Whitehead v. City of Lynchburg

Paul Whitehead, charged with speeding in the City of Lynchburg, was found guilty by a jury which fixed his punishment at a fine of $10.00. Judgment was entered on the verdict and we granted Whitehead a writ of error.

A police officer, using a portable radar unit mounted on the window of his police car, determined that Whitehead was operating his station wagon at 36 miles per hour in a zone where the speed limit was 25 miles per hour. Although there was evidence that the radar unit had been tested by driving another police car through the radar beam at different speeds there was insufficient…