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Hall v. Commonwealth of Virginia9/28/1999
FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY Frank A. Hoss, Jr., Judge
MEMORANDUM OPINION
A jury convicted Franklin Eugene Hall of aggravated involuntary manslaughter in violation of Code § 18.2-36.1(B). On this appeal, Hall contends the trial Judge erred (1) in allowing testimony concerning the result of a preliminary analysis of his breath for alcohol content, (2) in allowing testimony during the Commonwealth's case-in-chief that Hall was previously convicted of an unrelated offense of driving while intoxicated, (3) in denying his motions to strike the evidence, and (4) in refusing a jury instruction concerning the causation that must be shown between Hall's intoxication and the death of the motorcyclist. Because we conclude that the trial Judge erred in refusing the jury instruction, we reverse the conviction and remand the case for a new trial.
I.
The evidence at trial proved that on February 2, 1997, shortly after 8:00 p.m., a pickup truck driven by Franklin Eugene Hall and a motorcycle driven by Wayne A. Holmes collided at the intersection of Occoquan and Horner Roads in Prince William County. Holmes died in the crash. In the Commonwealth's case-in-chief, Mike Arnold testified that he was driving about forty miles per hour westbound on Occoquan Road in the left lane and slowing because he always did so approaching an intersection. Arnold said he was fifty feet from the intersection at Horner Road when he saw in his rearview mirror a motorcycle approaching in the right lane. He testified that the traffic light at the intersection controlling his travel direction was green. As Arnold slowed, the motorcycle continued in the right lane past his car. Arnold testified that a pickup truck, which was driven by Hall eastward on Occoquan Road, made a left turn onto Horner Road, across the westbound travel lanes. Arnold testified that he was thirty feet away from the intersection when the truck turned, that the truck had no turn signal, and that the truck did not make a proper turn -- "it cut the corner." Arnold saw the collision between the motorcycle and the truck. He estimated that thirty seconds passed from the time he first saw the motorcycle in his rearview mirror and the collision.
Connie Stewart was a passenger in a car, which turned onto Occoquan Road at Route One and began travelling westbound toward Horner Road. She saw the motorcycle turn onto westbound Occoquan Road from Route One. The car in which Stewart was a passenger was travelling west in the left lane of Occoquan Road, and the motorcycle was travelling west in the right lane of Occoquan Road. As the car was moving at thirty-five miles per hour, the motorcycle passed the car. The motorcyclist gave a hand signal and drove into the left westbound lane. The motorcyclist passed a car in the right westbound lane, gave a hand signal, and moved again to the right westbound lane. Stewart estimated the speed of the motorcycle as forty to forty-five miles per hour. Stewart testified that as they were approaching the intersection, the light "had turned green." Her car was in the left travel lane, and the motorcycle was in the right travel lane. As the motorcycle passed to the right of a vehicle in front of Stewart's car, Stewart "saw the motorcycle flying up in the air." She did not see the collision itself and said it was dark at the time of the accident.
Officer J.S. Scalici, who examined the crash scene one-half hour following the accident, opined that if Hall's truck had not hit the motorcycle at the point of impact, the truck would have traveled into oncoming traffic on Horner Road. The officer testified that the motorcycle was travelling between thirty-five and forty miles pe
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