I was driving on a suspended license and the court got the paperwork mixed up, what do I do? 7 Answers as of February 17, 2012

You need to do two things: Hire a good criminal defense attorney, and stop driving! You are now looking at time in custody. The courts take very seriously driving on a license suspended for a DUI, and there are mandatory minimum custody requirements if you are convicted, to say nothing of the fact that you are in violation of your DUI probation. A question for you: if this officer knows your license is suspended and sees you driving, would you say that is PC for a stop, friend or foe? You need a good lawyer to help you through this mess. Doubtless, the court will locate the information and will soon learn, if it hasn't already, the whole situation.

Whether the court was right or wrong is not really what's important. The fact that you have two separate driving on a suspended license citations (valid or not) is the real issue that needs to be handled. You clearly have a lot on your plate right now with your pending deployment to Afghanistan. Unfortunately, the criminal court process can often be confusing and frustrating. My suggestion to you is, if possible, hire an experienced criminal defense attorney to represent you. The driving on a suspended license citation due to your DUI carries a potential jail sentence of 10 days upon a first conviction and at least 30 days upon a second or subsequent conviction. Given the potential penalties involved, you should not attempt to handle these two cases on your own.

Since they were two different citations, then at the moment they are likely issued as 2 different cases (unless later consolidated). Also issues with probation violations from the underlying DUI. If the officer had no probable cause to pull you over in one or either case, that can certainly help fight the cases. These 14601 charges are quite serious, particularly for when driving on a suspended license due to a DUI conviction. I would highly recommend that you hire a defense attorney to defend you on both these cases. Further, a privately retained attorney can represent you in court should the matter continue for several hearings while you are in Afghanistan (which is likely).

It is difficult to tell from your facts, exactly what all is going on here. To clarify, until you complete your DUI school DMV will not restore your license. When your license is no longer suspended is up to DMV, not the court. Until DMV restores your license every time you drive you are subject to being charged with driving on a suspended license. If an officer sees you driving and knows you and calls in and is told your license is still suspended he has probable cause to pull you over. Best advice is to seek the help of counsel, whether court appointed or hired. If the matter could drag out close to deployment you can provide your attorney with authority pursuant to Penal Code 977 to appear on your behalf without your presence. However, mostly it sounds like you need to make sure all open cases are calendared at the same time, so that you or your attorney can negotiate with the DA to perhaps have one case dismissed if you plead to the other. Driving on a suspended license post DUI carries a hefty cost (generally $1,500+) plus mandatory jail time (although can usually be done as alternative sentencing such as community service, ankle monitoring, work release, etc.). I first driving on a suspended post DUI (VC 14601.2) is a minimum 10 days in jail. A second is a minimum 30 days. Given your upcoming deployment it would be best to handle your cases soon and get your jail time/alternative sentencing completed so that you can deploy without trouble.

Hire a good lawyer to help you deal with both cases. If they fail to connect the dots, your attorney can have you plead to each separately with less consequences.

It is important to remember that an officer who knows you or knows of you and reasonably believes that you are driving without a license can pull you over. He does not need to see you commit a traffic violation. The other thing to remember is that a clerical error will not generally cause a dismissal or be used by the court to grant a dismissal. You must show that you were injured or put at a disadvantage as a result of the governments actions. The best thing to do right now is to speak with a criminal defense lawyer.

The two cases are being handled separately at this point which means you have to still go on March 27. When there, ask about consolidating the 2 cases. If you hire an attorney, he or she can handle this without your having to be there, which will be necessary if you deploy. On a side note, I thank you for your military service to our country. Some attorneys offer military discounts so you could look for that as well.