Legal Question in Criminal Law in Pennsylvania

About two months ago i was pulling into the driveway at my fathers house in a van that i had borrowed from my father. A police officer pulled in behind me and asked why the license plate was not mounted in it's proper location. It was mounted on the bumper instead of in the rear door. I explained to him that i didn't know the answer and that the vehicle belonged to my father. He then asked for my license, and this is where i made a mistake. I gave him false information. I gave him my brothers information, he gave me a ticket for not carrying identification. My hope was to pay the small fine and explain it to my brother that i had a suspended license and hope it would all go away. It was close to Christmas and i ended up forgetting about all of this, the court contacted my brother and he denied being there and told them it was me. The police officer then started an investigation and went to my fathers house to ask about this incident, my father explained that it was me and not my brother in the van that day. My question is this...

The officer made several lies on the documents to the judge to arrange the court date.. he stated that i was driving at unsafe speeds, and that i cut someone off while pulling into the driveway. He also claims to have made contact with my brother... this never happened, my brother only contacted the court directly. Can i present this information to the court on the day of my hearing? and will it help me?

I know i made a terrible mistake, and am terrified to find out what the consequences are going to be. Does anyone know what penalties i may face? Also how difficult will it be to get a continuence for the hearing? i have injured myself at work and will be getting surgery..

any and all help is greatly appreciated... thank you.

~Rob


Asked on 2/21/11, 10:15 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Michael Berman Law Offices of Michael A. Berman

You need to have a private consultation with a lawyer and stop posting information that could be used against you in Court.

Yes, this is serious.

Yes, you will eventually need a lawyer. If you don't think you could afford the $500 or so to retain an attorney, you have to get in touch with the local Public Defender.

Driving on a suspended license is a summary offense. You can be sentenced to serve as much as 90 days in jail and will have a fine of at least $100. The judge may also extend your suspension or, depending on the amount of points you have acquired, revoke it altogether. That is why the other tickets need to be aggressively fought.

Ref: 75 Pa.C.S.�1571

In addition to the criminal consequences, you may face problems with auto insurance if and when your license is reinstated. You may be seen as a �high risk� for auto insurance companies and have to deal with high rates or uninsurability.

In short, don't mess around with this any more. If you have any further information you want to discuss privately, my e-mail address is [email protected]. Feel free to contact me.

Mike

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Answered on 2/21/11, 1:52 pm


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