Stop Sign Violation, VC 22450(A)

[HomeAgain123]

TMN,

I agree with your point that this matter may not have been properly preserved for appeal. That was a good catch and frankly one that I failed to think of. However, given the fact that the last item in a court case is that the judge gives his ruling, theoretically, the defendant may not have had opportunity to object. I know that is kinda thin, but convicting the defendant for a charge he was not arraigned on is egregious. The appellate division may accept it.

I disagre with your perspective about it not being clear that prejudice occurred. I believe it is irrelevant that the defendant got a lesser sentence than she may have with the original charge. To illustrate, if I were charged with murder, but the court found me guilty of mail fraud (something I would not have been charged with), the fact that mail fraud carries a lesser sentence than murder does not mitigate the fact that I was not charged nor arraigned on mail fraud. Therefore, I had no opportunity to prepare a defense for mail fraud. Therefore, I was denied due process. You make the assumption that the defendant would have been convicted on the original charge. While she very well may have been... it is only speculation. Furthermore, even if she would have been convicted on the original charge, it does not mitigate her due process rights to defend herself against the charge she was actually convicted of.

Personally, I beleive that if the appellate division accepts the case, her win will be a slam dunk. But your point about not having the issue preserved for appeal is a very good one and I believe that would be the biggest concern. So, from the defendant's perspective, she really has nothing to lose. She can file the appeal. If it is accepted, she will likely win. If it is rejected, then she is no worse off than she is now.

[That Guy]

Just one more small detail to confirm here before this thread fades into the archives:

Where do you get that idea about "7 days" from?

It takes a minimum of TWENTY ONE DAYS from the date the citation is issued to receive a courtesy notice. And so your Mom received hers in record time.

When you say it takes a minimum of TWENTY ONE DAYS from the date the citation is issued to receive a courtesy notice, I’m guessing you may be referring to your own experiences or perhaps how long it takes Los Angeles Superior Court to mail courtesy notices. In Marin County, where my mom received her ticket and where I received mine back in late August of 2012 the due date to pay or appear is generally 21 days from the date of the citation. So if someone who was cited in Marin County was to receive their courtesy notice in the mail 21 days or longer from the date of their citation this would be of no real use to them to inform them of their fine amount or anything else.

From the MARIN COUNTY Superior Court Website FAQ Page:

I have been cited for a traffic violation or minor offense. What do I do now?

By signing the citation in the officer’s presence you have agreed to appear or resolve the issue by the indicated date. The Court will send a courtesy notice to the address on the citation once the citation has been filed with the Court, typically within one month from the date of the citation. The courtesy notice will provide more information regarding your specific options to resolve the citation.

What if I do not receive a courtesy notice?

If you do not receive a courtesy notice by the date written at the bottom of your citation, you are still responsible to take action on or before the date listed on the citation. Please wait two weeks from the time you are cited before calling the Court to allow time for the citation to be processed.

So one answer says it will typically take one month (or FOUR WEEKS) from the date of the citation to receive the courtesy notice, another FAQ says to wait TWO WEEKS from the date of the citation to allow time for the citation to be processed (which is when the courtesy notice is generated automatically and mailed to the driver's address...

So if I take this one step further... It turns out that on the average, it typically takes:

(FOUR WEEKS + TWO WEEKS)/2 =

(28 days +14 days)/2 =

(42 days)/2 = 21 DAYS

TWENTY ONE DAYS FROM THE DATE ON THE CITATION