Suit against city/dmv for wrongful license suspension?

[JohnQCitizen]

What is the name of your state?NY

This is a bit of a crossover post.

Starting backwards:

My roommate went to pick up a fellow employee at is job on Christmas Eve '04.

While leaving an officer stopped him on the charge of illegally turning right on red. My roommate says he has never seen a sign prohibiting such. The population of the town/city is under one million and does not fall under NYS law regarding population centers.

To the best of my knowledge he came to a full stop and proceeded when safe to do so.

While the officer ran his license, it came up as "suspended", and this was due to an alledgedly unpaid ticket for a prior violation.

This violation is about a year old. I know my roommate paid the ticket because he has the documentation.

Even this "violation" is suspect. A plastic soda bottle left by one of his riders was rolling on the floor. He pulled over to a wide shoulder section to remove the bottle. This is not an interstate or intrastate route. The officer ticketed him for "standing in a no standing zone". To the best of my knowledge there are no signs posted to this effect. And I thought you could pull to shoulder if you had to.

In summation, they took his license. He cannot drive to work, must hire rides from others. He was taking several other employees to work as long as they chipped in "motorpool-wise". He will lose time from work to appear in court for something that should not have occured to begin with.

Assuming the court agrees that he did indeed pay the initial ticket, and therefore should not have been given a ticket for driving with a suspended license, can he seek any kind of damages from the city or dmv for this computer snafu, lost wages, etc??

There are other issues that may be ancilliary to the case. Both driver and rider are african-american. They are employed by a non-profit agency that runs a camp for homeless people from NYC. The city in question has tried for years to legislate the camp away, hopefully for good. Area residents have repeatedly made complaints about camp residents peering into their backyards, urinating on the camp property in view of their backyards etc. The camp has been constantly written up in the area's largest newspaper. The last big article contained false items, such as "camp residents are not allowed to relocate" to the city around it. The courts have ruled previously that clients of such places may relocate wherever.

The police, who to the best of my knowledge, are all white keep a probably constitutional "lookout" on the ingress to the camp, which has a guard shack, and you must show an i.d. card.

I've heard, not yet found evidence, that other camp employees, and know for certain the camp residents are often stopped for no reason, asked questions that border on harassment.

I am not african-american. Nor of any "minority" that I know of. I assume their was no "no right on red" sign, and I suspect that the officer may have stopped two black men in a fairly recent, "expensive' car simply because they are black and were exiting at night from this camp that the area locals, city hall, and police apparently detest.

Are there ways of finding out who, when, and how many people have been stopped, questioned, ticketed and/or arrested simply because police suspected these people of being "from the camp"?

Again, this is a complicated issue, and secondary to the first question regarding seeking recompense from the dmv/city for failing to keep accuracte information and for ticketing based on false/inaccurate information.

Thank You.

 

[You Are Guilty]

And this is something you want to pursue on your own? Or were you looking for a recommendation for an attorney who doesn't have a conscience and will fleece you for as much as he can?

 

[JohnQCitizen]

Well, since you asked. . .

I am looking for advice, I am doing this research.

As for an attorney, extremely few would take such a case on contigency. I don't know of any precedent but was hoping someone else might give me a direction in which to look.

And no, I am not pursuing this myself. Any information I research goes to the person in question. I do not practice barristry, nor am I a paralegal, therefore my legal scope can only be in research, simple information retreival.

 

[meganproser]

>>Even this "violation" is suspect. A plastic soda bottle left by one of his riders was rolling on the floor. He pulled over to a wide shoulder section to remove the bottle. This is not an interstate or intrastate route. The officer ticketed him for "standing in a no standing zone". To the best of my knowledge there are no signs posted to this effect.

Your friend had the opportunity to defend against that ticket and he waived his right. This ticket is therefore a closed subject.

>>While leaving an officer stopped him on the charge of illegally turning right on red. My roommate says he has never seen a sign prohibiting such. The population of the town/city is under one million and does not fall under NYS law regarding population centers.

What are you talking about? Was he stopped by someone with police power in that jurisdiction or not?

>>While the officer ran his license, it came up as "suspended", and this was due to an alledgedly unpaid ticket for a prior violation.

So your roommate had no idea his license had been suspended? He received no notice from the MVA or his insurance company? This seems quite unlikely.

>>He will lose time from work to appear in court for something that should not have occured to begin with.

If he paid the ticket he should have proof that he did so. He should be able to send his proof to the MVA and have things corrected immediately, without going to court.

>>can he seek any kind of damages from the city or dmv for this computer snafu, lost wages, etc??

HIS record keeping should enable him to avoid the damages you refer to. Don’t you think he has a responsibility to keep track of his own tickets and their disposition?

The rest of your post deals with your suspicion that the police are harassing a particular group. If you think this harassment is related to the fact that the group is black, you should contact the NAACP. They will know exactly what to do and they will do it for free.

*I am not an attorney.

 

[JohnQCitizen]

Thanks meganproser. . . a little clarification

NY
>>Even this "violation" is suspect. A plastic soda bottle left by one of his riders was rolling on the floor. He pulled over to a wide shoulder section to remove the bottle. This is not an interstate or intrastate route. The officer ticketed him for "standing in a no standing zone". To the best of my knowledge there are no signs posted to this effect.

Your friend had the opportunity to defend against that ticket and he waived his right. This ticket is therefore a closed subject.

Yes, this may in fact be so. BUT if he were to take it and all the rest to a higher court, there might be under the law, sufficient reason to investigate the initial violation. Just because someone pleads guilty to a crime (rape, murder, theft) could be due to intimidation, or ignorance of one's rights, even though mirandized. Persons convicted of crimes (such as Rubin "Hurricane" Carter) and then found to be wronfully convicted, even though the evidence at the time seemed rock solid, have been cleared and have sued. This complicated action is slim in my mind and not one I wish to pursue on my own. And without a deeply researched basis will most likely be upheld as you say.

>>While leaving an officer stopped him on the charge of illegally turning right on red. My roommate says he has never seen a sign prohibiting such. The population of the town/city is under one million and does not fall under NYS law regarding population centers.

What are you talking about? Was he stopped by someone with police power in that jurisdiction or not?

To clarify: On Xmas Eve he was stopped by an officer of the jurisdiction. In cities of 1 million or more "right on red" is illegal in NYS unless designated "right on red" with a sign. Since the city is less the one million, the question is: Did he not see a sign? Was one there? So far the evidence says a "no right on red" was NOT posted, therefore he was making a legal turn.
>>While the officer ran his license, it came up as "suspended", and this was due to an alledgedly unpaid ticket for a prior violation.

So your roommate had no idea his license had been suspended? He received no notice from the MVA or his insurance company? This seems quite unlikely.

Granted, the word "suspended" may be a misnomer, but that is the word he used. Once before, his check for his car insurance was snafued by one day. He did not know until a week later when he called the insurance company to track the check that we was driving with no insurance. He was not informed by the company, nor was DMV informed. Way stranger things have happened with the DMV in NYC and NY.

>>He will lose time from work to appear in court for something that should not have occured to begin with.

If he paid the ticket he should have proof that he did so. He should be able to send his proof to the MVA and have things corrected immediately, without going to court.

Yes, he most certainly can for the ticket. They took his license also. He most likely could attend to that prior to court. But it may be that having paid the first ticket, and not having it relected in the system, has made him belive he will fare better in person. Personally I think he should call/write a few officials, others do here for such things, and that is what the public officials are there for.

>>can he seek any kind of damages from the city or dmv for this computer snafu, lost wages, etc??

HIS record keeping should enable him to avoid the damages you refer to. Don’t you think he has a responsibility to keep track of his own tickets and their disposition?

Your statement and question are unclear to me. His record keeping should have avoided the "damages" He has responsibly paid his ticket, kept the documents, but still things are not set right! He was ticketed for driving with a suspended license, a charge that is false.
I am just looking for advice, he has no intention of doing anything but appear in court with his documents. Everything else is my look-out. Besides, because of his work schedule he gave me full power of attorney (he does not have to be disabled for this type) and I can legally act in his stead. I am not going to great lengths, I am just doing internet research.

The rest of your post deals with your suspicion that the police are harassing a particular group. If you think this harassment is related to the fact that the group is black, you should contact the NAACP. They will know exactly what to do and they will do it for free.

Thank you for this advice! It should have occurred to me, but I kept thinking of the ACLU and how they want the aggrieved party to dig up proof. NAACP might also, but they might tell me where to look for such info.

 

[meganproser]

BUT if he were to take it and all the rest to a higher court, there might be under the law, sufficient reason to investigate the initial violation.

Your friend has had three incidents which he thinks will show he's being harrassed. The first, involves a ticket he voluntarily paid. He WAIVED his right to defend against that ticket and he does not get to change his mind.

The second ticket may be completely valid. It's simple enough to call the city and ask them about that intersection. If a right on red is not allowed, ask them to specifically verify that the "no turn on red" sign was in place on the night in question.

He has responsibly paid his ticket, kept the documents, but still things are not set right!

So he calls the DMV, splains the situation and faxes them his receipt or whatever documents he has. If there has been a clerical oversight they will correct it and tell him how to proceed with the "driving while suspended" charge. Good luck!