The new Wake County DA is finally allowing his ADAs to reduce certain tickets to improper equipment.
This is good news for all drivers as it will help keep your insurance rates down and likely also increase funds going to the Wake Co. Schools.
If you have a ticket in Wake Co. call an attorney – maybe even this guy – and see if you might be eligible.
919-929-2992
If you ride these rides, you are risking more than your ticket. See what I wrote a few months back:
https://www.jeffreyhowardlaw.com/are-amusement-park-injury-avoidance/
Seriously, think about these things. Just because most people don’t get hurt on them doesn’t mean you can’t get hurt on them. Be careful out there.
Yeah, it might still be revoked!
When you get a ticket in North Carolina, you have to a) show up for court and work it out, b) hire a lawyer to do that, or, in some circumstances, c) just pay it off.
If you don’t do any of these things, then the court gives you 20 days to get your junk together and go to the court house to say mea culpa and get a new court date. If you do, you then reset and get those options above.
But if you miss your court date and don’t get it rescheduled within 20 days this is reported to DMV. The clock starts running on you then and if you don’t meet DMV’s deadline they will revoke your license indefinitely.
This happens to a lot of people, and some of them call me to fix things. Some of them go to court themselves, some hire other attorneys.
What most people don’t realize is that even if you handle that ticket that revoked you your license is still going to be revoked until you contact DMV to pay a reinstatement fee. A lot of people don’t do this, so even when they think they’re fixed, they’re not.
Just don’t miss your court date. That’s the best way to avoid trouble. Call and attorney or show up.
But if you do miss it make sure you get some help and don’t forget to contact DMV after the ticket is resolved or you could end up with even more headache.
Yes. Please. Unless your attorney tells you otherwise.
This public service announcement offered by Jeffrey Allen Howard, Attorney at Law, PLLC. 919-929-2992.
A friend of mine who knows so much about NC history it will blow your mind, just sent me this:
https://nchistorytoday.wordpress.com/2015/10/21/courtroom-slaying-in-morganton-1851/
It’s absolutely fascinating, and an intriguing part of NC legal history.
In a nutshell: Two legislators are embroiled in a battle over estate of one of the legislator’s wives; the other legislator represented the wife’s family. The former (Fleming) being as another friend of mine says, “bigger, stronger, and more comfortable with violence,” attacked his diminutive rival attorney (Avery) with a whip and beat him to the point that he could not defend himself.
Weeks later as they both entered the courthouse in Morganton, Fleming was hurling insults at Avery, with no response by Avery. After Fleming was wrapping up his business with the court room clerk, Avery shot him within 5 feet of the judge.
Avery was found not guilty of murder by reason of “emotional insanity.” He would have to be insane to murder someone in front of a judge, right? That’s some fine lawyerin’.
Those were the good old days, right?
http://www.payncticket.org/citation/epay/init.do
You can pay your ticket off online! But you probably shouldn’t.
Here’s a good video, by a very handsome attorney, on this very subject:
http://www.jeffreyhowardlaw.com/should-i-pay-off-my-ticket/
Here’s the gist: Paying off your ticket is pleading guilty. That gets you a conviction. If you are paying off a moving violation, there’s a good chance you’ll get DMV and insurance points. That can get your license revoked and/or raise your insurance rates for three years. So don’t just pay off a ticket without talking to an attorney first. Most attorneys who handle tickets will tell you when paying one off is OK. Call one. Call me!
919-929-2992.
http://www.cleveland.com/nation/index.ssf/2015/10/florida_school_district_settle.html
There is some weird s#!^ out there, and some of it results in lawsuits. This one might be the weirdest I’ve read about, and will almost certainly become a Lifetime movie.
The gist: Principal hypnotizes children at his school – dozens over the years – and several of them commit suicide or die in hypnotic trances. Families bring claims, each family gets $200,000.
What. The. Hell?
So it may not be quite as sinister as it sounds. Apparently he taught a psychology class and this was part of it. He allegedly offered hypnosis as a study and/or performance aid, and several students who participated over the years had not (to date) offed themselves.
But still, the correlation is enough to raise eyebrows.
In 2009 he was ordered to limit his hypno-fun to his psych classes. He was also charged criminally for practicing therapeutic hypnosis without a license and was fined and put on probation.
In the light most favorable to him, he’s a wacky dude who is just going the extra mile to help his students. But in the darkest view, he’s a hypno-predator that can only be stopped by the X-Men.
They can find him in our fine state of North Carolina, where he is apparently living in retirement.
People call me about traffic tickets all the time. They ask lots of questions. There are, admittedly, a limited amount of questions one might ask in relation to this sort of situation. But there is one question that I get a lot and it drives me nuts:
“Can I get a PJC?”
Sometimes they don’t even say “PJC.” Sometimes they’ll say “PFJ” or some other nonsense.
The question is not inherently the problem. The underlying assumption based on decades of legendary misinformation is the problem.
First, if you don’t know what a PJC is, click here. That will iron that out for you. If you don’t know what it is, you have no business asking for one. This video also makes a similar point as I’m about to make below…
Second, people think of the PJC as a panacea for all traffic tickets, all day, all the time. I picture Taco from The League Notarizing everything unnecessarily, or Dave Chappell pleading the 5th every time someone looks at him. The bottom line is a PJC is to be used ONLY in specific circumstances, and only when you know what the consequences will be vis-a-vis your driving record AND the driving record of everyone in your household. Yes, those matter, too.
I often see unrepresented people in traffic court asking for a PJC when they a) don’t need it and b) could actually be harming themselves by getting it. Judges and ADAs can only do so much to protect people from themselves, so this is another reason to get good advice from an attorney – like me!
What most people fail to realize as they are stumbling over themselves asking for a PJC is that in many circumstances an even better plea option would be a 10 or less over the limit. This is the unknown plea option that can make everything all (mostly) better. In North Carolina if you have no convictions of moving violations in the three year experience period around a 10 over (or less) you are not assigned insurance points for that conviction. Of course, a non-moving violation would be even better, but sometimes you can’t get that (for many reasons).
So just remember that a 10 over, with a clean record, is often times better than a PJC. But as with everything in the law it is always best to seek counsel before you go making deals with a prosecutor.
DWI injury claims have a higher than average settlement/verdict value in North Carolina because of one thing: Punitive damages.
When someone injures you and you seek to recover from them, you are looking for, generally, “compensatory” damages. Those are damages which essentially are to reimburse you for what you lost: medical treatment costs, lost wages, and something for pain and suffering are the traditional big three items we are looking for.
In North Carolina you can, under very limited circumstances, ask a court to award you not only compensatory damages (paying for your losses) but also punitive damages, or an award to the plaintiff that that is merely meant as a deterrent to the sort of behavior that led to the action. Punitive damages are limited in North Carolina except in once instance: DWI injury claims.
Mind you, you may not even ask for punitive damages in the absence of wanton and reckless conduct. So in your normal motor vehicle accident case, which would involve just plain old negligence, you may not seek punitive damages. However, North Carolina law allows for you to seek punitive damages in DWI injury claims because of the wanton and reckless nature of driving while impaired. These damages – unlike in every other punitive damages situation in NC – are unlimited, meaning that the jury can award the plaintiff however much money they feel would be a suitable punishment to the defendant for their behavior. And this would be in addition to whatever compensatory damages you were awarded as a plaintiff.
That’s a big deal.
However, there’s a rub, as always. How are you going to recover those punitive damages? Most people don’t have thousands of dollars to take, so what do you do?
Automobile liability policies are on the hook for punitive damages, so if you can get them, the defendant’s liability insurance carrier will have to pay them. However, most people have NC minimum limit policies, which at the time of this writing are $30,000 per person. So the total amount that any one plaintiff could recover from that kind of policy, whether it’s compensatory or compensatory AND punitive damages, would be $30,000.
Is there a way to get more? Well, maybe…
If you have Underinsured motorist coverage and you exceed the policy limits of the defendant, you might be able to recover against that policy. But UIM policies are not responsible for punitive damage verdicts, so they are not on the hook for that. They are, on the hook for compensatory damages, so if you have high compensatory damages, there is hope for a potentially reasonable recovery, depending on the circumstances.
This stuff is straight wacky, right?
“How do I pay my medical bills after an auto accident?”
This is probably the #1 concern of my clients. And it’s a terribly valid and immediate one. So what’s the answer?
Sadly, most people (particularly ones who’ve never had an auto accident claim, but even some who have had one or more) think that there is a separate billing mechanism for taking care of medical treatment costs incurred following an auto accident. There is a mass illusion that these bills will either be paid directly and immediately by the liability carrier (the car insurance of the bad guy) or that the bills will be held in abeyance until a settlement is obtained. Both of these assumptions are incorrect. You pay for medical bills related to an auto accident the same way you pay for medical bills incurred for any other reason. Everyone is responsible for their own medical care. Period. Our system, imperfect though it may be, makes us all carry this burden on our own. Of course, with the right claim, and maybe with a good attorney, you can hope to get reimbursed for your medical costs (as well as other things) at the conclusion of your claim. But until then, you’re on the hook. So you have to pay out of pocket, use your health insurance, or just ask them to hang tight. Some health care providers will be nice about collection attempts if you tell them the situation, but you can’t count on this. You’ll want to set up some sort of payment plan in the interim while you await the conclusion of your claim. The liability carrier isn’t paying jack up front. Now what they might want to do is what I call the drive-by settlement: they come by your house the day after the accident (when you’re conveniently hopped up on Oxy) and wave a shiny check for $500 in your face. But if you take it, you’re stuck, and that’s all you’ll ever get from them! And even on cases where you don’t settle immediately (which is wise!) and they know they’re in it for something bigger (if you’re lucky) they aren’t going to pay your bills as they are incurred. The main thing to take home from this is that liability insurance does not work like health insurance. It is a one-time, lump-sum, at the end, if you’re lucky sort of recovery. And that can be hard to stomach for many folks. What should you remember, if nothing else, from this post? USE YOUR HEALTH INSURANCE! That’s what it’s there for! DON’T HOLD YOUR BREATH waiting for liability settlements; they will come when/if they come. DON’T IGNORE COLLECTION ATTEMPTS! Tell your attorney if you have one, and if you don’t, ask them to let you do a minimal payment plan to see if you can bridge the gap while you wait to get your claim resolved. This area is one of the more complex and frustrating aspects to injury claims, and having an attorney to help walk you through it can be worth the price. Call one. Call me. 919-929-2992.