Norfolk, Va. - Norfolk Commonwealth's Attorney Greg Underwood has been found guilty of DUI, refusal to take a blood alcohol content test and improper driving.
He was fined $1,000, but $500 was suspended. He was also sentenced to 33 days in jail, but 30 of those days have been suspended.
Underwood can serve the three days in jail on the weekends.
The convictions and sentence were handed down by a judge in Norfolk traffic court on Friday afternoon.
Underwood and his attorney have already appealed the decisions to circuit court. That is likely to be tried in May.
Back in October, a state trooper pulled over Underwood and two other drivers following him after they cut through a work zone on I-264 in Norfolk near Brambleton.
The trooper testified on Friday that he recognized Underwood and let the other drivers go when he realized Underwood was drunk.
The trooper said Underwood repeatedly refused to take any blood alcohol content tests that night.
In court, Underwood entered a plea of not guilty for every charge except the DUI. When it came to that, his attorney said he had no plea, essentially saying there was not enough evidence to convict him of driving drunk.
Henry County Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney J. Randolph Smith served as a special prosecutor for Underwood's case. He says he wasn't clear why Underwood entered no plea on the DUI charge, only to appeal it.
"That's kind of interesting. I'm not sure why they want to put it to circuit as opposed to giving a full shot at it here," he said.
Underwood's attorney says they will introduce state trooper dash cam video in their circuit court appeal of this case.
Because the case is on an appeal, he will not have to serve the sentence, pay fines, nor deal with a suspended license for the time being.
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