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You are here: Experts > News/Issues > Crime/Punishment > Criminal Law > Appeal for a Class 1 Misdemeanor Driving on a Suspended
Criminal Law - Appeal for a Class 1 Misdemeanor Driving on a Suspended
Expert: Robin Sexton - 11/5/2009
Question
My driver's license was suspended due to a lapse in insurance. I was pulled over 2x the first time I was notified of the suspension (which I was unaware of) and the second time I made the mistake of driving myself to the DMV to fix the issue and got pulled over around the corner from the DMV. My car was towed and I walked to the DMV and fixed the problem. My crime is driving on a suspended with notice. The public defender assigned to me didn't give me the time of day to ask questions and I was not given an opportunity to speak in trial. I wanted to explain my case to the judge. I was given a $200 fine and 30 days in jail suspended. My biggest worry is that I am a teacher and I don't want to have this affect my ability to find employment in the public sector. I want to appeal to see if the judge would reduce the sentence (remove the jail time). What should I do as I don't feel that my lawyer was fighting for me.
Answer
Emily,
I do understand your concerns about this. Normally suspended driving is considered a traffic offense and kind of quasi criminal. Unless you were fingerprinted it should not show up on a criminal history check but would show on a drivers record. The 30 days suspended means that all though there was a 30 day potential the judge has suspended that part of the sentence. So there is no jail. Your penalty was a 200 dollar fine and probably some points on your license. Your attorney didn't really do you to badly, he should have communicated with you better.
Hope this helps
robin
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