Legal Question in Traffic Law in California

7-11-1 .. All traffic was stopped at a Sobriety Check-point in Orange County, CA. While I had not been drinking, I was issued a Citation for a 2mo expired Drivers License. My 5yr license had epired on my x-day 4-30-11.

I have been to the Court House to schedule a Court date and was informed that my case number isnt in their system yet .. that my case isn't on calender yet.

I have been going online every 3wks for 10mos now to check on my Case Number & it's still NOT in their system .. (their notice : Cases set more than six weeks in the future will not display).

My question is : How do I know if the Officer even submitted my Citation ? There were about 15 officers involved. Myself & the 3 or 4 Officers that were checking me out were getting along fine as they were asking me questians about my Rare Show Car.

I just wondered if the Officer like me so much that He voided or threw my ticket away.

It is a little inconvenient having to remember to continually check on my status. It is also a mental exercise that I would rather not have.

Would it do me any good to go to the Police Dept. that the Officer is dispatched from & inquire of their records concerning my ticket? I'd rather not "rock the boat" if I don't have to.

Thank You for any informative response !

Victor


Asked on 5/17/12, 5:15 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Joe Dane Law Office of Joe Dane

As much as I'd like to hope it got lost (it does happen), they usually track them fairly well. Your case may be sitting in the DA's office waiting to be logged into the system or "under review" by one of the DAs.

If your citation was for an infraction and you made your court appearance without anything being filed, you may well be home free. Driving on an expired license is under Vehicle Code 12500 and it can be either an infraction or a misdemeanor. Your case may have been submitted as a misdemeanor to the Orange County DA. If that's the case and they do decide to file charges against you, they will (99% of the time) mail a letter to the address listed on the citation and/or in the report notifying you that charges have been filed and giving you a date to appear. You can check online occasionally to see if it shows up. The letter usually gives you a court date 4-6 weeks from the date of the letter, so checking once a month should be sufficient.

I agree - don't call the police to check on your ticket. That could prompt somebody to find it. Why help them file charges against you? If it goes beyond a year, then no charges can be filed as it will be beyond the statute of limitations.

When you're searching, keep in mind that there can be clerical errors. They may have input the case number/citation number incorrectly, so you can search by your name, driver's license number, etc. Check several ways to be sure.

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Answered on 5/17/12, 5:54 pm


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