Legal Question in Traffic Law in New York

Sounds like there is a real probable cause issue here. Police officers may not pull you over without a reasonable basis.

With that said, aggravated unlicensed is a serious charge. It is a crime. You may be charged with thee two separate charges.

Please fax us the front of your ticket (or email us a scan) with your telephone number, and we will call you for a free consultation.

Our goal is to make fighting these tickets easy and un-complicated.

Thanks

Matthew Weiss

212-683-7373

212-726-0135

Police technology has come a very long way in the past 15 to 20 years. Police in Suffolk and Nassau Counties as well as New York City have scanners attached to the bumper of their patrol cars that read license plates and review lists in the data base in the computer installed in each car or over radio frequency reserved for the police that reviews a central data base. If the registered owner of a vehicle's drivers license is suspended, this information will come up with a picture of the owner from their driver's license. They then have a reasonable suspicion to perform a stop and check documents.

This being said, you should get the accusatory documents from court and determine what the pretext for the stop was to see if they followed proper procedure and did not violate any of your rights. To do this effectively you need an attorney who knows criminal and traffic law.

As for the two tickets, 511.2a is Aggravated Unlicensed Operation of a Motor Vehicle (multiple suspensions on different dates) and 509.1 is Unlicensed Operation of a Motor Vehicle. Although these seem the same they have different elements. 509.1 is considered a lesser but included charge of 511.2a but can and usually is charged at the time of arrest in all situations when any 511 level charge is made. Please note that 511.2a is a Misdemeanor, which is a criminal charge. That is very serious.

If I can be of further assistance, please contact my office at 516-746-4747 or [email protected].

Joel R. Salinger

I agree with most of both prior answers. You can be charged with both offenses. The stop may be illegal ,but more information needs to be discovered. That being said , I would suggest you retain a competent criminal defense-traffic offense attorney. I am a former Traffic Court Judge, you may contact my office @7188340087 for a phone consultation.