 percent of deadly vehicle crashes involve one or more unsafe driving behaviors typically associated with aggressive driving...". This is obviously not the same as a 56% increase in aggressive driving.

It is also completely useless. "As many as 56 percent" is language that concedes right off the bat that the "research" behind the article has not produced a reliable figure, but that it is asserted to be no more than 56%. To claim 56% is dishonestly deceitful because it suggests that the research is so accurate as to pinpoint within one percentile exactly how many accidents are caused by "aggressive driving". But the claim is further watered down by the inclusion of weasal words like "typically associated with", which deprives the phrase "aggressive driving" of any definition or significance.

WAVY 10 has surrendered the pretense of journalism in publishing this apprently unedited puff piece designed to benefit AAA. I am ashamed of the quality of this "news article". Ironically, it candidly admits: "However, in the same survey, many individuals reported driving in ways that could be deemed aggressive." I suspect that "many" means most. Certainly most drivers have in fact run afoul of the traffic laws, whether cited or not.

If most drivers admit to the classic "California stop" (what AAA calls "running stop signs ") or the offense of proceeding at 56 in a 55 zone ("speeding", called out by the saints at AAA), then why would an organization for people who drive automobiles take a position that is contrary to the behavior of more than half of its audience?

AAA needs to get off its high horse, quit collaborating with the VA DMV, State Police and General Assembly, and start representing drivers. Safety is important. But severely punishing people who are victims of bad luck isn't an efficient way of accomplishing that goal. Write your elected representatives and let them know that reckless driving should not be a crime resulting in a permanent criminal record, and that the pockets of average motorists are not a statistical portion of the Commonwealth's treasury.

Virginia Called Out in the Washington Times for Latest Reckless Driving Scam

Just when you thought Virginia had learned a lesson in becoming unpopular by gouging the people, they have taken to the highways anew like robbers of ancient times to waylay travellers to relieve them of their valuables. Yes, Virginia has stepped in it again.

Remember the "abusive driver fees" a/k/a enhanced civil forfeitures that the General Assembly enacted back in '07? They were so incredibly unpopular that the politicians immediately repealed and refunded the onerous fees for fear of being run out of office.

Problem was, that left them with a little hole in their budget. The intended effect was an additional $385,000,000.00 for the state’s coffers. But the legislature took things a step too far in their attempt to squeeze the golden goose. They applied these new fees to reckless driving by speed, attempting to charge Virginia drivers (but not out of state drivers) an additional $1,050
for driving 81 MPH in a 70 MPH zone, which resulted in a massive public outcry.

In their latest move, VDOT has erected variable speed limit signs that display different speeds at different times. Even if you are used to travelling in a 55 zone, you might find yourself in the same location but subjected to a new speed limit of 35 Miles Per Hour. Result: Reckless Driving charge. Fine: up to $2,500. Jail: up to 12 months. License Suspension: up to 6 months. In a recent editorial in the Washington Times, this was exposed as the latest Virginia speeding ticket scam.

"According to VDOT, the program is designed to tell motorists how fast they should drive to achieve optimum traffic flow. It is not clear how confusion about a speed limit on a highway can help traffic flow smoothly. The more obvious explanation is that variable speed limits are about revenue, and we are sure VDOT will succeed at squeezing lots of money out of drivers with this scam."