Legal Question in Legal Ethics in California
I have a red light camera ticket which I never even realized I got, for a right hand turn on a red arrow; but I never opened my mail to know I had gotten it until AFTER my deadline to pay or appear. My own fault for not opening my mail, but what concerns me is I was driving on a suspended license (suspended due to a DUI 3-4 years ago); I had completed all court requirements, but just never renewed my dirver's license due to extreme cost. I recently was arrested for ANOTHER DUI (low BAC, no property damage, injury or accident) which was compunded by my suspended driver's license. I was surprised, nothing has yet to come up regarding the red light ticket given that the deadline for failure to appear was 7 1/2 months ago; nothing regarding it has come up either in my background check for the recent DUI, nor those performed personally, and one performed annually by my employer. Given the seriousness of my current DUI repeat offense (still not araigned, coming in Septmeber) I am worried that the red light ticket will eventually be the proverbial "other shoe that drops", and compound my current legal situation. Unfortunately, I have no real information about the red light ticket other than a citation number, and before I go "wake a sleeping dog", I want to know if I should disclose this to my professional licensing board.(I am a Health Care professional)? I am required to report the DUI of course, but do not want to add insult to injury by mentioning the red light ticket if it is going to some how continue to fall thru the cracks. Should I go to the local police station & request additional information on the alleged offense (again, I never even knew I had gotten it, nor realized if any cameras went off) or is it possible I'll be arrested right then when I inquire & draw attention to the matter? On background checks nothing currently shows up, (such as failure to appear, bench warrant, etc), but I am living in fear of this other shoe finally dropping, and would like to obtain additional information about the citation (i.e. time of day it occurred). Can I go to the police station & request info, or is that too risky? And should I report the red light ticket to my professional license board when I notify them of this curent DUI; or keep it to myself for now? Any suggestions or advice any one can provide is greatly appreciated.
1 Answer from Attorneys
First of all, this is not the appropriate category for this question. This category concerns the laws and rules governing the ethical practice of licensed attorneys in California. Your post would be better suited for the category of criminal law.
Second, I would suggest that you simply pay the red light ticket, and not make a big deal of it.
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