Legal Question in Criminal Law in Florida

Re: vob

Your maximum jail exposure for the VOP is whatever the maximum is for the charge which placed you on probation. As far as the DWLSR charge, it depends on your driving record and prior criminal record and why your license is suspended. If charged as a second degree misdemeanor, the max. jail is 60 days, first degree misd. is up to 1 year and 3rd degree felony up to 5 years prison. Good Luck.

Re: vob

In terms of punishment it is difficult to say. I would need to know what you were on probation for. But what happens is that the potential maximum sentence that you were facing on the probation case comes back into the picture. This comes in addition to the potential punishment for the new incident.

My office is here in South Florida.

Give me a ring if you would like to chat further.

Good luck,

-Leland 888.524.2424

Re: vob

It all depends. Driving while license suspended can be charged as either a civil infraction or a criminal offense. If it was written up by the police as a criminal offense under section 322.34(2), then the potential punishment has a number of ranges depending on how many prior driving on suspended license charges that you have. A first time offense is punishable by up to 60 days in jail and a $500 fine, a second up to 1 year in jail and a $1000 fine, both of which are misdemeanors. A third time can be charged as a felony.

Also, the punishment can depend on what the suspension is from. If a person is on a suspension for being what Florida calls a habitual traffic offender, then the punishment could be a felony in that instance as well.

Violation of probation is another matter. If a court finds a person willfully and substantially violated his probation, that person can be subjected to a penalty up to the statutory maximum for whatever the charge was that caused the probation in the first place.

As a word of caution, a person that is on probation and allegedly commits a new law offense will likely trigger a violation of probation affidavit being signed by the judge on the case. If this happens, a warrant for the persons arrest can be issued, and once picked up, a bond motion will likely have to be brought to attempt to get a bond on the VOP.

Also, keep in mind that any admission of guilt as to a new law violation committed while on probation can have adverse consequences as to the VOP. It is best to contact a skilled criminal defense attorney to help resolve your issues.