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Neiss v. Commonwealth7/27/1993
OPINION BY JUDGE SAM W. COLEMAN III
Gregory S. Neiss appeals his conviction for driving while intoxicated. He contends that his arrest was unlawful because it was outside the limits of Fairfax City and, therefore, the blood-alcohol test results obtained from the unlawful arrest should not have been admitted as evidence. The trial court held that the arrest was lawful and, thus, the test results were admissible because the Fairfax City police officer had authority to pursue and arrest Neiss beyond the limits of Fairfax City under the "escape, flight and pursuit" exception to the jurisdictional limitation on an officer's authority to arrest. We hold that the blood-alcohol test results were not illegally obtained, and, thus, we affirm Neiss' conviction.
On May 18, 1991, at approximately 10:00 p.m., in Fairfax City, police officer Randy L. Corpening observed a motorcycle enter the highway from a parking lot without stopping or yielding to oncoming traffic. The motorcycle was operated by Gregory Neiss. The officer estimated that Neiss was driving in excess of forty-five miles per hour in a thirty-five mile per hour zone.
Officer Corpening determined that Neiss had committed a traffic infraction, which is a misdemeanor, by failing to stop before entering a highway with a vehicle approaching at five hundred feet. Corpening pursued Neiss with the siren and lights activated on his police cruiser.
The officer was not able to overtake Neiss immediately; he ended up following Neiss out of Fairfax City into Fairfax County. Neiss did not stop his motorcycle until he had traveled approximately one and one-half miles from where Officer Corpening had first observed him in Fairfax City.
After the officer stopped Neiss, the officer noticed the odor of alcohol. He asked Neiss whether he had been drinking. Neiss answered that he had consumed three beers. The officer placed Neiss under arrest for driving while intoxicated and informed him of the implied consent law. Neiss opted to take a blood test. Officer Corpening transported Neiss to the Fairfax County Detention Center where a blood sample was taken, the analysis of which established that Neiss' blood alcohol content was 0.12 percent, weight by volume.
A uniformed police officer displaying a badge of office may arrest, without a warrant, any person who commits any crime in his presence. Code § 19.2-81. However, "the power of a policeman to make an arrest by virtue of his office is subject to well-recognized territorial limits." Banks v. Bradley, 192 Va. 598, 603, 66 S.E.2d 526, 529 (1951). A police officer may act only within the jurisdictional limits that the officer serves or within a statutorily prescribed distance from the jurisdictional limits. Id. Code § 19.2-249 provides that a police officer may arrest in an adjacent jurisdiction if the arrest takes place within three hundred yards of the jurisdictional boundary.
Notwithstanding the jurisdictional restrictions of Code § 19.2-249, a police officer has the authority to arrest an individual, with or without a warrant, beyond three hundred yards into the adjoining jurisdiction if, under the circumstances, the "escape, flight and pursuit" exception to the jurisdictional limitation applies. Under Code § 19.2-77, a police officer may arrest a person anywhere within the Commonwealth, if the officer is in "close pursuit" of the person, and the person is fleeing from an officer attempting to make an arrest or is escaping police
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