Expired Drivers Licence Ticket

[DoctorJohn]

In October of 2009, I was pulled over for expired tags on my friends car. 3 days prior my drivers licence had expired. I been laid off recently and forgot about renewing. Unfortunitly I don't think i will be avalible on my court date is there anyway i can take care of this by mail?

 

[CdwJava]

In October of 2009, I was pulled over for expired tags on my friends car. 3 days prior my drivers licence had expired. I been laid off recently and forgot about renewing. Unfortunitly I don't think i will be avalible on my court date is there anyway i can take care of this by mail?

Sure. You can plead guilty and pay your fine via mail. You might also consider calling the court and finding out how to request a continuance.

Otherwise, if you fail to show up a warrant for your arrest might issue in addition to your license being suspended indefinitely.

 

[DoctorJohn]

That would be fine i am guilty but when i write my letter can i write it with a request to not give me a misdemeanor for the offence. I am a airline pilot and need to keep my record clean although this wouldn't be the end of the world. But i will look into the continuance

 

[CdwJava]

Most such offenses are treated as infractions and handled in traffic court. I strongly recommend that you find a way to appear or hire an attorney to handle the matter for you. Oh, and get that license reinstated.

Your career might be seriously interrupted if that warrant for your arrest is issued.

 

[DoctorJohn]

I will turn up if i have to and my court date is in march but i wanna handle it by mail. Unemployed at the moment so money is tight. Can i just write a letter pleading guilty and throwing myself at the mercy of the court?

 

[CdwJava]

A letter to the court will be pretty much useless. You have to follow one of the established routes. You can request a continuance, you can pay the matter by mail, you can even request a trial by written declaration.

Contact the court or go to their website and find out the options available to you.

 

[fredrikklaw]

No Death Penalty!

You don't even need to go to court!

Driving with an expired license is one of the so-called "fix-it tickets" and if you look on the citation you were issued, you will see half way down the question: "Is this a correctable offense?" with yes/no boxes, with a check mark in the yes box.

Once you renew your license, all you will have to do is present the ticket along with your renewed license to a police officer either by paying a visit to any police station or by (politely and carefully) approaching or stopping a beat police officer who will then sign the back of the ticket as testimony that the offense has been corrected.

Then pop a copy of the ticket with a check for the (I believe) $10.00 or $15.00 administration fee in an envelope and send it to the appropriate court before your court date. And that will be it; you are not going to be charged with a misdemeanor or any other crimes against humanity or California's Vehicle Code. And there will not be any criminal recorded recorder anywhere for posterity or for F.A.A. inspection.

I can appreciate your concern and understand your being nervous about this matter because my brother is also an airline pilot, and believe me when I say he gets mighty nervous and worries sick about his pilot's license when he mails in the cable bill 5 days before the due date instead of the usual 10 days before the due date.

So, relax. You are all good.

Safe Flying.

fredrikklaw

 

[DoctorJohn]

hm.... for some reason i think its a misdameanor so. I thought i had to go to court but i will try to get it fixed. I will call a friend who is a police officer right away

 

[CdwJava]

It depends on what court they are filing it in and what level of offense. Most first offenses for 12500(a) will be filed as infractions and as correctable violations. If filed as a misdemeanor, I believe the court can still treat it as a correctable violation.

I suspect it will be filed as an infraction and filed in traffic court unless you have priors for 12500 or similar offenses. If so, then you can likely get it handled via the mail and an administrative service fee. This fee was $25 but I heard a rumor it might have gone up ... I have not looked, so I do not know, yet.

 

[mightymoose]

Driving on an expired license is the same as driving with no license and is a misdemeanor.
You say you are unavailable for court, but you promised to appear when you signed the ticket. This is a violation that requires your appearance and won't be handled by mail.
You should find a way to make yourself available. You are unlikely to get a continuance. If you miss court you will have a warrant issued for your arrest.

 

[CdwJava]

Many counties file these as infractions and not as misdemeanors. I do not personally know of any county that handles a first offense 12500(a) in the criminal division of the superior court as a misdemeanor. Everywhere I know sends these to the traffic court ... prosecuting a 12500 and potentially empaneling a jury for the offense would be prohibitively expensive.

When the OP is notified by the court - or when he contacts the court - he will know what his options might include. While technically a misdemeanor, it is common practice to file it in traffic court as an infraction.

 

[mightymoose]

I could show you a stack of warrants for 12500 violations... thanks to CHP. Most the deputies don't cite for it around here, but will tow the car.
Around here there is better than a 50/50 chance that a traffic stop will have an unlicensed driver. Most of the ones that are cited never show up to court whether it is handled misdemeanor of infraction, so they just let it go criminal and issue the warrant.

 

[CdwJava]

I could show you a stack of warrants for 12500 violations... thanks to CHP. Most the deputies don't cite for it around here, but will tow the car.

Most deputies don't do traffic, from what I can see.

When I was one, I was told by my FTO, "This is a citation book ... we don't use it," and she tossed it into her trunk. We used Vehicle Code violations as P.C. but never wrote a ticket in field training.

Around here there is better than a 50/50 chance that a traffic stop will have an unlicensed driver. Most of the ones that are cited never show up to court whether it is handled misdemeanor of infraction, so they just let it go criminal and issue the warrant.

Kinda works the same here. Though, we find that, maybe, 1 in 8 are unlicensed. When I used to work "the big city" we had a couple of barrios in one sector that were good for 12500(a) cites well over half the time. Officers fished there about 0530 to 0600 so they could get that last stop of the shift, write the 12500, impound the car, and get in to Dispatch at the PD with the CHP-180 just in time to chuck it in and go home.

 

[mightymoose]

When I was one, I was told by my FTO, "This is a citation book ... we don't use it," and she tossed it into her trunk. We used Vehicle Code violations as P.C. but never wrote a ticket in field training.

Yep... that sounds about right.

 

[DoctorJohn]

Ok so I was issued a Misdamenor for the violation and the no box is checked for the correctable offence. I think i got screwed. I renewed my licence the next day. what do i do now?

 

[CdwJava]

The judge can still choose to make it correctable if he or she wishes. If not, then you will likely have to pay the fine. Have you received any word on whether you are to appear in Traffic Court or some other court for arraignment? If traffic court, then they are likely treating this as an infraction. I cannot imagine that they will be filing this as a misdemeanor ... a potential jury trial for an expired license?!? What a huge waste of time and money that would be!