Charlotte DWI Lawyer Brad Smith answers the question: “Can I represent myself on a traffic ticket?”
With North Carolina’s court functions frozen by the coronavirus pandemic and Supreme Court Chief Justice Cheri Beasley announcing that local courts would not resume normal functioning for at least “several months,” what happens if you miss your court date for a traffic violation during the COVID-19 pandemic?
Charlotte DWI Lawyer Brad Smith answers the question: “Can I represent myself on a traffic ticket?”
A hit-and-run is a serious offense in North Carolina. Depending on how severe the victim’s injury is, the fleeing driver may be charged with a misdemeanor or felony. The at-fault motorist who fled the scene is more likely to be charged with a felony if the victim sustained life-threatening injuries or died as a result of the collision. In North Carolina, a felony may involve jail time for the offender.
Charlotte DWI Lawyer Brad Smith answers the question: “What am I obligated to do if I’ve been pulled for Drinking and Driving?”
Most of the time, a person’s only interaction with law enforcement is during a routine traffic stop. It is not unusual to have a cop pull you over at least once during your lifetime, whether justified or not. Traffic violations are relatively tame on the spectrum of criminal activity, but did you know that you have certain rights in North Carolina that are inalienable no matter the circumstance?
Charlotte DWI Lawyer Brad Smith answers the question: “Can the police search my car without a warrant?”
The Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit recently ruled on a case challenging parking enforcement practices of putting chalk on a vehicle’s tire so that they can keep track of how long a vehicle has been parked in one spot. The court found that marking the tires was a search under the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution. This case started in Saginaw, Michigan.
Charlotte Criminal Lawyer Brad Smith answers the question: “If I have an outstanding warrant, what should I do?”
What started as an ordinary traffic stop turned into a felony charge for one North Carolina man. Keith Sellars was driving home from dinner when he was pulled over by a cop for running a red light. While the cop was running Sellars’s license and conducting a background check, it became evident that there was a warrant out for Sellars’s arrest, according to the New York Times.
Charlotte Criminal Lawyer Brad Smith answers the question: “Can I be arrested without evidence against me?”
When most people think about their last interaction with a police officer it almost always involves a traffic stop. A person was speeding or not wearing a seat belt or ran a red light or was talking on a cellphone and a cop does what cops do and pulls the person over. This traffic stop can serve as a window to other, potentially more serious things. For instance, the cop could use the traffic infraction as an excuse to investigate other, potentially unrelated, crimes. In some especially tragic instances, the traffic stop can prove deadly, with officers engaging in violence.
Charlotte DWI Lawyer Brad Smith answers the question: “Can I represent myself on a traffic ticket?”
It’s something that’s become increasingly common in recent years, signs warning that drivers are under remote surveillance and can be fined for a variety of bad behaviors, including speeding or running red lights. If and when such a fine occurs, most people open their mail and send in a check, quickly dispensing with the issue and avoiding needless hassle. Thankfully, one law professor in Maryland decided to take a different approach and fought his traffic violation. His story, published on Quartz, is an interesting one and raises some serious concerns about the legal validity of the traffic camera system that so many jurisdictions have so warmly embraced.
Charlotte Criminal Lawyer Brad Smith answers the question: “What is the difference between a misdemeanor and a felony?”
After a plot straight from the popular sitcom Seinfeld went awry, a Michigan man is facing five (5) years in prison for a felony count of beverage return of non-refundable bottles.
Charlotte DWI and Criminal Defense Attorney J. Bradley Smith of Arnold & Smith, PLLC answers the question “Can the police search my car without a warrant?”
At around 2:00 p.m. on the afternoon of February 21, Natali Castellanos-Tyler, a 30-year-old married mother of two small children, was driving home from a birthday party in her 2002 Ford Explorer. Castellanos-Tyler’s three-year-old daughter, Elisa, was riding in a back passenger seat.
Charlotte DWI and Criminal Defense Attorney J. Bradley Smith of Arnold & Smith, PLLC answers the question “What am I obligated to do if I’ve been pulled for Drinking and Driving?”
The United States Supreme Court is comprised of nine judges whose legal educations began at either Harvard or Yale. With the exception of Ruth Bader Ginsburg—who transferred to Columbia University School of Law—all nine obtained their law degrees from Harvard or Yale.
The (alleged) hoity-toity backgrounds of the justices—underscored in a January 22, 2015 Washington Post piece—came into laser focus in oral arguments in Rodriguez v. United States, according to Bloomberg News.
The issue in Rodriguez was whether police can use a dog to sniff for drugs around a vehicle during a routine traffic stop. Harvard Law Professor Noah Feldman, who observed the arguments, suggested the “browbeating… conservatives” and “assist[ing]… liberals” on the court, through their questioning of lawyers for Rodriguez and the United States, revealed their ideological divides.
Those divides—and who the justices are—both Bloomberg and the Post suggested, are important issues that sometimes define and nearly always, at least, inform their decisions.
With respect to traffic stops, at least a few of the justices—unlike many high-profile political leaders who use professional drivers and have not driven a car in decades—actually have experience with roadway traffic. In 2011, Justice Antonin Scalia was cited after rear-ending a vehicle on George Washington Memorial Parkway. Justice Stephen Breyer was hit by a car while biking in 1993, proving he has at least had contact with an automobile.
Charlotte Criminal Lawyer Blog