Traffic Violations Legal Questions

If there is not a new date on the "Notice of Setting" then I would contact the Court (when it opens back up) and ask when the new court date is.  If the Notice of Setting has a new court date on it, then that is your new court date and when you have to be in court, and all they are saying is that you don't need to sign the form since you are not there in person at the time they reset it.  Is this a municipal Court case? ... Read More

If a warrant is active, the only way to address it is to turn yourself in or contact an attorney to have them request that the warrant be stricken. In many counties, attorneys can contact the DA's office and seek consent to have the judge strike the warrant and reschedule your court date. ... Read More

You should retain a criminal defense lawyer who can go to the Clerk's Office, review the court records, and compare that to what you have to say to prepare to make the best presentation possible.  The bottom line is that since you have a warrant, you need to turn yourself in. The best way to possibly do that is to have your lawyer file what is called a motion to quash the arrest warrant. In plain English, that means that it's a request for the judge to tear up the warrant and not take you into custody.  Then, on that court date, the lawyer and you appear so the argument can best be made to keep you out of custody.  This should be done immediately. The longer you wait, the worse your chances are of remaining out of custody.    Hope this helps. ... Read More

That''s going to depend on the traffic violation. So there's not enough information here to answer the question.  Some traffic violations are fine only. Some are misdemeanors that carry a maximum of 364 days in the local county jail, and some are serious felonies that can lead to serious prison time.  Unless he posts bail per the current orders, he'll remain in jail until the case is over. If he gets sentenced to jail or prison, he will be earning credit for time served.       ... Read More

If you have already plead guilty to No Proof of Insurance, then you will have gotten a letter from the DMV indicating you have to provide proof you are now insured by a certain date, or your license will be suspended.  If you provide the proof before that day, your license won't be suspended.  So if that is the situation, go out, get insurance, and provide proof to the DMV.  IF you are suspended because there was an accident and you need to make arrangmeents to pay the damages before DMV will give you your license back, then you have to find out what the damage was (you may have to pay for the guardrail damage) and then work out payments- and get a 'release' showing you have worked out the damage. Then you give that release to the DMV.. It was definitely wrong to not return your license for three days. Maybe they were being jerks or maybe they did not realize they had it. In any event you got it back. For most traffic offenses the police normally have a year to file the charges and serve you with a ticket.... Read More

The definition fo Careless Driving is 'driving in a careless and imprudent manner, without due regard for the width, grade, curves, corners, traffic and otehr attendant circumstances on the roadway'.  If it was a single car accident due to bad weather, the prosecutor likely will take the position that you were driving imprudently - too fast for conditions.  However, given the facts you laid out there is some chance the prosecutor will offer that if you plead to a reduced charge (possibly a two point offense like defective vehcile) they will dismiss the Careless Driving - and you will pay a fine and court costs and have to agree to pay restitution for any damge to any other entities property that may have been damaged (even things like highway deliniator posts, fences, etc.)... Read More

Since it is a traffic infraction and not a criminal offense (traffic infractions are considered civil offenses), then iot is harder to win your argument BUT, I do not see a down side to making the argument - probably prior to the next hearing.  Why did they not know cop was on vacation before they dismissed it and 'continue' the hearing instead of dismissing the case? The Rules for Traffic Infractions state at Rule 10 (a) that the charges shall be dismissed if the officer fails to appear at the final hearing - it does NOT allow for there to be a valid reason the officer did not appear. This should be a winning argument BUT you might need a lawyer to make it properly. Also, the finla hearing must be held within 6 months of when you asked for the final hearing.... Read More

Careless Driving is defined as driving in a careless and imprudent manner without due regard to the roadway conditions (curves, traffic, etc.).  Sounds like the damage was not much.  Careless is a 4 point offense.  If the 4 points would give you 12 or more points in the one year period prior to this incident or 18 points in the two years, then you should definitely get a lawyer.  If not, then you might want to go to the first court date yourself and see if they will offer a plea bargain (2 points defective vehicle or 3 point too fast for conditions?) that you are willing to accept.... Read More

Of course to prove the case of a moving traffic violation against you the prosecutor has to prove you did drive - or (depending on the charge) that you had ‘actual physical control’ over the car - which sometimes does not require that the car have moved.  You definitely need to discuss the situation in person with a lawyer........ Read More

I would contact the clerk of the court that you missed and explain to them what happened. It may be that the court has a procedure for setting aside the warrant and giving you a new court date. If not, depending on the county where you missed court, a lawyer can usually have the bench warrant set aside and get you a new court date.... Read More

Technically, they are suppose to seize the registration and/or license plate if it is knowingly displayed upon a vehicle other than the one for which it was issued. If they do this, then you could not drive the vehicle. They could have allowed you to tow the vehicle somewhere. They obviously thought that there were drugs in the car and when they couldn't find any, they were angry and decided to punish you. ... Read More