THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, November 2, 1994 TAG: 9411020400
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MARC DAVIS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 71 lines
Prosecutors in Norfolk and Virginia Beach will not press charges against 19 auto dealers accused of questionable sales tactics by the Department of Motor Vehicles.
Prosecutors in both cities concluded, independently, that there is not enough evidence for felony charges against any dealer.
That means DMV will continue to pursue misdemeanor charges against the dealers in lower courts.
In Norfolk, Commonwealth's Attorney Charles D. Griffith Jr. said the cases are mostly misdemeanor paperwork violations and ``not anything monumental.''
In Virginia Beach, Deputy Commonwealth's Attorney Walt Brudzinski said most of the witnesses - military men and women - are overseas and could not be brought back for misdemeanor cases. Without those witnesses, convictions would be impossible, he said.
``The ball is back in DMV's court,'' Brudzinski said.
But DMV still will not divulge details of the cases, four months after the agency announced it was charging 19 dealers with 366 violations, mostly for preying on military customers.
On Tuesday, DMV again refused to release the dealers' names, the exact charges and the disposition of cases that have already gone through General District Court. These charges were brought directly by DMV by issuing summonses.
A DMV investigator suggested Tuesday that the cases could be found by simply looking them up in General District Court. ``It's a matter of public record,'' said Edward P. Ryder Sr., DMV's assistant director of investigations.
But it is impossible to check the cases in court without the defendants' names, said Thomas E. Baldwin, chief clerk of Norfolk's General District Court. Hundreds of misdemeanor cases are brought in General District Court every month.
The investigation began in April after Navy officials tipped off DMV to improprieties at some local car dealerships. As a result, DMV and the Navy raided 20 dealers in Norfolk and Virginia Beach on June 27, conducting surprise inspections.
Two days later, DMV announced it had issued 136 summonses to 19 dealers for ``a variety of licensing violations.'' Another 230 charges were pending, DMV announced.
The raid targeted five new-car dealers and 14 used-car dealers, DMV said. The dealers werecharged with violations such as failing to maintain proper records, having open titles on vehicles, failing to deliver vehicle titles within 30 days, misusing 30-day tags, not having titles and bills of sale for cars, and using unlicensed salespeople.
For months, DMV officials refused to comment further, saying the cases were under review by prosecutors in Norfolk and Virginia Beach.
But Griffith and Brudzinski said their cities will not pursue indictments.
Griffith said he reviewed the cases and found no felonies, just ``administrative kind of things that you'd find if you go into any dealership. the matters.''
In Virginia Beach, Brudzinski also found that the cases were a low priority. ``To DMV, this is a big deal. To us, this has to compete with violent felonies,'' he said.
Getting witnesses is also a problem, Brudzinski said. Many are in the military, in Haiti or the Mediterranean. ``Without those witnesses, I can't go forward,'' he said.
DMV's Ryder said he might eventually be able to release a list of dealers and charges after consulting with other DMV employees and supervisors. by CNB