Misdemeanor Driving After Revocation and No Insurance
Three Driving after Revocation, No Insurance
In January of 2015 my client was charged with a Driving after Revocation and No Insurance in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She was approached by police for not signaling a turn.
Facts
Client was approached by police after she allegedly failed to signal a turn. When the officer’s questioned her and ran her driver’s license it was discovered that she had pending warrants for not appearing in court for several other offenses. It was also determined that her license was suspended for not having insurance and failure to appear for previous cases. She was arrested and brought to jail and ordered to post bail to get released. She was transported downtown and held overnight and then released on bail. Client was charged with a Driving after Revocation and she had three additional charges of driving after revocation and driving without insurance all of which are punishable by a maximum penalty of 90 days in jail and/or a $1000 fine.
Case Review
After reviewing all of the reports in all of the cases it was determined that she was driving her vehicle without a valid driver’s license on three different instances and without valid insurance. To her credit she currently had valid insurance and upon my instruction went through the steps to obtain a valid driver’s license. Unfortunately she had accumulated several of these offenses and her license was invalid at the time of the stop. It was determined that she did not have a defense for challenging the offenses of driving after revocation and no insurance from several different dates. Based on the facts it was clear that the officer(s) had a reasonable suspicion to stop her vehicle and to charge.
My client was currently driving with valid insurance and we were able to show that she had valid insurance for an earlier charge by verifying with her insurance agency. She also was proactive and went through the steps from Department of Public Safety to get her driver’s license reinstated. This did not excuse or provide a defense for her charges but it showed good faith to the prosecutor.
Resolution
After diligent review of her driving record and some background research I was able to prove and verify that my client had valid insurance for two of the offenses and get them dismissed. Furthermore, by being proactive and instructing and encouraging her to go through the arduous steps required to reinstate her driver’s license garnered the good faith needed to persuade the prosecutor to agree to an agreement where the case would be dismissed if she does not receive another driver’s license violation in the next year. She did not serve any jail time nor have to perform or complete any community service or sentence to service.
This was critical because if convicted her driver’s license would have been revoked again for a long period of time. With this result her license remained intact and she did not get a conviction on her record. Furthermore, I was able to get the other cases that she had warrants on dismissed. I was able to convince the prosecutor that she had worked hard to reestablish her valid driver’s license and the consequences would be too severe at this point should she be convicted.
By paying forward and working hard in advance of our court dates allowed for amazing results. We were able to prove and verifying a credible relationship with the prosecutor and sculpt a resolution to satisfy the concerns of the prosecution and judge while allowing my client to maintain her driver’s license and not serve jail time or perform community service.
Impact
My client was extremely satisfied and appreciative with the resolutions. The resolution (s) allowed a young woman to continue driving without interruption, have no convictions placed on her license or criminal records and have two of the cases totally dismissed. It is imperative to get to know your client’s background and do the required research to determine if there are any defenses to the cases and if there is any way to show proof that a crime was not committed. The prosecution and court are oftentimes willing to be creative when a client shows good faith and has taken proactive steps to show that they have attempted to remedy their dilemma.
Caveat
Most clients don’t realize that by pleading to a driving after revocation, driving after suspension, driving after cancellation or no insurance or no proof of insurance offense your license is revoked. The length of the revocation is based on the number of prior offenses within a certain amount of time. Paying a citation is just like pleading guilty to the charge or charges and the conviction will have the effect of revoking your license with the Department of Public Safety. It is imperative to contact an attorney immediately upon getting one of these type of offenses to determine whether it is possible to resolve the case so your license is not effected and your don’t get a criminal conviction on your record.
Thank You for Considering Anderson Law Office
Please contact Scott L. Anderson, or e-mail him at andersonlaw@att.net.
