Legal Question in Criminal Law in Florida

my drivers license was suspended due to a case of mistaken idenity. my sister hit a vehicle inside the apartment complex that i lived at and then she left the scene of the accident. someone that had seen her thought it was me. so when the cop arrived on the scene someone gave him my name and address. and at that time the officer had started issuing tickets in my name(keep in mind that the whole time all this was happening i knew absolutly nothing about anything that is happening at this point i didnt even know about the tickets the cop was writing.) and i guess a few minutes later the officer got a call that they had found the car and driver that had hit the vehicle inside the apartments, where i live. so the officer went to the place that my sister had gotten pulled over at. he wrote her out tickets for the vehicle she hit at the apartments and he wrote her out a few other tickets,my sister ended up in jail and anyway she got a lawyer and her case was settled. her insurance covered the vehile she hit. and then in march of this year i found out my D.L was suspended when i go to the courthouse to find out why they said it was b/c of an accident i had gotten into about a year ago and some unpaid tickets. turns out they were the tickets the cop wrote out when they thought i was at fault for the accident. i ended up having to go to court and the state dropped it. but know i have to pay to get my D.L reinstated i had to pay for a public defender, there where a couple days of work i missed because i couldnt drive. its been very stressful and i am a single mom with 3 kids i dont have the money to pay for all the stuff they (the court system). didnt fix like having my license reinstated late fees for a court date i didnt know about until a year later. DO I HAVE A CASE AGAINST THE OFFICER OR ANYBODY FOR HAVING TO GO THROUGH ALL OF THIS?


Asked on 5/22/12, 10:47 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Craig Epifanio Craig Epifanio, P.A.

You need to talk to a civil rights lawyer about this. My guess is that you don't have a case because the police and courts enjoy some sovereign immunity; furthermore, the first officer could have reasonably relied on the mistake, although that may be a question for a jury. That is why it is important you talk to a civil rights lawyer and not a criminal lawyer.

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Answered on 5/23/12, 9:51 am


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