Wrong drivers license number on ticket

[ramamoor]

My wife had an accident and I was travelling in car at the same time. The officer wrote a citation which has my wife's name but he put my driver's license and now I have got a notice to appear in court because the court looks at the driver's license only. What should I do now?. I am sure that I can prove that I was not driving as the citation says female driver etc. Can the police re-issue the ticket for my wife?
Thanks
AR

[CdwJava]

Yes, they CAN re-issue the citation by voiding the one with your number and issuing one to her.

What state is this?

- Carl

[ramamoor]

California

[CdwJava]

Yeah, they can correct it in court or by filing it again. Whether they will before it goes to court is the question. Obviously, if it goes to court, the officer will find that you are different than the woman he cited ... so at some point the snafu will be discovered.

However, if it goes all the way to court in your name, I really don't know WHAT might happen.


- Carl

[mronroad]

Do NOT call attention to the error before tiral.

Allow the statute of limitations for traffic offenses to expire before going to court... put it off if you have to.

Say NOTHING about the error until the prosecution rests. Then have your wife, or her lawyer, introduce her license into evidence, ask the cop to compare the numbers on the ticket and license, and demonstrate that the license number on the ticket is not hers.

(Why did the cop have your license if you were a passenger, in the first place? I'm just curious.)


Tickets with errors can be ammended before trial to correct errors, but once the prosecution rests (providing they don't discover the error when/if they run her driving abstract) the error becomes fatal. Make sure your wife does NOT testify or call witnesses. The entire case must be based on the prosecution's facts.

If the prosecutor tried to ammend the ticket/complaint once you identify the error, then object. The Prosecution has rested it's case.

States that allow inaccurate information on tickets to be ammended generally do so under the rationale that, unless the correction puts the defendant in risk of double-jeopardy, the error is not fatal and the interests of Justice are served.

Once the prosecution rests, given that there is no admission from your wife that she was indeed driving, they will have no legal recourse but to dismiss.

And, the beauty of it is, since she has already stood trial for the offense, she's out of legal jeopardy.


Check out the case law in Cali. I KNOW there are cases in NY and NJ that you can cite should the judge be hesitant to grant your motion for dismissal.

[CdwJava]

The problem here is that the officer is going to have the wife's name and license number (presumably) on the original citation. The license number can be amended. When they get to court, the officer is likely to see that the wrong person is present ... if it gets that far. When he gets subpoeaned for court, he may discover the error by recalling that he stopped the wife and not the husband, and then the citation or the court documents can be amended.

I can understand how this might have happened if the wife did NOT have her license with her, but not if she did. Someone at some clerk's office read the wrong information somewhere.

The wife should check her copy of the citation ... the citation that SHE signed. And that SHE has to honor to show up in court. If she fails to show up and answer the roll, she could find a warrant issued for her arrest.

- Carl

[ramamoor]

Thanks for all the responses. The cop ( for some reason) asked for my license and he wrote it on the citation instead of my wife's driver's license. So the original citation that he gave has my driver's license #, my wife's name and description. The cop does not have my wife's license #. I am thinking of going to court and pleading not guilty and at the trial it will automatically come out as a mistake. The question is whether at/after the trial the cop can re-correct the citation and then issue a ticket for my wife?

[CdwJava]

Originally Posted by ramamoor

Thanks for all the responses. The cop ( for some reason) asked for my license and he wrote it on the citation instead of my wife's driver's license. So the original citation that he gave has my driver's license #, my wife's name and description. The cop does not have my wife's license #. I am thinking of going to court and pleading not guilty and at the trial it will automatically come out as a mistake. The question is whether at/after the trial the cop can re-correct the citation and then issue a ticket for my wife?

She received the citation and signed it. She has to show up.

The officer either HAS her license information or can get it - a simple check with the DMV does the trick. And most or all courts out here require the citation have the license and registration information be attached to the citation when it is sent to the court. And if the officer looks at the information before court he's going to figure it out - and so will the court.

If you show up because of the written information you got in the mail, it still won't prevent your wife from having to answer for it. It is possible the commissioner or judge will dismiss the whole matter due to the mess up ... but it is also possible they will merely correct the whole matter then and there.

- Carl

[1curious1]

NV law allows a year and a day to take action (citation/arrest) on a misdemeanor. I don't know CA law but assume that it is similar. If the error is discovered, the Officer has mearly to make the adjustments and start again. If the Officer discovers that you are attempting to get around the citation with subterfuge and by otherwise sidestepping the issue AND if he has the time, he (or She) could ask the court for a warrent and then come place your wife under arrest. How much fun can one have? Endless. Have her step up and take responsibility for her actions. If you have a valid reason to "fight", the ticket go with that. Don't try and win by deciet, it will backfire on you eventually.