Back in July I was driving in Clarke County VA to go to a birthday party for my aunt. I was driving down a 4-lane highway (Route 17 I believe) and did not see any speed limit signs, so i set the cruise control at 70 since i believed it was a rural Interstate and the limit was automatically 65 mph due to Federal legislation.
So I was pulled over and the officer stated I was doing 72 in a 55. I advised that I had not seen any signs, and when I asked what the distance should be between posted limit signs, the officer advised me that she did not know and that it didn't matter. I took the ticket, she had crossed off the part stating that i must appear at trial and the ticket was not even completely filled out, so I was unsure what I even owed.
My "court date" came and I was not apprised of my rights, so I missed the date. I got a letter dated 9/7/12 stating that I now owed over $240 which included a fee for missing the court date. On 9/13/12 I appealed the Notice to Pay and of Suspension for Failure to Pay by writing a three page letter brief with attachments that summarized my argument.
I did not hear from Clarke County Court, so I called to see if the appeal was received. They stated that judge had received it and would look at it when she had time. I said that was fine, assuming I would be given due process. I then received a letter from the VA Dept of Transportation stating that my license was revoked in VA. Not a problem, except when I want to renew my license in PA. So I called Clarke Co courthouse AGAIN to check on the status, and was advised the judge still had not looked at the appeal.
Yesterday (11/13/12) I received a letter stating that they had sent my information to collections to collect the debt I owed. I advised them that my case was supposedly under appeal and that I was awaiting the ruling from that appeal.
My questions are two fold: What are my options in this situation as I believe that I was not given proper due process to argue my case, and what should I do about the ticket? From what I have said, a good faith effort has been given on my part to rectify this situation in a manner consistent with the law.
So I was pulled over and the officer stated I was doing 72 in a 55. I advised that I had not seen any signs, and when I asked what the distance should be between posted limit signs, the officer advised me that she did not know and that it didn't matter. I took the ticket, she had crossed off the part stating that i must appear at trial and the ticket was not even completely filled out, so I was unsure what I even owed.
My "court date" came and I was not apprised of my rights, so I missed the date. I got a letter dated 9/7/12 stating that I now owed over $240 which included a fee for missing the court date. On 9/13/12 I appealed the Notice to Pay and of Suspension for Failure to Pay by writing a three page letter brief with attachments that summarized my argument.
I did not hear from Clarke County Court, so I called to see if the appeal was received. They stated that judge had received it and would look at it when she had time. I said that was fine, assuming I would be given due process. I then received a letter from the VA Dept of Transportation stating that my license was revoked in VA. Not a problem, except when I want to renew my license in PA. So I called Clarke Co courthouse AGAIN to check on the status, and was advised the judge still had not looked at the appeal.
Yesterday (11/13/12) I received a letter stating that they had sent my information to collections to collect the debt I owed. I advised them that my case was supposedly under appeal and that I was awaiting the ruling from that appeal.
My questions are two fold: What are my options in this situation as I believe that I was not given proper due process to argue my case, and what should I do about the ticket? From what I have said, a good faith effort has been given on my part to rectify this situation in a manner consistent with the law.
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