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Anonymous6 views4 answers
My HO five years were up last June but I didn't reinstate my license yet, so status is still suspended. I was pulled over and cited for knowingly driving with a suspended license. Is it possible for me not to have this charged as a third degree felony but instead get charged with a first degree misdemeanor? How good of an attorney must I have, if any is needed?
If you hire an attorney prior to the prefile conference and well before the arraignment, your attorney might be able to persuade the prosecuting attorney to bind the charges down to misdemeanor.
This translates to: get an attorney now!
The law regarding HTO and subsequent DWLS changed about a year ago and is quite complicated. You need an experienced criminal defense attorney. It depends on what the basis was for your HTO suspension. If you were HTO'd for 3 or more DWLS and the sole basis of your original license suspension was financial - (unpaid tickets, child support, no insurance, etc.) then a subsequent DWLS starts over again as a misdemeanor, not a felony. There are some other exceptions to this law, such as having certain prior felonies on your record, whether you have DUI, fleeing eluding convictions, etc.
The point is that your new DWLS may not be able to be classified as a felony. A thorough review of your drivers license record and criminal history is required.
An attorney could ask the felony prosecutor to "bind down" the charge to a first degree misdemeanor. It will be up to the prosecutor and your driving record. You should contact an attorney and also work on getting your license suspension cleared up. That could carry a lot of weight with your prosecutor.
I do not think it is possible, but stranger things have happened, and when you get an attorney with decades of experience, perhaps it can be dropped down.
