Hello to all,

Ok first I will say this-I got pulled over for driving on a suspended for the second time. Gonna get the thing renewed and take a drivers improvement course and what not.....not gonna bitch, I dropped the ball, but does anybody know of a good lawyer for this in the area. Experiences would be helpful. Thanks.

Best advise is to stop driving and wait out your time. If your license is suspended and you still drive around, you cant be a dumbass and get pulled over for something like a busted tailight or expired tags(dmv wont let you renew if your dl is suspended). You dont really need a lawyer if you can talk the talk. GO speak with the prosecutor prior to court(the day of the court) as I assume its in criminal court. Take the class and do what you have to do to get as much paperwork saying that you are sorry and this was an accident. Like a "letter" from your employeer or a letter from a doctor that was "delivering your baby" and you just had to be there. I know this is kind of scammish but if you just accept your punishement, expect a few days in jail and 3 years without a license and oh yea dont forget your checkbook. Not being a dick , its just the reality. Lawyers are the biggest waste of money, just TALK TO THE PROSECUTOR!!!!

It's in traffic court

Also how do I find out who the prosecutor is??

you might want to double check thats its in traffic because driving on suspended (2nd offense) is considered a class 1 misdeamenor if convicted,allowed punishment is up to $2500 and up to 12 months of jail but very unlikely that you wil get 12 month of jail. WEhen you step in the court room, you will see the prosecutor usually sitting in front of the judge, on the right side. They will see in their docket that you did not bring a lawyer and usually make the first move to talk to you, but this is VERY important. You are better off on making the best impression on your prosecutor rather then the judge. The prosecutor decides your punishement and presents to the judge and 99% of the time the judge agrees with the prosecutor. Think of him as your judge that you can speak to prior to court. The judge finalizes the decision and sighns of on the paperwork but like I said the prosecutor will be the one to present it.

Rodney Leffler in Fairfax.

The big thing in these cases is: can they prove you knew your priveleges were suspended/revoked and were driving anyway.

DMV sends suspension/revovation orders registered/return receipt. If you signed for it, you're done. And of course, if a judge suspended it in court, with you in attendance...you're done.

But, if you can convince the judge that you were not aware it was suspended you might walk, especially if you can show you had it reinstated immediately after finding out.

The Commonwealth Attorney will not speak to you unless you are represented by counsel. And if you are represented by counsel, they will speak to them. Not you.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/10/2007 08:16PM by watcher.

duh Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The big thing in these cases is: can they prove
> you knew your priveleges were suspended/revoked
> and were driving anyway.
>
> DMV sends suspension/revovation orders
> registered/return receipt. If you signed for it,
> you're done. And of course, if a judge suspended
> it in court, with you in attendance...you're
> done.
>
> But, if you can convince the judge that you were
> not aware it was suspended you might walk,
> especially if you can show you had it reinstated
> immediately after finding out.

"for a second Driving on A suspended charge"

Thanks for the tip watcher, I checked the ticket and the court that it says is 'TRAFFIC'. I don't know if this changes anything, but I figure I give you some more info. Thanks everybody

Jim Love or John Carroll (used to be a ffx prosecutor). Both are probably going to charge you around 2000-2500.

regardless of whether you knew you were suspended, claimed you didnt know, or didnt know, these are all in traffic court

Unless something has changed in the last two years the DMV does NOT send a registered letter to your house informing you that you've been suspended. They send a letter if you choose to ignore it and get pulled over then the cops will give you an official notice that you're license has been suspended. If you get caught driving THEN then you'll need a lawyer as you can face jail time. "need" being relative, of course. i have NEVER gotten a registered letter from them regarding the status of my license, they just send a normal letter to you.


the first thing the judge will ask the cop in court is whether or not the cop had any reason to believe that you were aware that your license was suspended, if the cop answers 'yes' the judge will tell you that you may want to get a lawyer.

sadly i've been through this more than a half dozen times in the last ten years for various reasons, generally stemming from not paying a ticket that i got for not paying for my taxes/safety/tags. i apparantly like to torture myself (though i've goteen much better :P) a few times it was because dmv only employs idiots and they kept lying to me about the uninsured motorist fine. i'm a slackass, so shoot me

You have a few problems:

1) You knew you were driving suspended.

2) You were most likely informed that you were suspended at your last court date, in which case you had good notice. On your record it will show that you were notified by court. You signed papers to that effect that you knew your license was suspended when you were in court and that you knew what the penalties would be were you caught

3) If your license was suspended and you were informed by a police officer, that is recorded. Your transcript will show "Notified by law enforcement." Which means you have good notice again.

You are most likely not going to get any jail time... this time. Although this is a distinct possibility as you're looking at up to 1 year in jail. You will be subject to a serious fine of up to $2,500, not including civil remedial fees of at least $1,000. Your license will most likely be suspended for an even longer period of time.

Now, knowing these tings it would be in your best interest not to drive any more. If 1-year in jail and up to $3,500+ in fines is not enough of a deterrent, what is?

Does any of that change if you show up to court with a valid DL?