[johobuo]

It's worth a shot.

Take all food with a possibility of spoiling and trash it.

[excivaamome]

It's worth a shot.

Good to hear I'm not nuts in thinking this. The clerk said it's worth a shot too. I just don't want to go there today in case I'm locked up for my birthday. Plus I wanted to get my various affairs in order.

[pKgGpUlF]

If it was me I would get advice from a lawyer immediately.

[MineOffedOvex]

And have bail set aside.

[arraxylap]

I'd also recommend hiring a lawyer, assuming it's a big enough fine to be worth the cost.

It's tough to say what the judge might do since many driving-related cases are in fact civil "remedial" actions by the state rather than criminal fines, and civil judgments are a lot harder to overturn on notice grounds than any criminal cases. It also depends a lot on what state you're in and what the applicable statute says about actual vs. constructive notice.

That said, in general it'd take a real ball-buster of a judge to not dismiss the failure to appear charge if you show up and explain, so long as them having the wrong address wasn't a result of your own neglect. It'd play it safe to assert that there's not yet any personal jurisdiction in particular, since failure to do so has been taken as a waiver in many cases.

FWIW, a search of all reported state-level cases and law reviews nationwide for different combinations of "failure to appear," "failed to appear," "incorrect address," and "wrong address" doesn't bring anything with analogous facts.


EDIT: The closest thing was more about bond than notice, but at least states the bolded proposition:

Cite: 956 So.2d 1292, 32 Fla. L. Weekly D1432

District Court of Appeal of Florida,
Fourth District.
Octavia LEE, Petitioner,
v.
STATE of Florida, Respondent.

No. 4D07-2000.

June 6, 2007.

Petition for writ of habeas corpus to the Circuit Court for the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit, Palm Beach County; Jorge Labarga, Judge; L.T. Case No. 06-10285 CFA02.
Robert Ingham of Murphy & O'Brien, LLC, Miami, for petitioner.

Bill McCollum, Attorney General, Tallahassee, and Melynda L. Melear, Assistant Attorney General, West Palm Beach, for respondent.

PER CURIAM.

Octavia Lee petitions this court for a writ of habeas corpus. She alleges that she is illegally detained without bond. Lee, released on surety bond, failed to appear at a hearing where the state was to file charges and at arraignment because the notices of hearing were sent to an incorrect address. The circuit court ordered a warrant for Lee's arrest and bond forfeiture. Lee then moved to set bond or to reinstate bond. The trial court denied the motion without making any legal or factual findings required pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.132(c)(2).

The state concedes, and we agree, that the trial court improperly denied petitioner's motion to set or reinstate bond without making findings that Lee's failures to appear were willful and that no reasonable bond conditions could secure Lee's presence at trial. Resendes v. Bradshaw, 935 So.2d 19, 20 (Fla. 4th DCA 2006); Johnson v. Jenne, 913 So.2d 740 (Fla. 4th DCA 2005); see also § 907.041(4)(c)1, Fla. Stat. (2006). We therefore grant the petition for writ of habeas corpus, quash the trial court order denying bond, and remand for the court to hold a hearing at which it shall determine whether the failures to appear were willful and if there are any reasonable bond conditions that can assure Lee's presence at trial.


GUNTHER, STONE and FARMER, JJ., concur.


EDIT: Another interesting case shows how constructive notice didn't cut it where it was a defendant notifying the clerk's office, but as always it was totally dependent on the state statute's notice requirements. What state are we talking about here?

Cite: 903 N.E.2d 1065 (Table), 2009 WL 606433 (Ind.App.)

Court of Appeals of Indiana.
Robert T. CUMMINS, Appellant-Defendant,
v.
STATE of Indiana, Appellee-Plaintiff.

No. 42A05-0805-CR-277.

March 9, 2009.

...

On March 14, 2008, Cummins filed a motion to dismiss, alleging that he had to be brought to trial within 180 days of September 4, 2007. A hearing on the motion was held on March 17, 2008. On March 24, 2008, the trial court denied the motion, finding:

...

2. That the Defendant, Robert T. Cummins, failed to properly notify the Knox Superior Court 1 of his request for disposition of his pending criminal charges.

3. That while a representative of the Knox County Prosecutor's Office did pick up the Certified Mail intended for the “Clerk of the Court” on September 4, 2007, the Certified Mail in question was, in fact, sent to the wrong address. The mail in question was sent to the address of the Knox County Prosecutor at 102 N. 7th Street, Vincennes, Indiana, rather than to the Office of the Knox County Clerk at 111 N. 7th Street, Vincennes, Indiana.

4. That while the Court understands and appreciates that a series of unfortunate events prevented the Defendant's notice from reaching the Knox Superior Court 1, the fact remains that the Court was not notified as required by Article 3 of the detainer statute, I .C. 35-33-10-4.

...

[DexOnenlyCymn]

Logically yes.

However the courts are c*nts, so don't expect such an obviously smooth ride. It reminds me of a similar incident in NZ where one day I went into a police station to report that my bike had been stolen only to be told that there was a warrant out for my arrest for failure to appear at a summons over an unpaid parking fine.

About a year or so before my car had been stolen, which I had duly reported. I'd not heard anything else and had moved soon after (the police still had my contact details). Apparently my car had been parked where it proceeded to rack up quite an impressive array of parking tickets which I knew nothing about - not to mention that a simple check on the car would have proved it was stolen.

Anyway my defence was that as the car had been stolen, the tickets were not my fault - check with the police. When checking there was no record of my car having been stolen on their database - they had wiped it! Also proof that I was no longer at the address at the time of the summons also wouldn't wash - I was guilty in their eyes!

Ultimately I remembered that I had needed the police report to prove to the vehicle tax office that the Road Tax sticker I'd been too lazy to stick on my car could be refunded due to the car being stolen and my not needing it any more. THEY still had the proof of the police report that I'd registered the car as stolen - however despite having this proof I STILL had to attend my new court summons!!! Also, despite my clearly open and shut case, I was still made to feel as though it was somehow all my fault - the c*nts!

In the end, apart from being an illogical and bureaucratic waste of my time - as well as taxpayer's money, it was an interesting process as I'd never been to court before...

So, much as you think it is totally obvious that you have absolutely nothing to worry about - they'll probably still try and find a way to do you for it...

Moral of the story: If I hadn't have been too lazy to stick my road tax to the car for at least about two weeks (which in itself is illegal) - I would have been ****ed...

[mvjvz]

I say contact the lawyer immediately

I know professional responsibility rules bind me to make that recommendation, but let's be honest here - is ~$300 of an attorney's time worth it to avoid a ~$50-200 fine (which an economically rational person would discount to even less based on the low probability of its actually accruing)? We're not talking about a murder charge here. Failure to appear in felony cases brings fines into the thousands and/or significant jailtime, but typical failure to appear statutes only fine "not less than" $200 or so for piddly-**** traffic administration. It'd help to know what state this is, but that's the norm.

[fameintatenly]

I say contact the lawyer immediately because some judges look particularly unfavourably on things like "I didn't turn myself in immediately because I didn't want to miss my birthday".

I'm preparing a defense, of course. Calling a lawyer makes a lot of sense.

[Pszinygv]

I know professional responsibility rules bind me to make that recommendation, but let's be honest here - is ~$300 of an attorney's time worth it to avoid a ~$50-200 fine (which an economically rational person would discount to even less based on the low probability of its actually accruing)? We're not talking about a murder charge here. Failure to appear in felony cases brings fines into the thousands and/or significant jailtime, but typical failure to appear statutes only fine "not less than" $200 or so for piddly-**** traffic administration. It'd help to know what state this is, but that's the norm.

Around here at least, having the right lawyer is more important than having the right facts.

You're right in general though about the economics. A lawyer for a suspended license around here starts at $600, while the fine is about $500 plus a bunch of points. My legal strategy is to always appear when summoned, get a continuance for legal counsel, show up the second time without a lawyer, and hope the cop doesn't come.

It's worked once, and failed miserably once. It doesn't really work in this case though.

[blackjackblax]

You don't need a lawyer to make this defense. It's not like you killed your wife and need to find a clever way out. Also, bring a cyanide pill and place it in your mouth or a fingernail in case a harsh sentence comes down or you get gaypounded in your cell.

[dayclaccikere]

Jon Miller

Stop repeating yourself. I have seen the difference that not repeating yourself can make a post much shorter.

You always repeat yourself.

I would say that you seem to repeat yourself.

Jon Miller

JM

Jon Miller

----

Jon Miller IS CANADIAN
JM

[Emalodoulouts]

Jon Miller

Stop repeating yourself. I have seen the difference that not repeating yourself can make a post much shorter.

You always repeat yourself.

I would say that you seem to repeat yourself.

Jon Miller

JM

Jon Miller

----

Jon Miller IS CANADIAN
JM needs moar mispellings.

[goatteatromiag]

Was that a shot at China's HUMAN RIGHTS?

[Shinegayboyx]

Yeah, and paddling your canoe over from Havana will make your arm muscles much bigger and you'll attract even hotter chicks than you will just with the moustache and tan. Win-win.

[Wrencytet]

It's all about perspective. You don't have any expenses in jail.

[Erwtbimp]

So the legal precedent looks like it's all against me. That's very disappointing.

Not exactly; what I meant by "constructive notice" is something sent according to a legal procedure that's considered effective regardless of whether it was received, as opposed to "actual notice." Since the guy in that case couldn't serve the prosecutor & clerk by constructive notice, it might follow that they can't serve you by constructive notice. But again, that all depends on what the local rules allow.

This is all in Maryland.

In that case the statutes aren't too helpful; essentially if driving with a suspended license is considered a criminal charge there then the standard (bolded below) is "fails to appear in court in response to a citation" which doesn't imply much about whether it must be received. If it's considered a "traffic charge" there then apparently the local District Court was supposed to have set a method for you to "acknowledge [the citation's] receipt" (bolded below).

Are you saying you got the citation and just never got the summons, or did you get neither? If you got neither (i.e. the cop just left you with nothing in your hands and suggested something would be coming in the mail), it looks like they didn't comply with § 1-605(d)(10)(ii) and therefore can't say you had statutory notice, but if you got one and not the other, their sending summons that way is totally within the District Court's discretion under § 1-605(d)(11)'s optional language, so it's their local procedure that'd decide how to go about sending it.

As for cases, none in Maryland match your facts or even deal with these statutes; FWIW a DMV notice of suspension need only go to the last known address per § 12-114(a)(2) and cases have held that a wrong address wasn't a defense for people driving with a suspended license, but that doesn't say anything about citations/summons and failure to appear, which might require better notice than that.

Anybody know any good lawyers in the DC area? I won't qualify for a public defender.

This referral service at least seems a tad specialized, but no names:

http://www.maryland-defense-lawyer.c...reToAppear.htm