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Could Use Assistance Writing Motion to Dismiss on 23 Year Old Case

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  • 07-17-2010, 02:59 AM
    hospicenurse
    Could Use Assistance Writing Motion to Dismiss on 23 Year Old Case
    My question involves criminal law for the state of: Florida

    Hello:
    I am hoping to get some guidance on writing a motion to dismiss- Here is the scenario:

    I was arrested for some bad checks in the late 80's when I was very young. I pleaded no contest, was ordered to pay restitution and court costs, and I also served 4 days in jail. I did as I was told and I moved on with my life.

    You can imagine my surprise when I received a letter last week(general delivery, not registered) stating that I had violated my probation based on one of the checks not being paid-from 1987 (under $30.00) and also not paying court costs. Let me state right here that i most certainly did pay both of those items, I was terrified at the time- However I dragged receipts around with me for years but after 20+ years I no longer have proof of payment. After numerous calls to the court clerk/state atty/check fraud division and sheriff I discovered that there is an active warrant as well.

    At this point I have no problem paying again, however I am in the medical profession and am quite concerned over the ramifications of the warrant/possible arrest and new charges on my background check.

    I placed many phone calls to various depts and the final word is that I was told to write a motion to dismiss letter to the judge, however the court rep also stated that she is not hopeful this will be effective, and when I questioned her on what the next step would be if the motion was denied , she stated she didn't "have any idea"

    f someone would be kind enough to give me an idea how to write this letter I would appreciate it. Is this something that I need to file? It was presented to me that it would be a letter directly to the judge. I also plan on sending copies to the state atty, check fraud dept and anyone else involved. Advice on this would also be welcome-I don't want to make anything worse!

    You know, I pay for my stupidity every time I apply for a job and every time I go back to school for more education-basically any time a background check is done on me. I pay over and over-it is embarrassing and can cetainly mar people's judgement of me. I am hoping that this can be dismissed because new charges after all these years will be career suicide.

    Thank you for any assistance you might give,

    hospicenurse
  • 07-17-2010, 10:34 AM
    mamabear2102003
    Re: Could Use Assistance Writing Motion to Dismiss on 23 Year Old Case
    I did a quick check of Florida laws, and was surprised to find that there is no statute of limitations on a VOP. This would be a technical violation. There are many atty's that offer no/low cost consults to get you started in the right direction.

    Although you may no longer have receipts from that time showing payment of same, is it possible that you still have your court paperwork (most specifically, your last court order releasing you from probation showing that you did follow all the conditions and are now finished)?
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