Did you receive a citation to appear in Mecklenburg County Courtroom 1130? Courtroom 1130, also referred to as first appearance court, is an administrative criminal court that handles misdemeanor and traffic cases. There are no trials held in this courtroom. Instead, this is where many cases are handled before they are required to go to district court. To handle the high volume of misdemeanor and traffic cases in Mecklenburg County, the state attempts to do the following in courtroom 1130: 1. Reduce traffic tickets at the discretion of an assistant district attorney 2. Accept pleas of guilty 3. Set trial dates when the defendant pleads not guilty 4. Advises defendants of their rights to a court appoint attorney 5. Provides defendants with options for enrollment in diversion programs such as defensive driving school, drug education school, deferred prosecution, worthless check program, and the dispute settlement program. If you have received a citation and are required to appear in courtroom 1130, it is highly advisable that you seek the assistance of a criminal defense attorney. If you would like to schedule a free consultation with a criminal defense attorney, please contact Adkins Law. Adkins Law is located in Huntersville and primarily serves Mecklenburg County and the greater Charlotte area. Did you get a traffic ticket in Mecklenburg County? Traffic tickets, especially moving violations such as speeding tickets, can be very expensive. The true cost of your traffic ticket is much more than your fine. Not only will you be assessed court costs, which are way more expensive that the fine itself, but your insurance rates will typically increase. If you get a speeding ticket in Mecklenburg County, you can expect to have points assessed against your insurance. These points are different than the points that are assessed against your driver’s license. Depending on your driving record, a traffic lawyer in Mecklenburg County may be able to have your speeding ticket reduced to a non-moving violation. A non-moving violation, such as improper equipment, prevents your insurance rates from increasing because no points are assessed against your insurance. Although the court costs and fines associated with an improper equipment violation are currently $263.00 in Mecklenburg County, preventing your insurance rates from increasing will save you hundreds of dollars or more over the long term. Plus, this keeps points off your insurance in the case of future traffic violations. If you got a traffic ticket in Mecklenburg County, contact Adkins Law PLLC for a free traffic consultation with a traffic lawyer. Adkins Law is located in Huntersville and primarily serves Huntersville, Cornelius, Davidson, Charlotte, and Mecklenburg County. A review of the top four items that a police officer looks for to initiate a traffic stop in the Huntersville and Lake Norman area. Learn these items and ensure that they are valid and fixed before you drive in Huntersville, Cornelius, Davidson, and the Lake Norman area. OVERVIEW If the police want to stop a vehicle, most times they can find a reason. This may require the police following your for several blocks or miles, but they usually can find a reason. Whether this reason constitutes reasonable suspicion to justify the stop is another matter. In order for the police to legally be able to stop you, they must have at least reasonable suspicion. Some people refer to this as reasonable, articulable suspicion or just simply RS. While the police may have probable cause to stop you, which is a higher standard than reasonable suspicion, all that is required to justify the stop is reasonable suspicion. Without reasonable suspicion for the stop, any evidence seized or arrest made pursuant to the stop is unconstitutional. LICENSE PLATE / TAG When a police officer is behind you in traffic, or even in the close vicinity of your vehicle, it is very possible that they are running your tag. It's kind of like fishing for a police officer: you run enough tags and eventually you are going to get a bite. North Carolina courts have ruled that because license tags are open to public view, a driver has no reasonable expectation of privacy in his tag, and thus a police officer may run your tag without reason. When the officer runs your tag, he enters it into the computer in his vehicle, which determines whether the license plate is current, matches the vehicle, and provides information concerning vehicle inspection. If anything is wrong with the vehicle, the officer is justified in conducting a traffic stop to further investigate. Based on the investigation, the officer may issue a citation or develop probable cause for an arrest. DRIVERS LICENSE Running a license tag will also give an officer information on the registered owner of the vehicle. The officer is made aware of the license status of the registered owner and whether that person has any outstanding warrants. By comparing the description of the registered owner provided by DMV to the description of the person driving the vehicle, the officer is justified in making a traffic stop. Upon investigation, if the driver is determined to be the registered owner with a defective license or warrant, the officer may issue a citation or make an arrest. TRAFFIC VIOLATION If an officer gets behind you and is looking for a reason to initiate a traffic stop, he will probably follow you for a while to see if you violate a traffic law. The officer is usually waiting for you to commit a common traffic violation such as changing lanes without signaling (if you aren't clear to do so), speeding (usually more than 5mph above the posted speed limit), or failing to come to a complete stop at a stop sign. According to the United States Supreme Court, even if the officer wants to make a stop based on a pre-textual basis, as long as the officer has reasonable suspicion to make the stop, the stop is valid. In other words, if an officer thinks you are DWI / DUI and the true reason for his stop is to investigate the DWI, as long as he has some reasonable suspicion to make a traffic stop, the stop will be upheld as valid. VEHICLE EQUIPMENT The big items an officer looks for here are window tint, improper display of tags and license plate stickers, and broken headlights or taillights. An officer may also look for such things as excessively loud mufflers or worn tires. If the officer wants to stop you, he will look hard to find a reason and a defect in your vehicle. CONCLUSION To put it simply, if a police officer wants to make a traffic stop on a vehicle, it is usually pretty easy to find a reason. The officer may have to follow you for a while, but the chances are that you won't be able to drive perfect forever. A lot of courts frown upon officers who follow citizens around looking for a reason to stop them. There is something un-American about following citizens around, interfering with their freedom of movement, and waiting for them to commit a traffic violation. The best thing you can do is ensure that your license, license plate, and vehicle are all valid, updated, and in good order before you drive. When an officer gets behind you and appears to be looking for a reason to initiate a traffic stop, do your best to obey all traffic laws and not to speed. You may want to pull over, park, and walk in a business if the officer appears to be obstructing your freedom of movement and making you nervous. Most police officers are good people and are looking out for your best interests. They're still quick to write you a citation and / or arrest you if they believe you've violated the law. Take precautions to protect yourself! Contact Adkins Law to schedule a free DWI consultation with an DWI lawyer, DUI lawyer, DWI attorney, DUI attorney. Adkins Law is located in Huntersville, North Carolina and primarily serves Huntersville, Cornelius, Davidson, Charlotte, Mecklenburg County, Iredell County, Gaston County, and Cabarrus County. Drinking and driving is NOT illegal; driving while impaired is. It is almost unavoidable to occasionally have a drink in a social setting and drive home afterwards. Understand, however, that driving while impaired is dangerous and may cause you to lose your license, your job, and your reputation. DO NOT ADMIT TO ANYTHING When you are stopped by the police, often times they will ask you if you have been drinking. Almost everyone tells the officer they have had two drinks. While it is never advisable to outright lie to the police, be careful what you admit to! If you tell the police that you had two drinks, you just admitted to drinking before driving. Try to avoid answering questions such as this if a police officer asks you. Instead, try to change the subject or simply do not answer. You do not have to answer the police! Remember, all you are doing when you tell the officer how much alcohol you have consumed before driving is helping the officer build his case against you. If you really have only had one or two drinks, however, and know you aren't impaired, it is probably advisable to answer the officer. DO NOT TAKE ANY STANDARDIZED FIELD SOBRIETY TESTS (SFSTs) Standardized Field Sobriety Tests (SFSTs) are tests which help an officer determine whether a driver is impaired. These tests do not help you! An officer would not waste his time in administering the tests to you if he did not believe that he could get a potential DWI arrest out of it. When you submit to these tests, unless you really are absolutely sober, all you're doing is providing the police with evidence to use against you in court. Be weary before you submit to any SFSTs, you do not have to submit to them! REQUEST A PRE-ARREST TEST In North Carolina, if you are stopped by the police, you have the right to request a police officer take you to submit to a breath test before you are placed under arrest. This is beneficial because if the officer violates your right to take the pre-arrest test, or doesn't follow procedures concerning the pre-arrest test, you may be able to have your DWI charges dropped. Once you request a pre-arrest test, the police officer is supposed to stop what he is doing and transport you (un-arrested, not in handcuffs) to the nearest breath testing facility. There you will have the option to take a pre-arrest breath test before you are placed under arrest. Realistically, because it is so rarely exercised, very few police officers are familiar with the procedures concerning this right and are more likely to violate your rights. AVOID DRIVING This should be the most obvious piece of advice: if you are too intoxicated to drive, do not drive! If you have any questions as to your sobriety, play it safe and get a ride home with a friend or take a cab. Your life, other people's lives, your liberty, your property, your money, and your privilege to drive is not worth the risk! Be careful, be smart, and make good decisions. Contact Adkins Law to schedule a free DWI consultation with an DWI lawyer, DUI lawyer, DWI attorney, DUI attorney. Adkins Law is located in Huntersville, North Carolina and primarily serves Huntersville, Cornelius, Davidson, Charlotte, Mecklenburg County, Iredell County, Gaston County, Cabarrus County, and the Lake Norman area. |
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