McClure v. Commonwealth

The issue in this appeal is whether a person can be imprisoned for violating the Virginia Habitual Offender Act when his classification as an habitual offender was based, in part, on uncounseled misdemeanor convictions. This issue was decided in Whorley v. Commonwealth, 215 Va. 740, 214 S.E.2d 447, cert. denied, 423 U.S. 946 (1975). However, we have been asked to reexamine Whorley in light of the decision of the United States Supreme Court in Baldasar v. Illinois, 446 U.S. 222 (1980).

Robert William McClure was convicted in North Carolina of driving a motor vehicle while under the influence of…