Driving While License Suspended – Unknowingly (civil infraction)
Florida Lawyers and Attorneys Challenging License Suspensions
If an officer pulls you over for a violation and determines through their computer that your license is suspended you will receive a traffic citation from the officer. Through some on scene investigation the officer will make a determination whether to charge you with criminal or non-criminal driving while license suspended.
Often referred to as unknowingly driving while license suspended, this violation is referred to as a civil infraction. According the DHSMV, in 2006, there were 227,245 citations written for violation of Florida Statute 322.34 (1). Many people do not realize that it is a moving violation and your payment of that citation will result in points on your driving record. The officer and/or clerk of court will often tell you to just take care of what is suspending you and then just pay the driving while license suspended citation at the Clerk’s office. That advice can be devastating and could subject you to a 5 year driver license suspension called a habitual traffic offender. Typically the payment of a moving infraction will remain on your motor vehicle report for 3 years. That means that the insurance company can use that conviction to justify a rate increase.
Our office has dealt with hundreds of people who are suspended because of an insurance company not reporting your updated information to the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. Often we are able to get the Judge and/or officer to dismiss these citations by explaining the discrepancy between your insurance paperwork and your driving record. We have represented many clients who thought their license was valid after paying off a ticket(s) and were surprised to find themselves at the side of the road with an officer telling them that their license is suspended. Call our office and discuss your situation with us so we can help you resolve this case.
Driving while license suspended – Criminal
You are pulled over by the officer and charged with criminal driving while license suspended. In 2006 almost one-quarter of a million people in this State were cited for criminal driving while license suspended. In some instances you will be arrested and transported to the county jail. Once the officer makes the decision to arrest you, be cooperative. The time to argue and contest the citation occurs later in a court of law.
The law allows an officer to use discretion when making the decision to arrest you at the time of the traffic stop. Your level of cooperation and the reason for your suspension(s) often dictates whether you are arrested by the officer. The officer is instructed to confiscate your license and make sure that your vehicle is either towed or released to someone with a valid license. Depending on the county in which you received the citation, you may already know your first court date. In larger counties like Hillsborough, you receive paperwork telling you that you need to go the clerk’s office and request your own court date. The advantage of hiring a lawyer is that you can leave the initial headache of requesting a court appearance to our office. Once we get hired on your case we will file paperwork with the State Attorney and the Clerk’s office telling them that we represent you on the case. From that point forward you will be able to check the status of your case by tracking it online through our website. That link will provide you with all of your court dates and status for your individual case.
Under Florida law, if you receive three criminal driving while license suspension charges that result in either a withhold of adjudication or an adjudication of guilt, then the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles will suspend your license for five years. This suspension is referred to as a habitual traffic offender suspension. In some instances when there is a combination of unknowing(civil infraction) and knowing driving while license suspended (criminal)convictions, we are able to overturn your suspension and overturn your license suspension. Call the office to discuss the specific facts of your case.
Depending on the reason for your suspension, Florida law allows for a little known court diversion we refer to as a clerk’s withhold. Under Florida Statute 318.14 the law allows you to clear up your suspension and then present that valid license to the clerk’s office to resolve the case(prior to your arraignment date). In many counties this is a way to remove your case from the State Attorney, who will often want jail time depending on the number of prior offenses. Over the past several years the fee for the process has risen dramatically in almost every county, almost as a way of discouraging people from electing this option. Only 1087 in the State of Florida people statewide took advantage of that diversion program. Although you receive a withhold of adjudication from the clerk, that disposition gets reported to the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles and is considered a prior offense for purposes of calculating a habitual traffic offender suspension. Therefore, if you have prior driving while license suspended charges or other violations that the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles refer to as “major” violations then you should review this with our office before exercising this clerk election.
