Roberson v. Commonwealth
| Decision Date | 25 February 2010 |
| Docket Number | Record No. 091299 |
| Court | Virginia Supreme Court |
| Parties | CHAD CRAWFORD ROBERSON v. COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA |
Present: All the Justices
OPINION BY
In this appeal, the dispositive issue we consider is whether the Court of Appeals correctly determined that an appeal of a conviction for driving under the influence ("DUI") pursuant to a local ordinance was procedurally barred because the notice of appeal failed to name the locality, an indispensable party, as the appellee. The appellant contends, as he did in the Court of Appeals, that the DUI conviction was obtained under a state statute and, thus, the notice of appeal properly named the Commonwealth as the appellee.
Because the Court of Appeals dismissed the appeal without addressing the merits of the appellant's challenge to the DUI conviction, we are concerned here only with the proceduralstatus of the appeal. Accordingly, we will confine our consideration to the procedural history of the case, addressing only those aspects of the merits necessary to place the proceedings in proper context. On May 19, 2007, a City of Virginia Beach police officer arrested Chad Crawford Roberson for DUI. On the preprinted summons form completed by the officer at the scene, the officer checked a box indicating that Roberson was being charged under "City law section 21-1/18.2-266." A warrant of arrest subsequently issued by the Virginia Beach Magistrate on a preprinted form described the offense as a "Misdemeanor (Local)" and identified the offense as a "violation of Section 21-1/18.2-266, Code or Ordinances of this city." Other preprinted language on the warrant stated that "any authorized officer" was "commanded in the name of the Commonwealth of Virginia" to affect the arrest. The commitment order concurrently entered with the warrant stated that Roberson was being charged under a "local ordinance" and identified the offense as "Code Section 21-1/18.2-266."
Section 21-1 of the Virginia Beach City Code (hereinafter, "VBCC § 21-1"), in relevant part, provides that "[p]ursuant to the authority of § 46.2-1313 of the Code of Virginia, 1950, as amended, all of the provisions and requirements of the laws of the State contained in Title 46.2and Article 2 (§ 18.2-266 et seq.) of Chapter 7 of Title 18.2 of the Code of Virginia, as amended, and pursuant to § 1-220 of the Code of Virginia as amended in the future . . . are hereby adopted and incorporated in this Chapter by reference and made applicable within the City." Code § 18.2-266, in relevant part, makes it "unlawful for any person to drive or operate any motor vehicle . . . while such person is under the influence of alcohol."
On September 11, 2007, Roberson was tried on the warrant of arrest in the City of Virginia Beach General District Court, entered a plea of not guilty, and was found "guilty as charged" by the court. Roberson noted an appeal from the judgment of the general district court.
On appeal in the Circuit Court of the City of Virginia Beach, Roberson was tried without a jury and was again convicted of DUI. The order of conviction, entered on November 5, 2007, was styled "City of Virginia Beach v. Chad Crawford Roberson." However, the order makes no reference to VBCC § 21-1, identifying the offense of conviction as a violation of Code § 18.2-266.
On November 21, 2007, Roberson filed a notice of appeal from the judgment of the circuit court styled as "Commonwealth of Virginia, Plaintiff v. Chad Crawford Roberson, Defendant" and denoted the appellee in the Rule 5A:6(d) certificate as"the Commonwealth of Virginia." The notice of appeal contained the circuit court docket number of Roberson's case, recited that he was convicted of DUI, and recited the jail portion of the sentence imposed. However, the notice of appeal did not identify the date of the trial or the date of the final order; nor did it reference either VBCC § 21-1 or Code § 18.2-266 as the offense of conviction.
On December 20, 2007, Roberson's counsel presented a statement of facts to the circuit court and again the style of the case denoted the Commonwealth as the prosecuting authority. Throughout the statement of facts the prosecuting authority was similarly designated as "the Commonwealth." Jason S. Miyares, an Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney for the City of Virginia Beach, signed the statement of facts as "Seen and Agreed." The circuit court entered the statement of facts without modification.
The Court of Appeals received the record of Roberson's case from the circuit court on December 30, 2007. The style of the case on the cover sheet of the record containing the circuit court clerk's certification styled the case as "Commonwealth of Virginia [v.] Chad Crawford Roberson, Defendant," and identified Miyares as the "attorney for the Commonwealth." In accord with the style of the notice of appeal and the certified record received from the circuitcourt, the Clerk of the Court of Appeals docketed the appeal as "Chad Crawford Roberson v. Commonwealth of Virginia."
On March 7, 2008, Roberson filed his petition for appeal in the Court of Appeals. The petition was styled with the Commonwealth as the appellee; the Rule 5A:12(c) certificate at the conclusion of the petition, while not identifying the appellee, stated that a copy of the petition had been mailed "to counsel for the Appellee, Jason Miyares, Assistant Commonwealth Attorney for the City of Virginia Beach." Throughout the petition for appeal, Roberson identified the offense of conviction as a violation of Code § 18.2-266, with no reference to VBCC § 21-1 being made.
On March 28, 2008, Miyares, the Virginia Beach Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney, filed a brief in opposition to Roberson's petition for appeal. Like the petition for appeal, the brief in opposition referenced the offense of conviction as a violation of Code § 18.2-266, with no reference to the charge having been brought under VBCC § 21-1. Likewise, in the style of the case and in the certificate, the Commonwealth was identified as the appellee.
On July 17, 2008, the Court of Appeals entered an order awarding Roberson an appeal. Although the record contains no explanation, the order granting the appeal restyled the case as "Chad Crawford Roberson, Appellant v. Commonwealth ofVirginia/City of Virginia Beach, Appellee." The order further stated that it was served on "all counsel of record."
On August 26, 2008, Roberson filed his opening brief in the Court of Appeals. As before with his petition, and contrary to the revised style of the case in the Court of Appeals' July 17, 2008 order, Roberson identified the Commonwealth as the sole appellee. Likewise, within the brief he maintained that he had been convicted of DUI under Code § 18.2-266, making no reference to VBCC § 21-1.
On September 26, 2008, the Attorney General filed a brief on behalf of the Commonwealth. This brief was styled in accord with the July 17, 2008 order giving both the Commonwealth and the City as joint appellees. Significantly, within the brief, the Commonwealth noted for the first time the apparent discrepancy in the record with regard to whether Roberson had been convicted under the state statute or the local ordinance. The Commonwealth averred that it believed there was a "clerical error" in the circuit court's final order, which recited the offense of conviction as Code § 18.2-266, but styled the conviction as having been procured by the City. Accordingly, the Commonwealth indicated on brief its intent to request leave of the Court of Appeals to seek a correction of the final order in the circuit court to reflectthat the Commonwealth was the prosecuting authority. A motion to that effect was filed along with the Commonwealth's brief.
In an order dated December 9, 2008, the Court of Appeals granted the Commonwealth's motion. The order stated that "leave is hereby granted the trial court to consider a motion to correct, nunc pro tunc, the [November 5, 2007 final] order." The order further noted that there is "an alleged clerical error in the order."
In response to the Court of Appeals' December 9, 2008 order, the circuit court entered an order dated December 15, 2008 stating that "an order of correction is not needed." The circuit court expressly found that Roberson had been charged and convicted of DUI under VBCC § 21-1. While acknowledging that the local ordinance adopts Code § 18.2-266 by reference, the circuit court concluded that the reference to the state code section on the warrant and in other court documents identified the nature of the offense only, not the statute under which the offense was to be prosecuted. Accordingly, the circuit court declined to modify its November 5, 2007 order to reflect that the Commonwealth was the prosecuting authority.
Thereafter, the Attorney General advised the Court of Appeals by letter that, in light of the circuit court's December 15, 2008 order, the Commonwealth was of opinion thatRoberson "named the incorrect appellee in his notice of appeal." The Attorney General further noted that it did not have authority to represent the City in the appeal. See Code § 2.2-511(A).
On March 31, 2009, the Court of Appeals issued a published opinion in which it styled the case as "Chad Crawford Roberson v. City of Virginia Beach," explaining in a footnote that the style had been modified "to correctly reflect our holding as to the proper appellee." Roberson v. City of Virginia Beach, 53 Va. App. 666, 666 n.1, 674 S.E.2d 569, 569 n.1 (2009). The Court reviewed the procedural history of the case through the entry of the December 15, 2008 order in the circuit court, and specifically found that "[t]he Commonwealth's Attorney for the City of Virginia Beach did not appear on behalf of the City of Virginia Beach in connection with this appeal." Id. at 669, 674 S.E.2d at 570 (emphasis added). Holding that the December 15, 2008 order "clarified that the ...
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