|
Home > Orlando Criminal Defense > Driving on a Suspended License
:: Driving on a Suspended License (DWLS)
Driving on a suspended, revoked, canceled or disqualified license (DWLS) is probably one of the most common criminal charges in the Florida criminal court system. With millions of residents and countless reasons for which your license can be suspended, the Florida legislature has insured that the court system and Florida jails will be filled with unlicensed drivers. However, the elevation to a third degree felony upon a third conviction and the possibility that a person can lose his license for five years under the Habitual Traffic Offender Statute makes Driving on a Suspended License a criminal charge that must be fought vigorously.
Essentially there are three elements to the charge of DWLS2. They are:
- Your license was suspended at the time of the offense,
- You knew of the suspension, and
- You were driving a motor vehicle on the highways of the State of Florida.
To elevate the charge a first-degree misdemeanor the State would also have to prove a prior conviction of the same charge and to raise it to the level of a third-degree felony the State would have to prove the existence of two prior convictions.
:: Defending the Charge of Driving on a Suspended License
Proving that your license was suspended is the least susceptible element to attack and the easiest to prove for the State. To prove that a your license was suspended, the State need only introduce a certified copy of your driving record from the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (DHSMV). However, there are always certain instances where the DMV makes a mistake in its record keeping and incorrectly shows a license as being suspended. And under no circumstances should an erroneous driving record that falsely reflects the status of a client's driving record be the basis for a DWLS conviction.
The element of knowledge is one of the most important and most litigated issues surrounding the charge of Driving on a Suspended License. In the absence of an admission, the plain language of the Driver License statute requires the State to prove that the you received notice of the suspension either in Court or by mail. And the only way the State could overcome the "mail" problem and prove that you received notice of the suspension would be to send notice of suspensions by some form of certified courier, which they rarely do.
Additionally, there is a seldom used administrative disposition of a DWLS, which is probably one of the most underutilized and least understood options in disposing of a DWLS charge. If you are found to qualify, I can enter a plea of no contest on you behalf to the clerk of the court and the Clerk required to enter a withhold of adjudication and court costs if you have a valid license prior to your first court date. More importantly, if adjudication is withheld under this option, it does not count as a conviction. Therefore DMV cannot use a withhold of adjudication under this option as a conviction towards Habitual Traffic Offender status.
As the legislature constantly makes the suspension of a client's license a penalty for a growing range of offenses unrelated to the ability to drive, the knowledgeable traffic attorney will become increasingly valuable. Moreover, while the ability to drive is described as a privilege by the Florida Legislature, it is in reality a necessity to the twenty-first century American and should be defended as such.
:: Contact Orlando Criminal Attorney Richard Hornsby
Please contact Orlando Criminal Attorney Richard Hornsby 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, if you or a loved one have been charged with driving on a suspended license or a related offense. Mr. Hornsby is available any time, day or night, to advise you of the proper course of action to take. The initial consultation is free and Mr. Hornsby will respond promptly to provide you with the criminal representation you deserve.
Home > Orlando Criminal Defense > Driving on a Suspended License
|
