THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Friday, March 1, 1996                  TAG: 9603010490
SECTION: LOCAL                    PAGE: B7   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: BY DAVID POOLE, STAFF WRITER 
DATELINE: RICHMOND                           LENGTH: Short :   36 lines

POLICE WON'T LET BEYER'S AIDE TALK HIS WAY INTO A TICKET

The case of the speeding Volvo took a curious turn Thursday when Lt. Gov. Don Beyer's lead-footed aide who got off with a warning last weekend asked police to ticket him after the fact.

But Chesterfield County police refused to cite Chris Elliott for speeding because of a creative reading of a century-old statute that protects General Assembly members and their aides from false imprisonment.

``Our interpretation is that he cannot be issued a ticket because the General Assembly is in session,'' said Don Kappel, spokesman for Chesterfield County police. ``It's like diplomatic immunity.''

Calling that interpretation silly, Beyer spokesperson Page Boinest said Elliott planned to pay the county $90 - with or without a speeding citation.

``They are not above the law,'' she said. ``He wants to be ticketed like any other citizen.''

Elliott and Beyer were returning to Richmond on Saturday afternoon when the lieutenant governor's Volvo was clocked at 73 mph in a 55-zone on U.S. Route 360.

Police stopped Elliott, but did not give him a ticket.

Boinest said the officers made no mention of immunity when they let Elliott go with a warning.

Under state law, lawmakers, the lieutenant governor and their aides cannot be ``taken into custody or imprisoned'' during Assembly session unless for charges of ``treason, felony or breach of the peace.'' by CNB