Court Opinion

ID: 9847078
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 03:53:23.786775+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:17:00.346069
License: Public Domain

Benton, J.,
concurring.
I join in Parts T, II, and IV of the opinion, and, for the reasons stated in those Parts, I would reverse the conviction. I do not join in Part III because we are required to “strictly” construe a penal statute against the Commonwealth and to limit the “application [of a penal statute] to cases clearly falling within the language of the statute.” Turner v. Commonwealth, 226 Va. 456, 459, 309 S.E.2d 337, 338 (1983). The majority has adopted the analysis of Bray v. Commonwealth, 9 Va. App. 417, 388 S.E.2d 837 (1990), which, contrary to the principles of Turner, expansively construes Code § 18.2-181, as amended.