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Can i go to jail?
Anonymous10 views5 answers
I was pulled in march 2012 for speeding, was never notified in any way about it. Eventually i forgot about it and had some medical problems i had to deal with after. While in the middle of all of my problems i was stopped at a dui checkpoint just taking a friend home, found out my liscense was suspended, which i did not know. So after having surgery and such i thought i had taken care of the suspension, again i was never notified about court or anything from dmv..so a few days ago, a year after the initial incident. I was pulled for speeding, found out somewhere i did something wrong and my license was still suspended. I have a bonded pre trial which i have no idea what that means. I have never been in trouble except these traffic issues.
You need to get an attorney to unravel the mess. The DMV is not responsible for notifying you regarding a speeding ticket. When you received the first ticket it would have had a date on it. If it was reckless, you would need to appear in court. If it was mere speeding, you could prepay; however, it would still have a date and time for appearance if you wished to contest it. You did neither. My assumption is that it was for reckless driving (a misdemeanor) and that is why your license was suspended. You have possible defenses as to the DUI checkpoint and learning your license was suspended, but not for continuing to drive while it was suspended once you received notice. However, the full chain is unclear and you really need an attorney to help you through this.
Do not say anything more here as it is a public forum and these are criminal charges that you are facing. Get an attorney.
Retain counsel. If you were pulled over by the police, then you were notified of it. An attorney will need to review your driving record and all the appropriate court orders to figure out what defenses, if any, you may have.
Kenneth William JacobsonSpeeding / Traffic Ticket LawyerChesapeake, VAVA licensed ·
Driving on a suspended license is an offense which carries the real possibility of a jail sentence. Hire a local attorney as soon as possible.
Your second step is to contact the DMV to determine what you need to do to restore you license. Make sure it is reinstated before your next court date. The "I didn't know defense" won't get you out of this pickle, but if you do the right thing and get your license reinstated, your attorney will have a much easier time trying to convince the judge to reduce the charge or at least try to keep you out of jail. Good luck.
To be convicted of driving on a suspended license the commonwealth or prosecutor must prove that you had notice of the suspension. The most common situation I see and likely the culprit here is a suspension for failure to pay fines and costs. It sounds like the officer at the checkpoint gave you proper notice. My guess is that you probably then paid your fines and costs but failed to pay the reinstatement fee necessary to have your privilege to drive in Virginia restored. You will want to go to a Virginia DMV and get a compliance report which will tell you what you need to do to be reinstated. As a previous answer indicated. Your notice of the hearing for the previous speeding ticket or any other traffic ticket in Virginia is located on the summons itself. By signing the summons you are indicating that you are aware of your scheduled court date. You should certainly speak to an attorney soon to help assist you to get the best possible outcome for your case.
