Commonwealth v. Dipietro

By Judge Randy I. Bellows

This case presents the following situation. A defendant is charged by summons with a traffic offense. He appears for trial before the General District Court and is tried on that traffic offense. At the close of the trial and without his consent, he is convicted not of the offense for which he is tried, nor of a lesser included offense, but of a different offense entirely. Significantly, at no point prior to trial was a new warrant issued by the General District Court in accordance with the procedures described in Virginia Code § 16.1-129.2. He appeals his conviction…