Commonwealth of Virginia v. Catherine Renee Tellez

Date: 11-13-2025

Case Number: 1253-24-1

Judge: Holly B. Smith

Court: Circuit Court, City of Williamsburg, James City County, Virginia

Plaintiff's Attorney: James City County, Virginia, Prosecuting Attorney's Office

Defendant's Attorney:

Description: Williamsburg, Virginia, criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant charged with failing to stop after involvement in an accident that resulted in death.

On the morning of August 10, 2022, Tellez was driving on Interstate 64 in the left lane. The portion of the highway had two clearly marked lanes and was straight and flat with no grade. The road surface had no major potholes, debris, gravel, or obstructions. The highway had a wide shoulder on the right side of the road and no shoulder on the left, "just grass." In front of Tellez was a truck with a ladder in it. As the truck and Tellez were traveling, the ladder started to come out of the truck, so Tellez swerved into the grass area outside the left lane to avoid the ladder. The driver of the truck pulled over into the grass area behind Tellez, checked on Tellez, who assured him that she was "good," removed the ladder from the left lane, and began to resecure it to the truck.

Meanwhile, Casey Coleman was driving a vehicle in the right lane further behind where Tellez and the truck had been driving. Coleman was traveling approximately 75 miles per hour, and another vehicle was just in front of Coleman. Initially driving a vehicle in the right lane, C.C.[5]approached Coleman and changed to the left lane. Coleman had a dashcam operating that captured much of the events that followed.[6] As C.C. passed Coleman and was beside the vehicle in front of Coleman, the three vehicles approached where Tellez and the truck were in the grass. At that time, Tellez, without using a signal, drove back into the left lane. According to Coleman, Tellez "kind of appeared out of nowhere" and appeared to be going "slow, a lot slower than [C.C.] was going."[7]Having traveled just further than the vehicle in front of Coleman, C.C. did not appear to brake or slow down, rather he swerved right to avoid a collision with Tellez. The two vehicles did not make contact, but C.C. crashed across the embankment on the right and into the tree line. C.C. died from blunt force trauma to his head, chest, and extremities when his car collided with the trees on the side of the highway.

After the collision, Tellez pulled over into the grass area outside the left lane. Tellez got out of her vehicle momentarily before getting back in and leaving the area. Tellez did not call the police, provide her information to anyone, or provide any assistance to C.C. prior to leaving. Tellez called her supervisor at the "VCU Police Department" to inform her that there had been an incident on the road and to request to telework that day. Tellez told her supervisor about the ladder coming down, how there were other cars involved, and how she thought maybe another vehicle had gone "off the side of the road into the woods." However, when she later received a phone call from Trooper Gillespie of the Virginia State Police, she "panicked" and told him that she was "not aware of a car in the trees."[8]

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CRIMINAL LAW. SUFFICIENCY OF EVIDENCE FOR PROXIMATE CAUSE. The case addresses whether the evidence was sufficient to establish that the appellant's actions were the proximate cause of an accident that resulted in death, upholding the conviction for failing to stop after involvement in an accident that resulted in death under Code § 46.2-894.

CRIMINAL LAW. FACTUAL AND LEGAL CAUSATION. The judgment examined whether the appellant's conduct was a factual and legal cause of the accident, determining that the actions were not too attenuated to establish legal causation and that no superseding cause broke the causal chain.

PROCEDURAL LAW. CORRECTION OF CLERICAL ERROR. The court remanded the case to the circuit court to correct a clerical error in the sentencing order, noting the incorrect statute citation in the original order.
Key Phrases Failure to stop after accident. Proximate cause of the accident. Dashcam footage evidence. Jury trial conviction. Superseding cause.

Outcome: The Defendant was found guilty and was sentenced to five years of incarceration with four years, eleven months, and twenty days suspended.

Affirmed

Plaintiff's Experts:

Defendant's Experts:

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