Hewitt v. Commonwealth

Richard Thomas Hewitt, Jr. was tried by the court without a jury on an indictment charging him with larceny of a pickup truck. He was found guilty of unauthorized use of a vehicle in violation of Code § 18.1-164 1 and sentenced to serve six months in jail. We granted Hewitt a writ of error to determine whether the evidence supports the finding of unauthorized use and whether Hewitt could be convicted of unauthorized use. when the indictment charged him only with larceny.

On the night of August 12, 1971, Hewitt was a passenger in a station wagon that failed to negotiate a curve on Route 639 in…