Need advice for virginia law quick!!!!!!!

[macdaddy]

I just moved to PA, but have a total of 3 charges of driving on suspended in Virginia (due to unpaid ticket fines) all 2 were dismissed because i complied with law... this third driving on suspended i have trial for tomorrow, along with a trial after that which is for failing to complete 16 hours of community service for missing court (honest mistake) my the second driving on suspended. While i am living in PA, they never gave me a time to complete the community service... they were actually very kind.. but 2 months later they kick in the door of my old virginia address with my old roomates still living there. searched the house and held him at gun point until ID was proven. What I don't understand, is why they went to my old address when I already changed my address with the court and the court services to my current PA address.. I never even got a letter in the mail about the court dates or my license was suspended again. Court is Tomorrow morning.. I have no money for an attorney, barely enough $ to get down to Staunton, VA and cant get a public defender because I "make too much money." But i Now have a valid Pennsylvania license if that helps anything... maybe I'm wrong about some of my understanding of the law here. I really need some feedback guys. But kicking in a door for failure to complete 16 hours of comm service after 1 month??? help...... advice?

[greg72982]

This story is like Swiss cheese to me. While I can't comment on VA procedure I highly doubt they would kick down your door and hold people at gunpoint over a warrant for driving under suspension. One of the VA officers on here may be able to tell you different.

As for the PA license, you would not be able to get it if you are suspended in another state. That said if you dont show up tomorrow you may become suspended in VA and in that case you could expect your PA license to become suspended.

[macdaddy]

I already have a valid PA license. I moved months ago. I don't think they kicked down the door, I believe my old roomate was exaggerating. But they entered.. and it was a warrant because i hadnt completed my community service in two months

[macdaddy]

with no lawyer.. I got a bad feeling about all this.. Can VA enfore PA law? My license was surrendered to VA PD when i turned myself in, then got it reinstated so i could get my PA license. What should I do?

[greg72982]

You can't avoid court. You did the right thing by giving them your new address however you HAVE to take care of this pending charge because I promise you it will not go away. If you don't think you can make it tomorrow call right now and see about getting the case continued, if VA allows that. If not you can depend on yet another warrant and, as I said, most likely another license suspension.

To me you don't need an attorney for a case like this, it would be a waste of money. These cases are generally easy to prove from a LE perspective and your pattern of failing to show up may not weigh too well with the judge. That said it is your right and the case may be more complicated then what you stated here.

VA can't enforce PA law but they can notify PennDOT you were suspended there and PA will then suspend your PA license also.

[macdaddy]

I'll definitely be there tomorrow, I'm just worried about the habitual offender stuff because it's now my third driving without a license. I've only missed court once in my life, and they were cool about it they just rescheduled, and the i got that 16 hours community service for failing to appear that day. But the driving on suspended in VA was dismissed because I had it reinstated in VA before that court date... and i got it reinstated again last week, then got my PA license, I no longer live in VA. So they can't suspend a valid PA license if they want to right? Should I bring my old roomate with me to testify?

[cntryboy0531]

DMV offices talk with other offices from other states. If you do something in one state worthy of a DL Suspension, they will notify the other state, and have your other DL suspended. Can't run from the system, we're organized and keep records.

[macdaddy]

It's f**king bull****, but yeah true. They love their money too.. DL reinstatements are rising and rising...

[cntryboy0531]

It's f**king bull****, but yeah true. They love their money too.. DL reinstatements are rising and rising...

No, it's not BS. DL Reinstatements are exspensive for a reason, to make you quit doing things that would get your DL Suspended. The best thing you can do is to avoid getting it suspended in the first place, which would save you the time, legal issues, and money. I leave you with this advice from Jim Carey...

[GoDirectly2Jail]

I'm a little late to this party, but the info you have received to this point is basically correct. If I have followed everything correctly, tomorrow's court is simply for driving while suspended. You also mentioned that you are worried about habitual offender status, and that is a determination that the court will have to make based on the charges you still face. I can say that PennDOT and VaDMV do communicate, but sometimes it takes a few weeks/months. If you are suspended in VA, it WILL eventually filter up to PA and your new license will be suspended as well.

No, the bigger deal is if they came looking at your old address for your failure to complete community service, it is likely that the court has issued a capias for you. If that is the case, be prepared to be taken into custody for your disregard of the court's instructions on community service.

That you received 'no call' on where or how to complete that service is of little consequence - you knew you had to do it, you should have taken the initiative to contact whomever to get it taken care of, and the proper paperwork back to the court to prove completion.

[mcsap]

You may well be fortunate. In PA , you dont get any credit for getting your license restored but you got caught the week before with a suspended license. If you dont PROPERLY take care of this , VA will notify PA and you will become suspended in PA.

And PA wont re-instate you unless you make VA happy. You could also be in warm water if you didn't tell PA DMV that you were suspended when you got your PA license.

And PA charges $50 to restore a suspended license. I would pay CLOSE attention to both VA and PA until this matter is CLEARED UP.

[Darin]

You would get 10 days in jail in my court system for 3rd offense driving suspended. I don't know how you got a PA ol when your VA ol is suspended.