Defending against Prince William County driving with a suspended license charges can be an intimidating and complicated process. Someone who has been accused of such an offense should speak with a diligent traffic attorney. They could look over the different aspects of a person’s case and work formulate a credible legal defense. Call today and set up a time for a consultation to start reviewing your potential legal options.
There are notable potential penalties for driving while suspended charges beyond the punishments that could be imposed by courts. At the outset, if a driver was suspended for DUI, a refusal to submit to an alcohol breath test, or a habitual offender designation, their vehicle typically will be impounded for 90 days after their arrest, and the cost of the impoundment will be charged to the person as well.
If a person who is suspended is pulled over and there is no one else in the vehicle that can drive it away from scene, the vehicle will also be ordered towed by the police officer. Driving while suspended is a misdemeanor that will stay on a person’s criminal record forever and will stay on their driving record for 11 years.
It also carries six demerit points with the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicle (“DMV”), which will automatically result in someone having a negative total point balance since the maximum positive point balance possible in Virginia is positive five. As a result, an accused person may want to partner with a credible attorney to start fighting Prince William County driving with a suspended license charges.
Defenses to the actual elements of driving while suspended charge are less frequent than mitigation strategies or reducing the level of the sentence of the charge, despite the legal merits. The notice elements of driving on a suspended charge is sometimes vulnerable to a technical attack based on what the person’s driving record actually shows in terms of dates addresses and code sections.
This also has significance for challenging the validity of prior licensing offenses if those are relevant to an enhanced punishment. Less frequently, a person will have a basis for challenging that they were actually driving a motor vehicle on a public highway, such as a situation where the accused was merely in the driver’s seat of a stationary vehicle on private property or in places like store parking lots. There is an exception to driving on suspended charge for mopeds as well as powered bicycles and electric wheelchairs.
Another uncommon challenge to driving while suspended charges is that the officers did not have enough justification to stop the vehicle in the first place based on allegedly observed driving behavior. Finally, if the officer, the court, or the Department of Motor Vehicle (“DMV”) are mistaken about a person actually being suspended at the time of the traffic stop, disproving the validity of the alleged suspension may substantially help a person’s case.
A driving while suspended or revoked charge can be a deceptively serious case depending on the surrounding circumstances. They are also convictions that can be really inconvenient to a driver outside of the court system after the case is over, and they almost always make future licensing charges worse in the event that someone runs into trouble again. In addition to the fact that driving while suspended charges are generally criminal misdemeanors, it is important to consider contacting an attorney.
Whatever the circumstances surrounding your driving while suspended charges may be, it is highly encouraged to seek legal counsel. They could assist in explaining the intricacies of fighting Prince William County driving with a suspended license charges. Reach out today and schedule an appointment to begin evaluating your potential legal strategies.
Do not send us confidential information related to you or your company until you speak with one of our attorneys and get authorization to send that information to us.