
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, July 28, 1995                   TAG: 9507280090
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: DIANE STRUZZI
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

ENFORCEMENT OF DUI LAW STILL ON HOLD

Roanoke County Commonwealth's Attorney Skip Burkart on Thursday delayed a decision on how to enforce the state's DUI law until he has more time to review an appellate opinion by a Circuit Court judge.

Judge Roy Willett on Wednesday rejected a host of constitutional challenges to Virginia's newest get-tough-on-DUI law. The ruling came after 10 drunken-driving cases were appealed from General District Court on the grounds that the administrative license revocation law posed double jeopardy and due process dilemmas.

The state's license revocation statute, which went into effect Jan. 1, calls for the immediate seven-day suspension of a drunken-driving suspect's license if the driver declines to take a breath test or registers a blood-alcohol content of 0.08 percent or higher.

In March, Roanoke County Judge George Harris Jr. threw out a DUI case against a Vinton resident, ruling that she already had been punished because officers revoked her license for seven days. It was the first time the law was challenged on the basis of double jeopardy.

Harris' ruling created a quandary for county police officers and prosecutors. The Roanoke County Police Department reluctantly stopped revoking the licenses of suspects until the issue could be resolved. Thursday, Assistant Chief Jack McCorkle said that policy would continue pending advice from Burkart.

by CNB