Court Opinion

ID: 9851778
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 05:19:35.225957+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:22:15.274111
License: Public Domain

Harrison, J.,
dissenting in part.
I would acquit the defendant of operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of intoxicants. While the evidence is overwhelming that Williams was drunk, he did not operate his vehicle while in that condition. Indeed, the evidence shows that he realized that he was too drunk to operate his car and decided to go to sleep. The fact that he remained in his parked vehicle from 1 a.m. until 4 a.m. without moving it, and that when awakened by the police officers he turned the motor off, showed a lack of intent on his part to move the vehicle before he was sober.
The sole evidence upon which defendant’s conviction is based is that he started the engine and turned on the heater. Most certainly no serious significance can be attached to a mere hand motion or gesture made by a man immediately upon being awakened out of a drunken stupor by police officers “yelling” at him and “tapping” on his car window.
Defendant did exactly what others should do upon finding that they have consumed too much alcohol to operate a vehicle—stop drinking and go to sleep. For security purposes he locked his car doors. To keep from getting too cold he started the heater. He did nothing with his car that was a menace to himself or to the public. For us to hold that what the defendant did in this case amounts to operating a car within the purview of Code § 18.1-54, or the Peters-burg ordinance, is unrealistic and unreasonable.
The majority says that “operating . . . includes starting the engine, or manipulating the mechanical or electrical equipment of the vehicle without actually putting the car in motion”. Under such a holding, a person who has been drinking heavily can not sit, rest or sleep in *303his own automobile and operate the mechanical or electrical devices necessary to raise or lower the windows, turn on the radio, heater or air conditioning, activate a flashing or warning light, or lock the doors, without being guilty of “operating a motor vehicle under the influence”. Neither the statute nor the cases cited by the majority demand or support such a strained conclusion.
In Gallagher the defendant was in full control of his vehicle, sitting in the driver’s seat, accelerating the motor with the car in gear, trying to get it out of a ditch. The rear wheels of his car were spinning, and the defendant did not move the car only because the wheels lacked sufficient traction. Further, the evidence showed that immediately prior to the arrival of the police, the defendant had tried to drive his vehicle out of the ditch with the aid of a tow truck, and failed because the rope, which attached his vehicle to the truck, had broken. Gallagher was in fact operating his vehicle.
In Nicolls the defendant was in control of his vehicle which was sitting on the hard surface of a state highway just outside the Town of Onancock. Its motor was running, the car was in gear, the heater was operating, and its highbeam lights were on. Nicolls was slumped over the steering wheel, with his hands hanging down, in a drunken condition. It was raining and snowing at the time. While the evidence showed that Nicolls’ car was probably inoperable at the moment the officers arrived, the evidence was sufficient for the court to have found that the defendant had driven the vehicle to the point where it was found on the highway, and had endeavored to drive it away from there, failing only because of the mechanical condition of the car. We held that under “the facts proved”, Nicolls was guilty of operating his vehicle. The facts proved in the case under review dictate a contra holding.
The state statute and the city ordinance are designed to prohibit and punish a person for “operating”, not for “occupying”, a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol.
I concur in so much of the opinion as affirms the defendant’s conviction of violating Code § 18.1-55.1.
Cochran and Poff, JJ., join in this dissent.