Shockingly, this misdemeanor is at risk of serious consequences, even up to 1 year in jail and $12,600 of a fines and penalty fees. In contrast, other vehicle code misdemeanors are often up to 90 days (e.g., reckless, exhibition of speed) or 6 months in jail (e.g., hit & run, first DUI) with a... View More

Here is a partial answer, that may be helpful. Restitution is essentially paying a victim for property damage, bodily injury, etc.; for the victims economic out of pocket losses. Restitution issues take time to resolve, and is not ordered by the court until after sentencing. It is possible to have... View More

Reasonable suspension & plain view - If the officer saw that you were not wearing a seat belt, then, yes, they can conduct a traffic stop and cite you for the infraction for not wearing a seat belt.

Sometimes people say that there is no possible way the officer saw that I was not... View More

It is possible that the AB541 3 month alcohol program provider is still in business and has records of your participation in the DUI program from 10 years ago. However, you still need a court order to re-enroll and complete the program. and, you will have to pay for the balance of the program, at... View More

Probably means a bench trial. Judge is the trier of fact, instead of the jury.

First, a "fine" in the criminal meaning is money ordered to be paid by the court after someone is convicted of a crime.

And, yes, the cops do not need to be involved at the scene or when it happened. But the fine is not imposed until after a conviction.

Here is further... View More

You are right in that it does not make sense that they would find a warrant for you based on looking up someone else's license plates. There are a lot of different reasons police pull people over. Here, if the tags were actually expired, that is a legitimate reason. However, sometimes a police... View More

What is your question? Are you looking for an attorney or for some information?

If the ticket is causing a hold for your drivers license, then you should take care of it. Find an attorney in the area of where the court is located and hire them to help you resolve it.

By the way, if you were handed a ticket in person, that would have been notice to appear. The court... View More

Generally, only the driver can be cited for speeding. If the owner is cited, it is probably for something else. To receive an owner responsibility ticket, the owner does not need to be present.

You cannot be forced to plead a certain way because somebody else does. In fact, the court (at State Bar ethics rules) will require that you be assigned a different attorney to avoid a conflict of interest if you do not want to do the same thing with your case that the other defendants want. So you... View More

Public defenders are real lawyers, and very competent. However, a private attorney will likely take more time on your case, but this will cost more, too. It is your choice. Regardless, you must be concerned with this case and an attorney will help your situation. The judge will not let you go this... View More

To argue excessive bail, you really need an attorney to make the legal arguments, not a do it yourself project. However, you can go to a law library and research the issue and your rights and come up with a few points.

This scenario can be fixed, but best with an attorney to explain to the judge how and why it happened. If you went to court on the date they gave you but the case was not filed, and then later they issued a warrant because the case was filed later and a new court date was set without you knowing,... View More

After you are released O.R., then you still have to go back to court. If you miss that court date, then a warrant will be issued. If this is not what happened, there are other possibilities, such as a court clerical error, or a notice to appear with a different date but you never received the... View More

Not sure exactly of your situation. However, paying the bail bondsman is unrelated to the court in most ways. You simply owe the bondsman for posting a bail bond on your behalf, you are paying for a service that already took place. If you are out on bail now, the bond will not be exonerated until... View More

If you are a teacher, you have certain responsibilities. If you are unaware or unsure what to do, maybe talk to someone who is more familiar. The principle at the school has usually dealt with situations like this more than an inexperienced teacher, and might be a good resource, although the... View More

Might you be thinking of the probate code section, which actually references the penal code. Look up Probate Code 259 and then look up Penal Code 236

It depends, so he hiring an attorney that is familiar with the court, and could look at the details of the case and priors, would best be able to advise on this. No guessing is going to help, other than to say that if bailed out, then there is time without being in jail to work on case--this is... View More

Great question. Sorry to hear about the problem. It is typical to be released and required to report back to court, either for another hearing or for a first hearing after the prosecution is ready to proceed (they have time, but limited time). Thus, the case is almost certainly still open,... View More