North Carolina Traffic Violations Legal Questions

The following response is for general information purposes and is not to be construed as legal advice. I have provided a portion of the carrying concealed weapons statute for North Carolina below.  The short answer to your questions is yes, you can be charged with carrying a concealed weapon; however, I am not sure that if you were sleeping and depending on where exactly the gun was placed in the vehicle, that the "willfully and intentionally" element of the statute is satisfied.  An attorney that is familiar with the policies with regard to this charge in the county in which you are charged may be able to point out the weaknesses of the case against you in order to work out a plea arrangement or informal dismissal arrangement of some sort.  The exact facts and circumstances of the situation will be pertinent to that attorney in determining the best resolution of the matter.  Unfortunately, going back to you original question, an officer would likely have passed the threshold of probable cause to charge you and likely arrest you for the charge of carrying a concealed weapon.  It will all come down to whether it will stick. § 14¿269.  Carrying concealed weapons. (a)        It shall be unlawful for any person willfully and intentionally to carry concealed about his person any bowie knife, dirk, dagger, slung shot, loaded cane, metallic knuckles, razor, shurikin, stun gun, or other deadly weapon of like kind, except when the person is on the person's own premises. (a1)      It shall be unlawful for any person willfully and intentionally to carry concealed about his person any pistol or gun except in the following circumstances: (1)        The person is on the person's own premises. (2)        The deadly weapon is a handgun, the person has a concealed handgun permit issued in accordance with Article 54B of this Chapter or considered valid under G.S. 14¿415.24, and the person is carrying the concealed handgun in accordance with the scope of the concealed handgun permit as set out in G.S. 14¿415.11(c). (3)        The deadly weapon is a handgun and the person is a military permittee as defined under G.S. 14¿415.10(2a) who provides to the law enforcement officer proof of deployment as required under G.S. 14¿415.11(a). (PORTION OF STATUTE OMITTED - SEE FULL STATUTE HERE) (b1)      It is a defense to a prosecution under this section that: (1)        The weapon was not a firearm; (2)        The defendant was engaged in, or on the way to or from, an activity in which he legitimately used the weapon; (3)        The defendant possessed the weapon for that legitimate use; and (4)        The defendant did not use or attempt to use the weapon for an illegal purpose. The burden of proving this defense is on the defendant. (PORTION OF STATUTE OMITTED - SEE FULL STATUTE HERE) (c)        Any person violating the provisions of subsection (a) of this section shall be guilty of a Class 2 misdemeanor. Any person violating the provisions of subsection (a1) of this section shall be guilty of a Class 2 misdemeanor for the first offense. A second or subsequent offense is punishable as a Class I felony.... Read More

The following response is for general information purposes only and is not to be construed as legal advice. Unfortunately, the days where pranks such as these were overlooked as youths having fun are over.  I cannot provide you with any legal advice, but I'm telling you as an adult that I truly feel this is a bad idea.  This could open you up to an array of criminal charges.  Though there are some intent elements involved with these crimes that the District Attorney may not be able to prove (i.e. the intent to permanently deprive), you could still be potentially be charged with them and have to spend the money to hire an attorney, possibly pay money for court costs, and risk what I would imagine is a pristine criminal record.  Also, there may be charges that you could open yourself up to if something goes wrong (i.e. the tow truck driver puts a huge dent in the principal's luxury sedan).  I have provided a sample of them below including some misdemeanors and a felony.  In short, I think that you should really think hard about the risks you would be taking. § 14¿72.  Larceny of property; receiving stolen goods or possessing stolen goods. (a)        Larceny of goods of the value of more than one thousand dollars ($1,000) is a Class H felony. § 20¿107.  Injuring or tampering with vehicle. (a)        Any person who either individually or in association with one or more other persons willfully injures or tampers with any vehicles or breaks or removes any part or parts of or from a vehicle without the consent of the owner is guilty of a Class 2 misdemeanor. (b)        Any person who with intent to steal, commit any malicious mischief, injury or other crime, climbs into or upon a vehicle, whether it is in motion or at rest, or with like intent attempts to manipulate any of the levers, starting mechanism, brakes, or other mechanism or device of a vehicle while the same is at rest and unattended or with like intent sets in motion any vehicle while the same is at rest and unattended, is guilty of a Class 2 misdemeanor. § 14-160. Willful and wanton injury to personal property; punishments. (a) If any person shall wantonly and willfully injure the personal property of another he shall be guilty of a Class 2 misdemeanor. (b) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a), if any person shall wantonly and willfully injure the personal property of another, causing damage in an amount in excess of two hundred dollars ($200.00), he shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. (c) This section applies to injuries to personal property without regard to whether the property is destroyed or not. ... Read More

The following response is for general information purposes only and is not to be construed as legal advice.  This is actually a pretty simple matter to clear up.  It can be done with or without the assistance of an attorney, though it is typically a much smoother process if an attorney is present.  I do not practice in Orange County where the ticket likely is, but I can tell you how the matter could be handled in Wake County which I would imagine is a very similar procedure. First, the case is in what is called "VL" status, meaning that you had a court date, the case was called and failed, and now it is simply hanging out there suspending your license.  Once VL cases in Wake County have reached the age of yours, typically they may only be put back on the calendar for plea.  To have your case put back on a calendar, either yourself or an attorney would need to contact the clerk's office in that county to find out the procedure.  In Wake County there is simply a form that you fill out requesting to be put on a VL calendar.  You will be given a new court date.  If you are representing yourself, you must go to the court setting.  If you have hired an attorney, they may represent you by waiver (without your presence).  Second, the process is very similar from the time the case has been put back on the calendar.  You will ask the District Attorney to reduce the ticket or an attorney may do this for you.  You would then plead guilty.  The part where the attorney really is important is at the time of sentencing.  In addition to court costs (which are currently $188-190), you are also facing a $200 late fee.  An attorney may be able to argue on your behalf the reasons for why you should have the late fee waived.  You can certainly try to do this on your own, though it Wake County it is not successful very often without good cause.  Lastly, you must pay your court costs and ask to have a print out showing that you have paid the court costs and late fee if it was assessed.  This print out will be what you take with you to DMV to request a driver's license.... Read More

The following response is for general information purposes only and is not to be construed as legal advice. If by "got caught driving again" you mean that you were charged with a new Driving While License Revoked matter, it would be advisable to inform your probation officer of the new charge.  The probation officer will likely already be aware of the new charge, thus the fact that you are informing the officer of the new charge will build report with that officer and may show that you are credible.  Your probation officer will likely file a violation report and you will be charged with a probation violation for which you will need to appear in court. With regards to the impact that the new charge will have on your probation, there are many options that the probation officer has at his/her disposal.  Those options include: revoking your probation, extending/modifying your probation, having you do jail weekends, terminating your probation, etc.  You will have the option of hiring an attorney or requesting that an attorney be appointed to you.  It would be advisable to use these options so that you may consult with counsel and have the attorney negotiate with the probation officer and the Assistant District Attorney on your behalf.  It may be that your probation officer and the attorney want to continue the violation until your new charge is resolved.  In my experience, when a new driving while license revoked charge is obtained by someone already on probation for driving while license revoked, absent extraordinary circumstances, there will at least be a jail weekend or some amount of jail time that will be requested by the probation officer.... Read More

The following response is for general information purposes only and is not to be construed as legal advice. If you are representing yourself on this speeding ticket and you are not yet prepared to enter a plea of guilty or not guilty, you are certainly contact an attorney in the Morganton area that could advise you as to the chances of this case being continued for a second time.  Each county is very different when it comes to the policies regarding continuances.  You may find an attorney in that area through lawyers.com or the North Carolina State Bar Directory or on any of the various other search directories that are available on the internet.  Another resource that attorneys use to determine the likelihood of a case getting continued and what the local policy is for any specific county is the local rules.  Here is a link to the local rules for Burke County.  The following language may be found in the District Court Rules Applying to Traffic Court: Limits on second and subsequent continuances. In any case, the second case setting shall be the date when such matter should be tried except upon a showing of extraordinary cause. What constitutes extraordinary cause is within the discretion of the presiding judge. Extraordinary cause shall not include the need of a defendant for more time to get money to hire counsel or to pay sums due under the Court's judgement. Again, it would be advisable to contact a local attorney to see how strictly this policy is actually enforced.  In Wake County where I practice, there are many local rules that are not followed to the letter and some that are followed very closely.... Read More

The following response is for general information purposes only and is not to be construed as legal advice. Below are the links to two resources that are available to you to find an attorney to help you with this matter.  The purposes of the "Ask a Lawyer" website is not to strike up attorney-client relationships and I am an attorney in Raleigh, North Carolina (thus I couldn't represent you anyway), but I don't want you to feel that you have no options of hiring another attorney to help you. 1) Lawyers.com 2) North Carolina State Bar Directory Lastly, if you feel that you have not been treated fairly by your attorney, I would encourage you to contact your attorney and discuss with them why the matter was handled the way it was.  It may be that the District Attorney's office would not allow the matter to be dismissed or reduced.  It would be worth your time to at least find out.  It may be something that if the attorney is made aware of, they may feel that they would like to help you out with the Motion for Appropriate Relief at no charge or a reduced charge.  ... Read More

The following response is for general information purposes only and is not to be construed as legal advice.  The decision of whether or not to try a speeding ticket case is always a difficult one for an individual because it may be that you end up spending more on an attorney than you would have spent on court costs and a fine had you simply paid an attorney to enter a plea on your behalf or handled the matter yourself.  However, if it is truly something that you feel strongly about, it wouldn't hurt to meet with an attorney to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of your case and to determine whether the officer was approximating your speed or using a radar.  If you are licensed in North Carolina and you simply pay the ticket off and do not request that it be reduced from its current charge of "speeding 85 mph in a 70 mph zone" your license will be suspended.  The following link is the the North Carolina law which discusses this suspension.  You would need to have the charge reduced if you do not want to endure a suspension of your driver's license.  This may be something that you could accomplish on your own or it may be something that you would need to hire an attorney to accomplish.  Every county is different with regard to the policies that they have about reducing or dismissing certain charges (including speeding).  Lastly, there would also be ramifications on your car insurance if you simply plead to the charge as is and pay it off.  In the end, it would be a good idea to simply contact an attorney to consult with him/her about what would be in your best interests.... Read More

The following response is for general information purposes only and is not to be construed as legal advice. The simple answer to your question is yes.  You do need to appear in court to resolve this matter, or you must hire an attorney to appear on your behalf.  You have been charged with what amounts to a moving violation.  If you fail to appear in court, you will be called and failed and an order may be issued for your arrest.  Additionally, failing to appear will result in the suspension of your license until the matter is resolved.   In Wake County, proof that there was no accident claim filed on your insurance or proof from the other party involved that the person will not seek to file a claim on your insurance would be sufficient evidence to seek a dismissal of the charge.  A dismissal is often granted in accident cases of a criminal charge if the damage to the other vehicle has been paid and any claims of bodily injury have been resolved.  Similarly, if no damage was caused at all, the District Attorney may simply be looking to see that no damage resulted and that the victim is not seeking any remedy.  It would be advisable to discuss this matter with a an attorney that practices in the county in which the offense was charged to determine the policy of the local District Attorney's office in dismissing charges such as yours.... Read More

The following response is for general information purposes only and is not to be construed as legal advice. Yes, it is possible to remove a Prayer for Judgment Continued (PJC) from a prior traffic ticket.  It can be accomplished through a Motion for Appropriate Relief (MAR).  A MAR is a motion that requests the Court to reopen a disposed matter to seek different relief from that which was granted originally.  In this scenario, you would be seeking to reopen the original traffic ticket to pray judgment.   A MAR is a document that any criminal attorney in your local area would be familiar with and could draft quickly.  There is often a fee that the attorney would charge in order to draft the MAR, file it on your behalf, draft an order for the judge to sign, seek the consent of a District Attorney to allow the motion, and then calendar the matter for a judge to grant the motion.  I am not aware, as each county is different, that there would be a direct method by which an individual could bypass the MAR process to pray judgment; however, it would be advisable to contact a local criminal/traffic defense attorney in the county in which the original ticket was charged to discuss the fee for which the attorney would charge to assist you with the process or to discuss the likelihood that you could accomplish this task on your own.... Read More

The following response is intended for general information purposes only and is not to be construed as legal advice. Below is the applicable language from the North Carolina General Statutes that would apply the facts as you have described them.  Based on this language, the speed would need to be in excess of 15 miles per hour over the speed limit for the conviction to result in a suspension.  § 20¿16.1.  Mandatory suspension of driver's license upon conviction of excessive speeding; limited driving permits for first offenders. (a)        Notwithstanding any other provisions of this Article, the Division shall suspend for a period of 30 days the license of any driver without preliminary hearing on receiving a record of the driver's conviction of either (i) exceeding by more than 15 miles per hour the speed limit, either within or outside the corporate limits of a municipality, if the person was also driving at a speed in excess of 55 miles per hour at the time of the offense, or (ii) driving at a speed in excess of 80 miles per hour at the time of the offense. It would be advisable for you to contact an attorney in the county in which the offense was charged to discuss the likely plea agreements the District Attorney's Office might offer to you (i.e. reducing the speed to a sixty-four in a fifty-five mile per hour zone).  The attorney could also advise you as to the effect this conviction might have on your insurance premiums based on your driving record and your eligibility to receive a prayer for judgment continued (PJC).  If you were in fact convicted of speeding 70 mph in a 55 mph zone, this conviction would result in 3 points on your driver's license and 2 points on your insurance policy.... Read More

The following response is intended for general information purposes only and is not to be construed as legal advice. The amount that an attorney may charge for a speeding ticket of that nature will vary from county to county and also within counties from firm to firm and based on the experience or number of clients of a particular attorney.  In Wake County, a speeding ticket of this nature would likely result in an attorney fee anywhere from $100 to $400.  The court costs that would be associated with the speeding ticket would be approximately $190.00.  Attorneys will often collect the court costs when they set the initial fee since most speeding tickets are handled without the client actually being present in court to pay the court costs. The basis for which an attorney may set his/her fee is set out in the North Carolina Rules of Professional Conduct.  Essentially, "reasonableness" is a guideline for setting a fee; however, I have provided a link to the applicable Rule of Professional Conduct to allow you to read for yourself what it is that attorneys have as a go-by.... Read More

The following response is intended for general information purposes only and is not to be construed as legal advice. In Wake County, there is a process for adding cases, such as the speeding tickets you described, that requires either the individual or an attorney representing that individual to go to the local clerk's office and fill out a form requesting the case be added back on to a court calendar.  The individual or attorney is provided a date when the case will be added on.  On that proscribed dated, the individual or attorney may discuss the matter(s) with an assistant district attorney and eventually resolve the matter(s) either by plea or dismissal, depending on the nature of the charge.  The aforementioned procedure is only known for Wake County and may differ from county to county.  It would be best to contact an attorney or the clerk's office in the county where the speeding tickets were issued to find out the exact procedure of how to have the cases added back on to a court calendar.  With regards to the second question of whether it would be better to pay the tickets off or get a lawyer, I think that it is something that an individual can do themselves, though an attorney may have a better chance of getting some of the late fees that go along with the tickets waived.  For example, for an individual that I represented last week on a speeding ticket that was added back on from 2008, the individual would have had to pay $188.00 of court costs, $200.00 in late fees, and a $10 fine.  We were able to get the late fee waived and saved the client a little bit of money.  I cannot advise you as to whether you should or shouldn't hire an attorney, but generally speaking, it wouldn't hurt (as in any situation you encounter with legal implications) to contact an attorney to discuss the matter.... Read More

The following response is for general information purposes only and is not intended to be construed as legal advice. What is "fair" is very dependent upon where the speeding ticket was charged.  For example, Charlotte attorneys would likely charge much more for a speeding ticket then Lumberton attorneys.  There are many factors that go into setting a fee for a speeding ticket (i.e. city population size, size of the firm, number of tickets the attorney handles, amount of effort/continuances/time required to handle the matter, etc.).   Court costs in North Carolina have recently increased and many attorneys will include the amount of court costs in the price that they quote.  Typically, court costs are $188.00 to $190.00.  Additionally, a fee may be assessed by the judge.   The main rule that an attorney must follow in setting a fee is the North Carolina Rule of Professional Conduct that specifically addresses the issue.  I have provided a section of that rule for you below and the full text may be found here: Rule 1.5 Fees (a) A lawyer shall not make an agreement for, charge, or collect an illegal or clearly excessive fee or charge or collect a clearly excessive amount for expenses. The factors to be considered in determining whether a fee is clearly excessive include the following: (1) the time and labor required, the novelty and difficulty of the questions involved, and the skill requisite to perform the legal service properly;(2) the likelihood, if apparent to the client, that the acceptance of the particular employment will preclude other employment by the lawyer;(3) the fee customarily charged in the locality for similar legal services;(4) the amount involved and the results obtained;(5) the time limitations imposed by the client or by the circumstances;(6) the nature and length of the professional relationship with the client;(7) the experience, reputation, and ability of the lawyer or lawyers performing the services; and(8) whether the fee is fixed or contingent.... Read More

The following response is intended for general information purposes only and is not to be construed as legal advice. As an attorney preparing to defend a citation for speeding, I would seek access to the Clerk's file and request a copy of the actual citation that may have additional notes on it that were written by the officer.  This may not be as simple for an individual to accomplish.  If you cannot access the clerk's file, as an attorney, I would seek to subpoena the information from the officer.  Typically with speeding tickets, the officer does not make a report other than the actual citation itself.  This link will provide you a form to prepare a subpoena.  The subpoena needs to be served on the actual officer at the agency (i.e. Raleigh Police Officer must be served at the Raleigh Police Department).  The citation is a public record and is capable of being subpoenaed.  The other information that I would subpoena from the officer, as an attorney seeking to actually prepare for trial on a speeding citation, would be calibration records for the radar issued to that particular officer.  I would include this in my subpoena of the officer.  If I could not gain access to the clerk's file or if the officer failed to provide me with the subpoenaed information, I would seek to question the officer regarding this information during the actual trial.  In my experience, it is very rare for one to win a trial on a speeding citation.  It is very difficult to prove that an officer did not use radar if the officer testifies that he did.  Most of the trials I have seen for speeding citations were pro se (without an attorney) and again, they are rarely successful.  If an individual is unsure of the impact a guilty verdict or a plea of responsible to a traffic citation will have on the person's insurance, it would be wise to seek the advice of counsel.  Lastly, be cautious of ignoring plea offers made by the District Attorney because if you are convicted after a trial, you may be convicted of the speeding citation as it is charged (i.e. Speeding 88 in a 65).  Certain speeding convictions may suspend your license or cause large insurance increases.  ... Read More