Driving on Suspended 2 charges with one arrest.

[swill]

Live in WV.

My ex has a friend who is an officer.

I work right beside her apartment building so she can see when I come and goto work.

My license was suspended for 6 months almost 2 yrs ago.
I was injured and not working so I was not driving.
I have to take a course before they will give my license back.
I never took the driving class to get my license reissused yet.

Anyhow, I broke up with her 2 weeks prior to this and she found out I was seeing someone she didn't like.

She's jealous and angry so she calls some cop friend and has a detective follow me from my house to my work.
Never stops me or anything.

After work I get in my car and drive out of the parking lot, immediately I am surrounded by no less than 4 marked cars and one unmarked car that the detective is driving.

the car is totally legal, no tinted windows or broken lights etc.

I get charged with two counts of driving on suspended license.

One for the morning on my way to work, the 2nd when I left work.

I only drive to and from work and and just recently started doing that 3 weeks ago.

I have signed up for the class and will have my license re-instated soon.

It's just sad that the officers don't have more serious crimes to attend to!

I was mugged by three guys 6 months ago. Later that same evening I run into one of the guys and we get into an altercation and he and his friend stab me 7 times and leave me for dead on the sidewalk.
They caught the one person around the corner and he gets charged with attempted murder and malicious wounding.

They drop the attempted murder, and malicous wouding so he can pleaded guilty to unlawfull wounding and is waiting for sentencing 1-5 years.
There was 3 witnesses and it was a simple case, they found him bloody around the corner hiding and the witness showed the cops where he was and where he tried to hide the knife, both covered in my blood.

These 2 charges for driving to work carry 6 months mandatory each. Plus an additional 1 year suspension of my license for each charge.

I guess I'm probably going to get the 1 yr just like someone who robbed and almost stabbed me to death. Seems really fair.

Is there any way to fight this, the cop even admitted to me that he would have never followed me and did this if it wasn't for her calling him. She claimed that I hacked her computer and turned off her internet, and changed her kids xbox live password.

All that was wrong with her stuff is she needed to reset the linksys router. It locks up about once or twice a month because it has custom firmware loaded to get more distance.
She knows this and was just telling lies to try and screw my life up.

[CdwJava]

It's not a shame that there are no more serious offenses to deal with, it's a utopia. If you live in such a peaceful area, count your blessings.

In any event, if the officer knew your license was suspended and observed you driving, the offense was complete. Sometimes people DO call us to dime off enemies or ex lovers to get them in trouble. This does not mean the police cannot use the info.

As for the deal your attackers got, that's something to blame on the prosecutors who made the deal, not the police. And if they dropped it, there is likely a reason - perhaps the case was not as strong as they had hoped. While it might seem easy and clear cut, there may have been problems. I don't suppose you ever asked the DA why he offered such a lesser offense?

And I doubt you will serve a year for driving on a suspended license. If WV is in line with much of the rest of the country, you will receive a fine and a further suspension.

- Carl

[seniorjudge]

Originally Posted by swill

Live in WV.

My ex has a friend who is an officer.

I work right beside her apartment building so she can see when I come and goto work.

My license was suspended for 6 months almost 2 yrs ago.
I was injured and not working so I was not driving.
I have to take a course before they will give my license back.
I never took the driving class to get my license reissused yet.

Anyhow, I broke up with her 2 weeks prior to this and she found out I was seeing someone she didn't like.

She's jealous and angry so she calls some cop friend and has a detective follow me from my house to my work.
Never stops me or anything.

After work I get in my car and drive out of the parking lot, immediately I am surrounded by no less than 4 marked cars and one unmarked car that the detective is driving.

the car is totally legal, no tinted windows or broken lights etc.

I get charged with two counts of driving on suspended license.

One for the morning on my way to work, the 2nd when I left work.

I only drive to and from work and and just recently started doing that 3 weeks ago.

I have signed up for the class and will have my license re-instated soon.

It's just sad that the officers don't have more serious crimes to attend to!

I was mugged by three guys 6 months ago. Later that same evening I run into one of the guys and we get into an altercation and he and his friend stab me 7 times and leave me for dead on the sidewalk.
They caught the one person around the corner and he gets charged with attempted murder and malicious wounding.

They drop the attempted murder, and malicous wouding so he can pleaded guilty to unlawfull wounding and is waiting for sentencing 1-5 years.
There was 3 witnesses and it was a simple case, they found him bloody around the corner hiding and the witness showed the cops where he was and where he tried to hide the knife, both covered in my blood.

These 2 charges for driving to work carry 6 months mandatory each. Plus an additional 1 year suspension of my license for each charge.

I guess I'm probably going to get the 1 yr just like someone who robbed and almost stabbed me to death. Seems really fair.

Is there any way to fight this, the cop even admitted to me that he would have never followed me and did this if it wasn't for her calling him. She claimed that I hacked her computer and turned off her internet, and changed her kids xbox live password.

All that was wrong with her stuff is she needed to reset the linksys router. It locks up about once or twice a month because it has custom firmware loaded to get more distance.
She knows this and was just telling lies to try and screw my life up.

You admit above to driving twice (at least) while suspended.

What is it exactly that you want to know?

By the way, get a lawyer.

[FlyingRon]

In WV it depends why you were suspended.
If you were suspended for DUI, you're going to do some jail time (30 days for the first, 6 months for the second).

Better get that lawyer.

[outonbail]

Originally Posted by swill

Live in WV.

My ex has a friend who is an officer.

I work right beside her apartment building so she can see when I come and goto work.

My license was suspended for 6 months almost 2 yrs ago.
I was injured and not working so I was not driving.
I have to take a course before they will give my license back.
I never took the driving class to get my license reissused yet.

Anyhow, I broke up with her 2 weeks prior to this and she found out I was seeing someone she didn't like.

She's jealous and angry so she calls some cop friend and has a detective follow me from my house to my work.
Never stops me or anything.

After work I get in my car and drive out of the parking lot, immediately I am surrounded by no less than 4 marked cars and one unmarked car that the detective is driving.

the car is totally legal, no tinted windows or broken lights etc.

I get charged with two counts of driving on suspended license.

One for the morning on my way to work, the 2nd when I left work.

I only drive to and from work and and just recently started doing that 3 weeks ago.

This would explain why you received two citations for driving on a suspended, to and from work. But you can look at it this way, you got away with it for twenty, out of twenty one "to and from work" days.

I have signed up for the class and will have my license re-instated soon.

I don't know what you consider soon, but these citations can make it as soon as next Christmas. However, you never know what the judge will do if you complete the class before you appear in court. Why was it suspended in the first place?

It's just sad that the officers don't have more serious crimes to attend to!

Actually, it's really a good thing if they don't have more serious crimes to attend to. Or were you hoping the murder rate in your area would go up while you were driving on a suspended?

I was mugged by three guys 6 months ago. Later that same evening I run into one of the guys and we get into an altercation and he and his friend stab me 7 times and leave me for dead on the sidewalk.
They caught the one person around the corner and he gets charged with attempted murder and malicious wounding.

They drop the attempted murder, and malicous wouding so he can pleaded guilty to unlawfull wounding and is waiting for sentencing 1-5 years.
There was 3 witnesses and it was a simple case, they found him bloody around the corner hiding and the witness showed the cops where he was and where he tried to hide the knife, both covered in my blood.

These 2 charges for driving to work carry 6 months mandatory each. Plus an additional 1 year suspension of my license for each charge.

I guess I'm probably going to get the 1 yr just like someone who robbed and almost stabbed me to death. Seems really fair.

Sorry to read about your unfortunate experience. You do realize that whatever some other criminal was sentenced to, for whatever crime they were guilty of, has absolutely no bearing on your case. You should never present this self serving logic to a judge, because it will most likely piss him/her off and they may spank you even harder for wasting their time with such nonsense.

Is there any way to fight this

Sure, plead not guilty and take it to the box. Fighting it is your right, although in this case, fighting it will only amount to postponing the inevitable. Because you were either driving or you were not, there is no wiggle room which can provide reasonable doubt.

the cop even admitted to me that he would have never followed me and did this if it wasn't for her calling him.

True, cops wouldn't be making a lot of the arrests they make if they didn't receive tips from the public.

She claimed that I hacked her computer and turned off her internet, and changed her kids xbox live password.

All that was wrong with her stuff is she needed to reset the linksys router. It locks up about once or twice a month because it has custom firmware loaded to get more distance.
She knows this and was just telling lies to try and screw my life up.

Well if she wanted to see your life being screwed up, it sounds as if she's getting her wish. However, she couldn't have accomplished this without your help.

The fact of the matter is that you wouldn't have been arrested if you were not breaking the law.

Originally Posted by CdwJava

And I doubt you will serve a year for driving on a suspended license. If WV is in line with much of the rest of the country, you will receive a fine and a further suspension.

Interesting. Is it the same as when you ignore a past traffic citation?

I thought at first this was for WA missed the "V". Wa I find is in line with the rest of the country.

Except as expressly exempted by this chapter, it is a misdemeanor for a person to drive any motor vehicle upon a highway in this state without a valid driver's license issued to Washington residents under this chapter. This section does not apply if at the time of the stop the person is not in violation of RCW 46.20.342(1) or *46.20.420 and has in his or her possession an expired driver's license or other valid identifying documentation under RCW 46.20.035. A violation of this section is a lesser included offense within the offenses described in RCW 46.20.342(1) or *46.20.420.

So in WA even though you did not fully complete the steps to lift your suspension i.e traffic school course. Courts here have viewed these types of suspension no longer in effect because its easy to re-validate your license. At least here the misdemeanor would be dropped and changed into a minor but pricey traffic citation.

Second. WA courts including state supreme court, have held that a police officer seeing and having past knowledge or information from other sources that a driver is suspended. Is not enough for a traffic stop. The last case however the police officer who believes someone is suspended must confirm that by running the plates before stopping the vehicle. One of those pesky state Constitution concepts police often forget, innocent until proven guilty in a court. When they see you in Washington State according to the state supreme court the Police must assume innocent, until verified. Id check your states laws on licensing outside of suspension grounds and punishment. Often you'll find a law like mine in WA, that makes something that was a misdemeanor in appearance not in the eyes of the law, ie courts the only opinion that matters!

[cyjeff]

Originally Posted by zudnic

WA courts including state supreme court, have held that a police officer seeing and having past knowledge or information from other sources that a driver is suspended. Is not enough for a traffic stop.

Site the case, please.

Watching a suspended driver walk over to a car, get in, and then drive off seems like probable cause to me.

I am, however, always interested in learning something new....

Though, I am afraid it will have the same level of accuracy as all of your other posts... none.

[CdwJava]

Originally Posted by zudnic

Interesting. Is it the same as when you ignore a past traffic citation?

Sure, you can go to jail for both ... though you are more likely to go to jail when you have to get picked up on a warrant.

So in WA even though you did not fully complete the steps to lift your suspension i.e traffic school course. Courts here have viewed these types of suspension no longer in effect because its easy to re-validate your license. At least here the misdemeanor would be dropped and changed into a minor but pricey traffic citation.

Of course, we are talking about WV and not WA.

And even in WA if the officer sees someone driving that he reasonably believes to be suspended, he can make the detention.

- Carl

Originally Posted by cyjeff

Site the case, please.

Watching a suspended driver walk over to a car, get in, and then drive off seems like probable cause to me.

I am, however, always interested in learning something new....

Though, I am afraid it will have the same level of accuracy as all of your other posts... none.

I'll find the case, but its also WA state law. The problem with these issue's most people limit themselves to the law they are accused under. Not other area's of the laws even different chapters of code that could clear them. Police often make that mistake when giving traffic citations. Even if the information came from the Department of Licensing the police must check the person's plate and if the registered owner is not suspended, not grounds for a stop.

It's not binding, you can however cite other state laws and court rulings in all courts under the jurisdiction of the United States.

RCW 46.20.349
Stopping vehicle of suspended or revoked driver.

Any police officer who has received notice of the suspension or revocation of a driver's license from the department of licensing, may, during the reported period of such suspension or revocation, stop any motor vehicle identified by its vehicle license number as being registered to the person whose driver's license has been suspended or revoked. The driver of such vehicle shall display his driver's license upon request of the police officer.