Spouse Summoned Instead

[8587]

moving violation - in Massachusetts - first citation on my record - citation delivered in person by officer who pulled me over - contesting/appealing the citation - received a letter in the mail with first appointment with the magistrate/clerk - appointment is for my spouse with spouse's drivers license number - have a copy of the citation with my name and license number and it was me who was driving - confirmed that the appointment citation number matches my citation - spouse was not in the vehicle nor in the vicinity at the time - spouse has no outstanding citations - spouse has never been pulled over

are we both required to go to the appointment, or can it be just me (the driver)? if there is a choice, does one course of action have a better chance of getting a Not-Responsible decision?

 

[LdiJ]

moving violation - in Massachusetts - first citation on my record - citation delivered in person by officer who pulled me over - contesting/appealing the citation - received a letter in the mail with first appointment with the magistrate/clerk - appointment is for my spouse with spouse's drivers license number - have a copy of the citation with my name and license number and it was me who was driving - confirmed that the appointment citation number matches my citation - spouse was not in the vehicle nor in the vicinity at the time - spouse has no outstanding citations - spouse has never been pulled over

are we both required to go to the appointment, or can it be just me (the driver)? if there is a choice, does one course of action have a better chance of getting a Not-Responsible decision?

Your wife definitely needs to go because the citation is in her name. You should really be there to testify that it was you driving the car and you are the one the officer cited.

That happened to me once, only instead of it being my spouse who was driving, it was my daughter. She was also given a "minor in possession of tobacco" because one of her friends had cigarettes. In my case, the DA dismissed all of the citations because I obviously was NOT a minor.

 

[davew128]

Have your wife go in with the original citation and ask why she was summonsed.

 

[davew128]

Your wife definitely needs to go because the citation is in her name. You should really be there to testify that it was you driving the car and you are the one the officer cited.

I disagree on this. While this is a civil matter in MA, OP is under no obligation to do anything. Wife is being cited and should bring the citation as her proof that the summons is in error.

 

[8587]

resolution

I called ahead of time (the court answered and said call the registry of motor vehicles, and I ended up speaking to someone on the state's merit board). They investigated and said we can both ignore the original/erroneous appointment. Court will send a new/correct appointment, and of course I should go to that.