Legal Question in Criminal Law in Virginia
driving on suspended in virginia
got pulled over for speeding and was
given a ticket for driving on
suspended. was not given a ticket for
the speeding. does the cop have to
prove i was speeding to establish
probable cause to pull me over and
convict for the suspended licence and
if he can't can i get the suspended
charge dissmissed even though it is
actually suspended?
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: driving on suspended in virginia
The cop only has to show that he had a basis to believe you were speeding. If he can't do that then the driving on suspended should be dismissed.
Re: driving on suspended in virginia
YES, he has to have probable cause to pull you over. But that is not the same thing as writing you a ticket for speeding. He can reasonably believe you were speeding, and then choose not to write you a ticket for it. It is also possible that he ran your plates and saw you were suspended and just made up an excuse to stop you. So he might not even believe you were speeding.
But your real question is how can you get past it successfully. The big question is WHY it was suspended. E.g., for a previous DWI or for non-payment of a traffic ticket. Etc.
There are some ways to possibly defeat this, based upon some investigation. A criminal record can be very serious for a very long time (11 years on your license plus 6 points on your license plus having to report it forever). I would recommend consulting with an attorney and be prepared to fight this very seriously.
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