"Interference with operation of school bus"

[FarieDust25]

What is the name of your state? Mississippi Title 18 37-41-2
Hi,
On Oct 6, 2004 I boarded my son's school bus to confront the bus driver about a threat that she made towards him. As I walked onto the bus I tripped and spilled my juice on her. I received a "Violation Notice" for Simple Assault that day. I check not guilty and was told that I would receive a court date in the mail. I did receive a court date and went were i plead not guilty and received my trial date of the 28 Jan '05. I got a lawyer and he said that it is my word verses hers. So all was fine and my lawyer and I prepared. And just today the 24 Jan '05 I received an other "violation notice ( Interference with operation of school bus)" stating that i must appear in court this Friday the 28 Jan '05. First, what is the statue of limitations for this sort of thing. Second, The officer that came out to my home on Oct 6 '04 didn't write me that "Violation Notice" and the Notice I received today was signed by some other officer i never meet. Can that be done? Someone else writing me a situation 3 months later and only allowing me 4 days to prepare for this. And if so what are my options? Can anyone help me out here and give me some Ideas. I copied what I found out about the law below. Thanks,
FarieDust25


MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972
As Amended

SEC. 37-41-2. Interference with operation of school bus; penalty.

(a) It shall be unlawful for any individual, other than a student scheduled to be a passenger upon that particular bus, a member of the public school administration or faculty, or a law enforcement official, to directly or indirectly interfere in any way with passenger ingress and egress or the operation, including unauthorized boarding thereof, of a bus used in public school student transportation unless permission has been obtained as prescribed by pertinent rules and regulations promulgated by the state board of education or the local school authorities.


(b) Upon conviction of violation of any provision of this section, such individual shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be subject to a fine of not to exceed five hundred dollars ($500.00), imprisonment in the county jail for a period not to exceed six (6) months, or both. Any person under the age of seventeen (17) who violates any provision of this section shall be treated as delinquent within the jurisdiction of the youth court.


SOURCES: Laws, 1973, ch. 339, Sec. 2, eff from and after June 1, 1973.

 

[tijerin]

Doesn't sound to me llike you had "permission" to board the school bus as required by the law you mentioned, which, in and of itself, is a crime. They are very unlikely to believe that, after illegally boarding the school bus to "confront" the bus driver, you "accidentally" spilled your juice all of him/her. My suggestion is, in the future, contact the transportation/school bus authority to file a complaint and let them handle it rather than being vigilant and taking the matter into your own hands regardless of how mad you are. People get mad all the time, but that doesn't give them the right to beat someone up (just an example, not implying you did that). You probably even hurt your complaint by proceeding in the manner in which you did. As far as the second citation goes, have no idea if they can do that or not. They apparently did, however, and I doubt a law enforcement officer, familiar with the laws in your area, would have issued a citation he/she knew was not going to stand up in court, but, who knows. If you feel like fighting it, do what you want. I'd suggest at least "consulting" an attorney if you cannot afford to hire one.

 

[meganproser]

>>The officer that came out to my home on Oct 6 '04 didn't write me that "Violation Notice" and the Notice I received today was signed by some other officer i never meet.

As you pointed out, the first violation they gave you was going to come down to your word against the driver's. Someone figured that out and decided to issue what should have been issued in the first place. It makes no difference who issued the ticket.

>>Someone else writing me a situation 3 months later and only allowing me 4 days to prepare for this.

You MAY be able to object to the short notice, but unless you plan to claim you never stepped on the bus, I don't see how time is going to help you "prepare" anything.

As for the statute of limitations on something like this, I don't know about Mississippi but in many states it's a year and a day from the date of the violation.

I hope the judge "spills the book" on you.