Statute of Limitations on Failure to Appear

**dedly_storm** · 05-02-2006, 05:07 AM

My wife got pulled over 8 years ago driving on a suspended license, the problem was it was suspended in chicago and we lived in florida. I posted bond she got out and the court date was set. She had to get her license taken care of in chicago ( which we did ) so we had to come up with the proceeds to fly her up, pay for legal fees and get back. This consumed some time and we did not make the court date. Since then she had some medical problems and we had 2 more children. She is afraid to go back and apply for a license again as they might pick her up and we are afraid of getting taken for a ride by a non-reputable attorney who might just take money from us to do what we coyuld have done. Can anyone help?

**expertlaw** · 05-02-2006, 06:44 AM

You presently still live in Florida?

If she has a license suspension in Illinois, she would not normally be eligible for a license in Florida until she clears up her Illinois suspension.

If I were you, I would bite the bullet and hire a lawyer in Illinois to try to resolve the outstanding tickets and warrant(s). The statute of limitations stops running when charges are filed - you can't beat a criminal charge by fleeing the jurisdiction after you are charged.

**dedly_storm** · 05-02-2006, 06:49 AM

We did get it cleared up in Illinois, we flew up there, she went to court, they dismissed the charges and we came back. We do currently reside in Florida. But since we never appeared for her hearing we were afraid of what was next or what to do.

**expertlaw** · 05-02-2006, 07:14 AM

What court date are you talking about? If things were resolved in Illinois, there would not be any court dates left in that state.

**dedly_storm** · 05-02-2006, 07:26 AM

In Florida, we never went back to court here in florida after we cleared up her license in Illinois.

After she was arrected her in florida and I bonded her out they set a court date for us to reappear. But she had to have her license taken care of before she could appear in florida. That is when we flew up to Illinois and got her license cleared and we missed the court date back here in Florida to re-appear with the license and never did naything from that point.

**expertlaw** · 05-02-2006, 07:35 AM

Okay... Your initial post made it appear that she was pulled over in Illinois for driving on a suspended license.

The suggestion remains the same - I would bite the bullet, hire a lawyer, and try to resolve the outstanding charge.