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Rappahannock attorney Bill Fletcher pleads guilty to reckless driving

by | Mar 25, 2026

The Rappahannock County courthouse in Washington, Va. (File photo/Ireland Hayes)

Health issues — ‘wiggy hormones’ — led to arrests, he says

Attorney James William “Bill” Fletcher III pleaded guilty last Thursday to two counts of reckless driving over the 2024 Christmas holiday for which he received suspended jail time, fines and a year of suspended license.

Fletcher, 73, of Woodville, appeared in Rappahannock County Circuit Court alongside his attorney, Whitson Robinson, who told Judge Dennis Hupp that he and the special prosecutor, Daniel White of Greene County, had come to a shared agreement without a formal guilty plea: Fletcher would plead guilty to the two counts of reckless driving, and admit that the prosecution had “sufficient facts” to support another charge — refusal to take a blood or breath alcohol test.

This other charge stems from a June 7, 2024 arrest at a Blue Rock polo match in front of 100 onlookers. During a February 2025 District Court trial, Fletcher was found guilty of refusing to take a blood or breath alcohol test, and appealed the sentence to the Circuit Court. He also was found not guilty of speeding and driving while intoxicated.

The reckless driving charges stem from two incidents, one on Dec. 23, 2024 and the other Dec. 26, 2024 when Fletcher was pulled over twice — each time driving over 90 mph in a 55 mph zone.

In court last Thursday, Fletcher and his attorney said that during the roughly six-month period when all of the arrests occurred, Fletcher was suffering from “several health issues,” chiefly the removal of his adrenal glands, that affected his state of mind. The health issue has since been resolved,  they said. Robinson added that Fletcher has not been driving since the incidents, and does not plan to, going forward. 

“I would like to apologize to the court and law enforcement for this issue,” Fletcher told the judge. “My hormones started going wiggy, and I don’t remember driving on these occasions, which scared me … my body has finally gotten used to the loss of my adrenal glands.”

The judge sentenced Fletcher to a total of one year in jail, all suspended, one year of license suspension and $3,000 in fines for the two reckless driving counts. He will also have to serve two years of unsupervised probation. The refusal charge was continued six months, and will be reviewed on Sept. 14. If Fletcher is in compliance with the court, the charge may be dismissed, the judge said.

 

Author

  • Ireland Hayes

    Ireland joined Foothills Forum as a full-time reporter in 2023 after graduating from the University of Georgia’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication with a degree in journalism and minor in music. As a student, she gained valuable experience in reporter and editor positions at The Red & Black, an award-winning student newspaper, and contributed to Grady Newsource and the Athens Banner-Herald. She spent three years as an editorial assistant at Georgia Magazine, UGA’s quarterly alumni publication, and interned with The Bitter Southerner.
    Growing up in a small town in Southeast Georgia, Ireland developed a deep appreciation for rural communities and the unique stories they have to tell. She completed undergraduate research on news deserts, ghost papers and the ways rural communities in Georgia are being forced to adapt to a lack of local news. This research further sparked her interest in a career contributing to the preservation of local and rural news.
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By Ireland Hayes

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Ireland joined Foothills Forum as a full-time reporter in 2023 after graduating from the University of Georgia’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication with a degree in journalism and minor in music. As a student, she gained valuable experience in reporter and editor positions at The Red & Black, an award-winning student newspaper, and contributed to Grady Newsource and the Athens Banner-Herald. She spent three years as an editorial assistant at Georgia Magazine, UGA’s quarterly alumni publication, and interned with The Bitter Southerner. Growing up in a small town in Southeast Georgia, Ireland developed a deep appreciation for rural communities and the unique stories they have to tell. She completed undergraduate research on news deserts, ghost papers and the ways rural communities in Georgia are being forced to adapt to a lack of local news. This research further sparked her interest in a career contributing to the preservation of local and rural news.