Conundrum of Registrations and a Traffic ticket [New York]

[AdkHedgeWitch]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? New York

My husband got pulled over at 3am coming home from work. Got a New York State Vehicle & Traffic Law Section 403.1 violation; registration sticker not affixed. Car was bought at a dealership and had a valid (until May 13th) temporary registration sticker properly affixed. He had received the DMV official sticker when he picked up the mail just prior to work that day but he didn't have a razor so he didn't want to just yank the temporary off and create a mess he'd get a ticket for (oh, the ironies). He went to work, with his mail. Sadly, he was tired after a 12 hour shift and was trying to be candid to appease the cop so he told the cop the registration he'd picked up on his way to work but that he was going to review it, get a razor and take off the temporary one properly, during daylight (and, yes, he's still mad at himself for saying anything at all - that lesson has been learned). Well, the cop ticketed him stating that having the official registration not affixed was grounds for the ticket regardless of having the valid temporary on and that it voids the temporary (???). That's ... not how the law reads so we're fighting it.

I can't find anything that says the official registration 'voids' a temporary registration as valid evidence of registration (and, at very least, I'm not inclined to just believe everything we're told). Does anyone else have any insights on that?

And is it unreasonable to assume that the temporary registration is evidence of a registration sanctioned by NYS for motorists to be in compliance with 403.1 when valid and properly affixed? I mean, isn't the point of the temporary to give you time to get all this done within a reasonable amount of time? Including the review that the document is correct and proper cleaning and proper affixing of the new registration?

Also, should he ask for the cops deposition?

Thanks for any helpful insight or thoughts.

 

[HighwayMan]

First of all, what court does the ticket get returned to?

Go ahead and request a supporting deposition. If one is not provided within thirty days then you can make a written motion to the court to dismiss the charge.

The statute states that the sticker should be affixed in accordance with the commissioner's regulations. That would be the New York State DMV Commissioner's Rules and Regulations which is title 15 of the "Official Compilation of the Codes, Rules, and Regulations of the State of New York" also known as NYCRR for short.

You should be able to find that online - I don't have time right now to do a lot of looking. My guess is that the regulations don't go into much detail about the sticker.

However, no one in court is going to be looking that up. As far as I am concerned, your husband should not have gotten a traffic ticket. I have certainly written people for that when the affixed sticker has been expired, but in his case I don't think that was particularly fair. I don't know why he was stopped to begin with but maybe that played a role in this. Or maybe the officer perceived a bad attitude.

In any event, I hope you still have that temp sticker. If your husband ends up going to court to fight this then chances are the first step will be a pre-trial conference where he will meet with a town/village attorney or maybe an officer. He should explain everything regarding the stickers and honestly I can't see it not being dismissed.

If I am familiar with the court I can give you a bit more information. In the mean time if you have any other questions feel free to ask here.

 

[HighwayMan]

Well I had more time than I thought...

15 NYCRR 174.2:

https://govt.westlaw.com/nycrr/Document/I50517342cd1711dda432a117e6e0f345?viewType=FullText&originationContext=documenttoc&transitionType=CategoryPageItem&contextData=(sc.Default)

Which leads us to:

15 NYCRR 17.4(d)

https://govt.westlaw.com/nycrr/Document/I50476158cd1711dda432a117e6e0f345?viewType=FullText&originationContext=documenttoc&transitionType=CategoryPageItem&contextData=(sc.Default)

As you can see the regulations are somewhat vague and nothing applies to your husband's situation.

There is nothing in any law or rule/regulation which requires that the "permanent" sticker be affixed - as long as there is a valid sticker affixed. The temp was still valid, according to you, and one has up until that expiration date to affix the standard sticker.

 

[AdkHedgeWitch]

Thank you for your help.

This is being returned to a town court in Piercefield, NY.

We have kept the temporary sticker to present to the court. I realize NYS does not have trial by declaration, but I'm curious if sending any sort of letter to the DA or judge could, potentially, get this dismissed? Or is that premature and we should wait for this to play out?

And just for the sake of satiating anybody's curiosity this was the play-by-play:
My husband was pulled over at approximately 2:55am on a Sunday morning with the rationale given that they had run radar on him doing 58mph in a 55mph zone ten miles back when he'd left town. My husband has a radar detector but was fully aware of them before they even ran it. He also watched them pull out to tail him. They did not ticket him for the 3 mph overage they claimed to have gotten. Since it was an pre-dawn Sunday morning I assume they were hoping to nab a DUI/DWI or other ne'er-do-well normal stuff at an odd hour after the bars were closed, not someone getting off an overtime split shift.

They assessed the valid temporary registration and collected all the paperwork. Then they went back and ran all his information. Then they came back and tried to get consent to search my husband's car, insinuating he was 'nervous'. My husband has no 'illustrious' history, no recent or outstanding tickets/charges, and he works in a managerial position working with officers almost daily over issues that crop up in a high security forensic treatment unit. He's former military and behaves a bit bombproof style -- very succinct, stoic, and polite but not a pushover. He has enough interactions with LEOs there is no, I guess, layperson spook factor like even I get when dealing with police even though I'm not doing anything wrong. Maybe that played into it. He asked them what about his behavior they perceived as him being nervous. They said something vague like 'calculated use of words' but dropped that and began just trying to get a reaction; asking if there was anything he shouldn't have in the trunk and then pushing with, "You know, if you're not hiding anything you'd just let us take a look -- so would you mind?". My husband said he refuses any search and always invokes his rights -- plus, he mentioned he just wanted to get home to his family after a long shift. There was a cop at the passenger side the entire time as well, he was just silent until then, when he piped up, saying to the other cop, "Alright, get him his paperwork and send him on his way." The main officer said he'd be back with a ticket for the registration because it was void because he had the permanent one. When he came back and he handed it to my husband and everybody disengaged.

 

[HighwayMan]

This is being returned to a town court in Piercefield, NY.

Oh well, never even heard of that town.

We have kept the temporary sticker to present to the court. I realize NYS does not have trial by declaration, but I'm curious if sending any sort of letter to the DA or judge could, potentially, get this dismissed? Or is that premature and we should wait for this to play out?

Nope. First of all, ADA's do not get involved in traffic infractions. Either the town has a prosecutor to deal with or you will deal with the issuing officer or another officer who will be handling the court cases that day. Nothing will be done with this by letter.

The main officer said he'd be back with a ticket for the registration because it was void because he had the permanent one.

Well, I disagree. The sticker is not void - one has until the expiration date to replace it.