Driving While Suspended...Need Help Please

[LawGirl10]

Judging from what you said in the last few posts, I also wouldn't rule out the fact that someone may have called the police and tipped them off about what they thought was your driving status. If that happened, the officer ran your information ahead of time and also had a good vehicle description of your vehicle, that could be another possible explanation.

 

[sutliffhl21]

is the plate number on the citation considered to be material information in terms of having to re-file it?

 

[LawGirl10]

Not sure what you are asking. It is good information to have because it is more information that the officer can use to identify the vehicle for testimonial purposes, but I could see a scenario where it wouldn't be needed. For example, lets say the exact same thing happened but the driver of the vehicle had no plates on the car for whatever reason. As an officer, I would at least copy down the vin number off the car to nail down identification of the car, but I could still testify in court about what happened, who was driving the vehicle and a description of the vehicle. It would still fly in court.

 

[sutliffhl21]

Basically what I'm asking is because the License PLate# is written wrong on the citation, and since the license plate is used in identifying the vehicle, would it be safe to assume that the officer might have to re-file the citation with the correct plate#?

 

[LawGirl10]

I can't say for sure, only the court could tell you that. Just remember, like I said before, it is not necessarily required that the officer have the plate number in order to testify about what happened, what he saw, etc. It will come down to if he can identify you and the car you were driving. If, for some reason, the court demands it for some reason, then there might be an issue. It didn't work that way in the court I wrote tickets into, but I have heard of courts dismissing tickets when the wrong information is put on it. I would just call the court clerk and ask.

 

[seniorjudge]

Q: Basically what I'm asking is because the License PLate# is written wrong on the citation, and since the license plate is used in identifying the vehicle, would it be safe to assume that the officer might have to re-file the citation with the correct plate#?
A: No; the LE folks have already told you why.

Speedy trial laws usually do not apply to traffic violations.

It is not a grudge for a cop to stop you if he knows you have a restricted OPL.

 

[sutliffhl21]

Well, I had my hearing and I just thought I would post this so that anyone that ever had this situation happen to them would know what to expect. First and foremost, having an attorney present is essential. Because the officer wrote the wrong license plate number down and did not try to amend the citation at the beginning of the hearing, the magistrate dismissed the citation. Now I can breathe easier now.