speeding ticket and suspended license

[RPSilvia]

What is the name of your state? california

the other day me and couple of friends were hanging out at a parking lot late at night when all of a sudden some cops pull up. everything gets sorted out and they let us go but before that the cop runs a check on my drivers license and finds out its suspended due to a speeding ticket. i got a speeding ticker in july of last year but never received it in the mail. what should i do?

thanks

[justalayman]

Originally Posted by RPSilvia

What is the name of your state? california

the other day me and couple of friends were hanging out at a parking lot late at night when all of a sudden some cops pull up. everything gets sorted out and they let us go but before that the cop runs a check on my drivers license and finds out its suspended due to a speeding ticket. i got a speeding ticker in july of last year but never received it in the mail. what should i do?

thanks

What do you mean you never got it in the mail? Don't the cops in California hand it to you when they write it?

[RPSilvia]

he handed me a copy of the citation and told me i should receive a letter in the mail in 2 weeks but the letter never came so i didnt know how much i would need to pay. i thought the officer might have not turned in the ticket so i threw the copy of the citation away. now i'm stumped on what to do.

[justalayman]

Originally Posted by RPSilvia

he handed me a copy of the citation and told me i should receive a letter in the mail in 2 weeks but the letter never came so i didnt know how much i would need to pay. i thought the officer might have not turned in the ticket so i threw the copy of the citation away. now i'm stumped on what to do.

I can't give you any specifics on California. Hang on though.

CDWJava is one guy that can give you some specific direction. There are others but CDWJava is very informed and informative with California situations.

Hopefully somebody else will show up to help you out.

[sukharev]

In any state, it's quite simple really. Find out what you owe by calling the court (if you don't know which court, call PD or DMV), then pay it. Next, talk to DMV to find out how to get your license back. They will give you complete recipy (which probably involves more fines, obtaining the letter from court that you paid the tickt in full, and perhaps writing a letter yourself describing the situation and how you took care of it). In addition, you may have to wait until mandatory period is over, if that's the case start googling restricted license laws.

[CdwJava]

Originally Posted by RPSilvia

he handed me a copy of the citation and told me i should receive a letter in the mail in 2 weeks but the letter never came so i didnt know how much i would need to pay. i thought the officer might have not turned in the ticket so i threw the copy of the citation away. now i'm stumped on what to do.

There was a court date on the ticket. You don't show up on that date and you can get your license suspended AND a bench warrant for your arrest.

The notice is a "courtesy notice" ... the fact that you did not get the notice did not mean that you could ignore the court date on the citation. In fact, by signing the ticket you made a "promise to appear", which, is the only reason you could be released without going to jail.

Now you face a criminal charge. If your county charges this as an infraction, you can handle it yourself. if they charge it as a misdemeanor, then you might consider consulting an attorney as county jail time is possible (not likely, but possible).

- Carl

[RPSilvia]

i don't ever remember there being a court date on the ticket. i just know the officer told me that i should receive a letter that tells me how much the ticket would cost. since its been so many months, would the fine have incresed significantly?

[CdwJava]

Originally Posted by RPSilvia

i don't ever remember there being a court date on the ticket. i just know the officer told me that i should receive a letter that tells me how much the ticket would cost. since its been so many months, would the fine have incresed significantly?

It should have been on there. The uniform citation form mandated by the Judicial Council of CA has a space for court date, and as far as I know, every agency in the state places court dates on their citations ... otherwise there would be no point to having you sign it and you could never be liable for failing to appear.

As I said, you now face jail on a potential criminal charge if you were cited for CVC 14601 (et seq) or CVC 12500 ... though these are sometimes filed as infractions depending on the county and your previous driving history. Consult an attorney if it is filed as a misdemeanor.

- Carl

[RPSilvia]

Originally Posted by CdwJava

It should have been on there. The uniform citation form mandated by the Judicial Council of CA has a space for court date, and as far as I know, every agency in the state places court dates on their citations ... otherwise there would be no point to having you sign it and you could never be liable for failing to appear.

As I said, you now face jail on a potential criminal charge if you were cited for CVC 14601 (et seq) or CVC 12500 ... though these are sometimes filed as infractions depending on the county and your previous driving history. Consult an attorney if it is filed as a misdemeanor.

- Carl

if i face a criminal charge, shouldn't the officer that i mentioned in the first post have arrested me? he just let me go free, but said i couldn't drive my car. i remember him saying something about the DMV but couldn't make out what he saying because it was raining really hard. could i go clear this up at the dmv? do the dmv handle these kinda stuff?

[CdwJava]

Originally Posted by RPSilvia

if i face a criminal charge, shouldn't the officer that i mentioned in the first post have arrested me? he just let me go free, but said i couldn't drive my car. i remember him saying something about the DMV but couldn't make out what he saying because it was raining really hard. could i go clear this up at the dmv? do the dmv handle these kinda stuff?

If you were issued a citation that was in lieu of an arrest. We rarely arrest for that charge.

You would have to clear the court matter first, THEN take the proof of the clearance to the DMV.

- Carl

[StickyFingers]

Originally Posted by CdwJava

It should have been on there. The uniform citation form mandated by the Judicial Council of CA has a space for court date, and as far as I know, every agency in the state places court dates on their citations ... otherwise there would be no point to having you sign it and you could never be liable for failing to appear.

As I said, you now face jail on a potential criminal charge if you were cited for CVC 14601 (et seq) or CVC 12500 ... though these are sometimes filed as infractions depending on the county and your previous driving history. Consult an attorney if it is filed as a misdemeanor.

- Carl

Exactly....Signature on a ticket is NOT an admission of guilt. It is a PROMISE that you will appear, and is proof that you are AWARE of the court date on the ticket.....in essence..you were just 'served' with notice to appear. YOUR APPERANCE IS MANDATORY! If you fail to appear...It may result in many other complications including a bench warrant.

If you refuse to sign the ticket then you can/and most likely will be subject to arrest. Only to insure your participation in the court proceedings.

Edit: Since it has been "so many months" as you say....you probably have a warrant out for you. You should call the agency ( the police station) the officer belonged to and ask. Then if you do...TURN YOURSELF IN IMMEDIATELY!

Your 'story' and 'ignorance' will go further that way.

Do you still have the paper ticket?

Oh and BTW.....Just clearing things up with the DMV does not necissarily absolve (clear you of negligence) you concerning your responsibilities concerning the court.

[RPSilvia]

ummm...i'm starting to get really confused now. all my friends that got speeding tickets got something in the mail and they just paid it off.

i also threw away the copy of the ticket many months ago while cleaning out my car. also when i went to get my insurance my agent ran a check on my record and said i was clean. this was in october, i got the speeding ticket in july. they officer never gave me a citation for driving on a suspended license because he did not see me driving.

[CdwJava]

Originally Posted by RPSilvia

ummm...i'm starting to get really confused now. all my friends that got speeding tickets got something in the mail and they just paid it off.

Yes, but you DID NOT get something in the mail. So, you now have to go to the court to clear the matter up. They call it a "courtesy notice" ... that means they do not HAVE to send it to you.

And if your address has changed and you never changed it with the DMV then no wonder you never got one.

i also threw away the copy of the ticket many months ago while cleaning out my car.

BAD idea! I hope you don't do that with tax documents.

also when i went to get my insurance my agent ran a check on my record and said i was clean.

He's not a DMV employee, a court clerk, or a peace officer. His version of "clean" may be different then ours. And it's possible that the license was no tyet "suspended" because good service had not been made on you. In other words, you had not been formally notified of the suspension. That would mean that you were technically unlicensed but not "suspended" (pursuant to CVC 14601) as you had not received formal notice of the suspension.

this was in october, i got the speeding ticket in july. they officer never gave me a citation for driving on a suspended license because he did not see me driving.

Okay, then you don't have to deal with a suspension ticket. However, if you drive then your car will be impounded for 30 days.

You still have to go to court to clear up the previous citation you signed before you can see about getting your license back.

- Carl

[CdwJava]

The bottom line:

Call the court and make a court date to have the previous citation heard so that you can either pay the fine or whatever must be done to clear your license. When that is done, take the clearance notice to the DMV and see what you have to do to get your license back.

- Carl

[StickyFingers]

Then in my opinion.....you screwed yourself.

The officer did you a favor about not citing you for a suspended license.

But now...cause you couldn't see that a favor was upon you.....you screwed up and do not show to your court date.

I would call the prosecutor..And see what exactly you are charged with and the warrants that are out on you... Then maybe try and strike a deal.