Some good and some bad legal advice given here. If you are worried about the judge, and I wouldnt blame you being an 18 year old in virginia, get a lawyer. You can get one for a few hundred, check the phone book. Chances are, the attorney will get your case dropped. You can chance it yourself but it depends on what judge you get. I am not sure what part of Virginia you are from, but I have dealt with northern virginia judges on several occassions, however none of them were traffic court judges, and the majority were *******s to me and I am a 26 year old attorney not an 18 year old highschool kid driving a 30k Evolution.

 

your in virginia..... wich is a commenwealth state, so laws are tougher. You were driving on a suspended liscense, and the police officer has proof that you were doing so (by you admitting that you recieved the letter) and still knowingly broke the law. Im not trying to be a dick, but lets just say i know the law pretty well.
Get a laywer.... they just changed the law that driving on a suspended = jail time..... good luck buddy !!

 

i'd say get a lawyer...just in case u get a mean judge...but if u think u can handle mean judge...which doesnt look like from ur post...then jus take everything u can find, all letters, all certificates and everything u can find, and xplain to the judge, and most likely he'll let u off...yea i kno how u feel...i got 4 tickets within last year...in fact 1 just this morning...GRRR...i kno they gonna suspend mine...eh ill go 2 wisconsin n get one from there lol

 

Listen guys, its not the judge he has to worry about RIGHT NOW. Its the DA. The DA or ADA or whoever the hell is handling the matter holds all the cards untill he is convicted or pleads guilty. The Judge will come in AFTER he pleads guilty or is convicted of what the DA charges him with. If the DA downgrades the charges then the judge will sentence him accordingly.

I do deal with traffic court judges every mon. and wed. because I am an ADA. I highly doubt the DA will want to try this thing. You have already fixed the problem, and if where you are is like where I am from, DUS means you dont drive for awhile. Unless the DA is a complete ***, he will not do that to someone who has made the effort to fix the problem. And the charges will not be droped, I can assure you that. But they will be downgraded if you behave yourself, and dont act like a total fool.

Some judges can indeed be asses, but for the most part they will go along with the DA's recomendation, especially in a misdemeanor.

 

well ova in IL itz basically judge who does everything
your file comes to the judge...u xplain urself...the cop xplains himself...and then he makes the desicion or unless he needs more time then he tells u bout nex hearing...well thats hea in IL...idk bout VA

 

You bring up a good point. Where he is from it may be a small city court that handles his matter, but with something like DUS I would hope not. Here in Louisiana, at least in my parish, DUS will come across the DA's office to handle. I would hope that there is a ADA for him to talk to, because I am sure they can work it out. Different states do different things, but I am pretty sure there is an ADA that will pop up somewhere in this saga.

 

thank you everyone for help.
I've read all the replies...
But I still have one question..

I think the first thing the judge asks me is am I guilty or not guilty..
How should I answer?
Guilty? or not guilty?
In fact, I'm worried about this because the judge didn't give me much time to talk about my situation last time when I said, "guilty."

Once again, thank you so much for your helps and advices ..

 

Moving this to the regional forum for VA. Threads in the Evo General forum need to have Evo content. This one has no evo content.


SC~

 

The notice that was sent to you...did it say that you have to be here on such and such day for your ARRAIGNMENT? and if not you will be bench warranted etc. blah blah? If so this is good, because it will give you time to talk to the ADA. (have to be quick he will likely be busy) Tell him your situation and that you now have your stuff together and then politely ask if you can plead to no drivers lisc. on persons. If so jump on it. If not, plead NOT guilty and hire a lawyer.

If he wont play ball, and you plead not guilty they will give you a date to come back for your trial. It will be likely a month or two down the line. But again this is a worst case deal. Best case is he will say yes to no drivers lisc. on persons and then you plead guilty and pay a fine and then get the hell out of there.

 

Just say quilty with explanation. and tell them that you thought you didn't need to go to dmv after you completed the course. now that you got ur license back, it is not a problem at all.


Exactly the samething happened to me in Fairfax.
Just take your license with you and show it to the judge.. nothing will happen. That's what I did and they let me go...

 

If you didnt get pulled over in VA I would say forget the lawyer...but since you DID...spend that 500 or whatever. Plus you dont have to sit through the entire docket (if thats how its spelled) I tried to go to court in Fairfax (not to much of a fair place) county without a lawyer on a silly driving on the shoulder citation...Judge wasnt hearing any of it..

Get the lawyer you dont want any points on your record...