Dear jkrech17-ga;
Thank you for allowing me an opportunity to answer your interesting
question.
We cannot provide legal advice in this forum but I’ve been in law
enforcement now for more than two decades so I hope you will benefit
from my experience. From the looks at your driving record, you have no
“moving violations” (the notations you do have are considered
non-moving offenses) meaning that this would possibly be considered a
first offense in your case. This is a good point because the best we
can hope to accomplish here is to advise you of the pros and cons of
having a lawyer as opposed to appearing “pro se” (without counsel).
PRO - LAWYER
You will obviously benefit from the lawyer’s court expertise and his
knowledge of the law. It’s usually a good idea to have a lawyer with
you when you appear in court or at the very least act on the
professional advice of a lawyer. Additionally, lawyers know loopholes
and have friends in the judicial system that can occasionally “pull
strings”. It isn’t uncommon for minor cases such as this to be
“settled” to some degree outside the courtroom, or even over the
phone, hours or sometimes days before the actual hearing. Your lawyer
would love to make a few phone calls in your behalf because if he can
a prosecutor or judge to agree to favorably dispose of your case
before the hearing he can still collect his fee from you but utilize
the time he saves on some other case (receiving another fee, of
course). This is not unusual, it’s just the nature of the profession,
but the bottom line is that a lawyer “might” be able to have this
matter settled to the satisfaction of all involved and keep you from
having to pay a huge fine or have something derogatory added to your
record.
CON – LAWYER
They are expensive, as you well know by now. In addition, there’s no
guarantee that you won’t have to pay a lawyer $900 and then end up
paying a big fine anyway (plus court costs – which can sometimes equal
or exceed the amount of the fine). To add to this you must trust that
your lawyer will do what he/she is expected to do. Occasionally,
lawyers find themselves inundated with cases and are forced to
postpone hearings until a later date. This can be time consuming as
well as frustrating, but the tradeoff for having experienced
representation is often worth the headache.
PRO – PRO SE
Obviously, you will save a fairly sizeable sum of money by appearing
in court without counsel. Often times you will even be able to say
things that you otherwise would be unable to say because your lawyer
would be speaking in your behalf. A reasonable appeal in laymen’s
terms sometimes does the trick and achieves what you are hoping to
achieve. Unlike Circuit Courts and Chancery Courts, Traffic Courts,
Municipal Courts or District Courts (The Fairfax County General
District Court is how it is refereed to in your area) normally don’t
require you to have a lawyer when you appear unless you just feel you
should have one. If you are not opposed to speaking publicly and can
intelligently verbalize what you want to make known, you should have
no problem doing this.
CON – PRO SE
It has been said that a man who represents himself in court has a fool
for a client. If you appear without counsel you may find yourself in
over your head or you might make an error that causes the court to
impose a punishment far greater than you might have received had you
chose an attorney to represent you.
Having said all that (and let me preface this by saying we cannot
offer legal advise in this forum) you “can” appeal to the court to
suspend your case pending the completion of a defensive driving
course. Often times a court will willingly allow a defendant to attend
an 8 hr defensive driving course on their first offense in lieu of
punishment and agree to “no pros” (not prosecute) the case if you (1)
complete the course, and (2) refrain from violating the law for a
specified period of time, such as 6 months. This achieves a number of
things, not the least of which is protecting your driving record from
derogatory history, keeping your insurance rates affordable and of
course, keeping relatively minor cases from jamming up the already
taxed judicial system.
If you choose to appear “pro se”, or even if you choose to retain a
lawyer for that matter, you should take this into consideration. When
you appear before the Judge simply ask him/her if you can attend a
defensive driving course to remove points from your record and keep
this matter from ending up there. Chances are good that he/she will
agree to this arrangement. If you plan to plead not guilty and have a
hearing (be prepared, because the officer will appear to testify
against you) it would be wise to have counsel.
Here is a huge directory of defensive driving options in your area:
THE DEFENSIVE DRIVING SCHOOL
http://www.drivingdirectory.com/va2.htm
If you plan to appear without counsel, it might do you well to read
this document first:
"Administrative Procedures of the Fairfax County General District
Court Governing Court Practice and Procedures"
http://www.co.fairfax.va.us/courts/gendist/admin.pdf
(You can also obtain a hardcopy of this from the General District
Court's divisional clerk's offices in the Judicial Center)
I hope you find that that my research exceeds your expectations. If
you have any questions about my research please post a clarification
request prior to rating the answer. Otherwise I welcome your rating
and your final comments and I look forward to working with you again
in the near future. Thank you for bringing your question to us.
Best regards;
Tutuzdad-ga
INFORMATION SOURCES
THE DEFENSIVE DRIVING SCHOOL
http://www.drivingdirectory.com/va2.htm
GENERAL DISTRICT COURT – FAIRFAX COUNTY VIRGINIA
http://www.co.fairfax.va.us/courts/gendist/homepage.htm
SEARCH STRATEGY
SEARCH ENGINE USED:
Google ://www.google.com
SEARCH TERMS USED:
“DEFENSIVE DRIVING” “FAIRFAX VA”
TRAFFIC COURT FAIRFAX VA |
Clarification of Answer by
tutuzdad-ga
on
20 Aug 2003 20:32 PDT
Dear jkrech17-ga:
“How would penalties against my license such as suspension be handled
by the judge..?”
My experience is that a first offense normally doesn’t result in a
suspension. A fine, or even a hefty fine perhaps along with several
derogatory points on your driving record would be a more likely
scenario if you are convicted.
RECKLESS DRIVING - PENALTIES
http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?000+cod+46.2-868
But let me say that the penalty for a Class 1 misdemeanor such a
reckless driving CAN result in a substantial maximum penalty if that
penalty is imposed. This particular site deals with alcohol offenses
in Virgina, but they too are Class 1 misdemeanors. Here then is an
example of what can happen to someone convicted of a Class 1
misdemeanor if the Judge “throw the book at you”:
“A Class 1 Misdemeanor and punishable by [up to] a $2,500 fine, [up
to] 12 months in jail, and up to 100 hrs. of community service.”
VIRGINIA TECH ALCOHOL LAWS
http://www.alcohol.vt.edu/Policies/virginiaLaws.htm
“Does a Virginia judge have the authority to suspend/revoke my Florida
license?”
Yes. As mentioned previously in you question here:
http://answers.google.com/answers/main?cmd=threadview&id=241130
…interstate compact laws provide for this authority. If the Virginia
Judge rules you license is to be suspended, Florida will honor that
decision and suspend your Florida license.
INTERSTATE COMPACTS
http://www.criminaldefensedenver.com/interstatecompact.htm
DEFINING COMPACTS: JURISDICTIONAL AGREEMENTS
http://www.aamva.org/drivers/mnu_drvCompacts.asp
DRIVER LICENSE COMPACT (DLC)
http://www.aamva.org/drivers/drv_compactsDLC.asp
NONRESIDENT VIOLATOR COMPACT (NRVC)
http://www.aamva.org/drivers/drv_compactsNRVC.asp
“Also, would I ask that I attend a driving class in Virginia or
Florida?”
I would definitely ask to attend a defensive driving school in locally
in Florida if that is where you will be living (these are sometimes
called “Traffic Schools” or “Ticket Schools”). You should be able to
send proof of compliance to the Virginia court by mailing your
certificate of completion to them via standard postal mail.
Search: “defensive driving” Florida
“When appearing before the judge, are you able to state your case
before the plea or would I plea not guilty to the charge then
explain?”
This is difficult to answer and depends largely upon the Judge. In
some cases you can meet with the Prosecuting Attorney just before your
hearing and make the arrangements with him/her. The Prosecutor will
then be the one to advise the Judge of the agreement and indicate that
he/she is in favor of it. This is sort of a “plea bargain” between you
and the Prosecutor. On the other hand, if you enter a not guilty plea,
the Judge may have you return on another day for a hearing on the
matter. On the other hand, you can plea no contest, meaning you do not
admit guilt but will not fight the state’s position that you violated
the law, then ask for a special arrangement such as defensive driving
school. Unfortunately, I cannot, by policy, advise you which route is
best for you to take. Finally, if you enter a guilt plea, you may be
able to ask the judge if you can make a statement, at which time you
can ask the Judge if he/she would be in favor of a defensive driving
course in lieu of a conviction. But by pleading guilty you are
admitting your guilt run the risk of being convicted of the offense if
the Judge decides against the plea bargain you propose.
“Also, if he does not offer to reduce any of the charges can I plea
not guilty then obtain the services of an attorney?”
The Judge will not “offer to reduce the charges”. He/she might see fit
to “nol pros” your case if you humbly request it and then comply with
the instructions (such as a defensive driving school) but this only
happens after you provide proof that you have complied. The court
reserves the right to convict you of the offense for up to one year –
but the upshot here is that it should not appear on your driving
record until such time as you are convicted.
I hope this clarifies my answer for you. I look forward to your rating
and your future questions.
Regards;
Tutuzdad-ga
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