Citation In FL; GA MVR Still Reflects Accident

I got a citation for careless driving in Jacksonville , FL on July 3, 2019. I hired an outfit in Washington state, which I obtained from a trucking magazine from a local truckstop, to send a lawyer down there to clear it up. Apparently, it is cleared up in FL, but when I obtained my MVR from GA recently, where I reside, the whole mess is still on there. Been driving over 20 years....can't get hired anywhere. The outfit in Washington won't even return my phone calls regarding this!!! Can anyone advise me what to do? Thank you.

What kind of paperwork do you have that shows that it's cleared up in FL? I would take all that to your DMV.

We have a letter from The Ticket Clinic in FL saying he was cleared in FL. We brought that to our local DDS and they were no help. I need to know the process you have to go thru to get this expunged off my GA driver license. A local attorney said we needed to hire ANOTHER lawyer in Jacksonville. I called 3 local lawyers here in GA and the all say it has to be handled in FL. I am so confused!

We got an "all clear" from the Ticket Clinic in FL....no citation. No points, no adjudication, etc. But appatently, when our home state of GA got wind of it, they gave him 1 point and did not remove the careless driving on his GA MVR. The local DDS told us this has to be dealt with in FLORIDA. We are so confused because we already paid a lawyer in FL to handle this. ?????

I just retired from law enforcement in FL; sorry this is so difficult. If you are able, do this in person: Contact the clerk of court in the county where you got the citation. Explain the dilemma, providing all documentation you have, and ask them to walk you through the solution. Doing this in person allows you to be a "person" to the clerk, not just an annoying voice on the phone. If you can't get a good answer/solution, ask to speak with someone with more experience. Be polite, be nice, keep telling the clerk how much you appreciate their help. Most of those folks are willing to help and will go the extra mile for someone who is pleasant to deal with.

The company/attorney that handled this, should have sent you a copy of the FINAL DISPOSITION of the case.

If you PAID ANYTHING other than the cost of the attorney's services (court costs/etc.) that it wasn't just a summary dismissal.

What does the status in GA actually say - conviction/etc.?

Data would not have been transmitted to GA, until after a final disposition on the case. And if it were dismissed, there should have been nothing to send.

Despite interstate reciprocity on citations, even an "adjudication withheld" in another state - may show up as points/conviction in your home state (depending on how they deal with dispositions like this).

I had a case (non-traffic) in PA - where I asked for an "adjudication withheld", and the magistrate had no idea what I was talking about. He told me it was a "summary offense - like spitting on the sidewalk, less than a misdemeanor.", yet it still shows up on a BG report (and that was a decade ago).

So things may vary from state to state - but if ANYTHING SHOWS UP in GA, then it may not have just been a simple "case dismissed".

My old ticket atty (RIP, great guy), once did an adjudication withheld at the arraignment - told him that's NOT WHAT I'M PAYING YOU FOR. Made him do a change of plea, take it to trial - cop no-showed - case dismissed.

It's difficult for those of us OTR - it's nearly impossible to negotiate out of state incidents. If you don't have some sort of "attorney coverage" already - you're likely better off doing some research and hiring a lawyer LOCALLY. Here in Florida, in busy jurisdictions - ACTUAL JUDGES don't even hear non-criminal traffic cases. "Magistrates" are appointed - and they are just LOCAL LAWYERS. "Good Old Boy System" prevails - they all know each other. You stand a better chance of a favorable outcome - by dealing with LOCAL TALENT.

My $.02...

Rick

Rick,

Where you been? I've been looking for your support in areas that are different than my experience.

Never heard of "adjudication withheld" but it sounds like a "suspended imposition of sentence," which is NOT a conviction, as compared to a "suspended execution of sentence," which IS a conviction, but you don't pay the fines unless you violate the conditions of the SES.

Rick,

Where you been? I've been looking for your support in areas that are different than my experience.

Never heard of "adjudication withheld" but it sounds like a "suspended imposition of sentence," which is NOT a conviction, as compared to a "suspended execution of sentence," which IS a conviction, but you don't pay the fines unless you violate the conditions of the SES.

In florida - you can have a "withheld adjudication" - where there is no finding of guilt. This is usually after a plea of "no contest" (whereby you are neither admitting or denying guilt - simply not contesting the accusation/charge). That being the case, there is NO CONVICTION - but still a record of the charge. In the case of traffic - it WILL SHOW UP on your MVR , just without points (and usually falls off rather quickly). This applies likewise, to CRIMINAL CHARGES (both misdemeanor and felony). It (typically) will NOT AFFECT your car insurance - but for us CDL holders - it looks BAD, even if you're not convicted.

How OTHER STATES that are part of interstate compact/reciprocity deal with this - is UP TO THE HOME STATE OF LICENSURE. They may not recognize an "AW" as such, and still assign a point for an out-of-state case. And the citation may still show up on the home states MVR.

Which is why it is CRITICAL for the OP to get his dispo papers and see what the deal is.

A traffic court can also CONVICT, and not assign points or penalties (at the judges discretion) - but this is NOT THE NORM. Traffic courts in heavily populated jurisdictions have HUNDREDS OF CASES - and look to dispose of the minor (non-criminal, non-injury-accident) cases quickly. But if you TAKE IT TO TRIAL AND LOSE - you will GET HAMMERED. Most traffic attorneys will plead not guilty at arraignment, go to trial and hope the cop no-shows for a dismissal. If the cop shows, they'll cut a deal, rather than

A withheld adjudication is NOT THE SAME AS AN ACQUITTAL OR DISMISSAL - and folks need to understand that. It is "less than" a suspended imposition of sentence - because a CONVICTION is typically part of that disposition in most jurisdictions (if that ALONE is the final dispo), whereas an "adjudication withheld", means there was NO JUDGEMENT (conviction).

I had a DRAG RACING case (motorcycle) that was totally bogus, took it to trial - the magistrate totally screwed the pooch procedurally. She allowed a witness to hear the testimony of the other witness (after I requested to "invoke the rule" as soon as the trial started). So she withheld adjudication, gave me the fine & court costs - no points/no conviction. I was pro se at the time, judges started recognizing me and told me I'd better hire a LAWYER instead of repping myself because they were tired of seeing me.

Getting my CDL slowed me down SIGNIFICANTLY. But I'm pretty well versed in Florida Traffic Law and how the courts operate down here.

As far as my "lack of presence" here. Been real busy with my business and other projects. Being an OBSESSIVE - if I don't have the time to stay on top of the board, I don't really actively post (but I do come on almost daily to see if anything particularly interesting is happening). This post in particular I found interesting, because it's florida and the topic is one I'm pretty familiar with.

Brett and others know how to contact me off-board - and my FB profile is in my personal profile here if anyone needs to reach me. But in keeping with board protocol, you'd have to reach out and tag me into a convo HERE - so everyone can benefit from the information shared.

Rick

Hi everyone...thanks for all the advice. We are just country folk and don't know what all the acronyms mean on your responses. We called a lawyer in Duval Co., FL and he said Duval Co. would not re-open the case without a trial. The GA DDS (where we live) said they can do nothing. I just need a simple response as to what to do so I can get hired somewhere! Need the "careless driving" expunged off the Georgia MVR ..... this happened back on July 3rd of 2019, so I am so frustrated that I am still in this pickle all these months. Thank you in advance for any help in the direction I must go to clear my record.

Dewey,

Please understand the relationship between Florida and Georgia.

You got the citation in Duval County Florida. Duval County Florida controls the outcome of your case there. Duval County or the State of Florida will report the disposition to Georgia.

Georgia simply takes the report from Florida and enters that on your Georgia MVR. To get that citation removed from your Georgia MVR you need to have Florida change the disposition of that case. Rick can help you more with that.

In my experience in Missouri, once the disposition of the Florida case changes, you may need to talk to the clerks both at the Florida court AND at the Georgia DDS. This is because once something is reported, your home state DMV needs to be told very specifically to change how it is reported on your Georgia MVR.

Good luck.