This week I saw a major victory at the NJ Motor Vehicle Commission. A client of ours had hired us several months ago to work on multiple administrative suspensions she she was scheduled to receive, and after all was said and done, the total license suspension period was reduced from 13 months to just 30 days.
‘Operating During a Suspension Period’ Violation Dismissed
To make a long story short, my client had been suspended on a particular date due to failure to pay a parking ticket, but she was unaware that the suspension was in effect. She was involved in a minor motor vehicle accident, and fortunately sustained no injuries. However, the police office that arrived at the scene reported the accident, and issued her and the other driver a moving violation.
The NJ MVC received word of the reported accident and issued my client an administrative suspension for Operating During a Suspension Period. What was unusual, however, was that the NJ MVC also sent a separate Scheduled Suspension Notice when the motor vehicle ticket was processed through the court. Based on the argument of Double Jeopardy and due process of the law, I was able to eliminate the second Operating During a Suspension period, and was granted a hearing on the first Operating During a Suspension Period violation.
Reduction in ‘Operating During a Suspension Period’ Suspension Term
At the NJ Motor Vehicle Commission suspension hearing, we were able to bring out key factors to the hearing Agent’s attention which served to mitigate the violation and appeal to a lesser suspension term. When our testimony was finished, this single suspension, which was scheduled for 180 days (6 months), was reduced to a period of just 15 days.
Reduction in Accumulation of Points Suspension
The other aspect of this case was the fact that the moving violation my client received at the time of the accident was pled down in court to Unsafe Operation. This ‘plea bargain’ ticket is a no-points violation unless pled to within 5 years of a second or subsequent guilty plea to the same offense. My client did not realize that she had already pled to this ticket twice, and as a penalty for the third offense (within 5 years), she received 4 points on her license. This exceeded the threshold of 12 points which triggers an ‘Accumulation of Points‘ administrative license suspension.
Because I was able to consolidate both of my client’s MVC Hearings to the same date, we were heard on the issue by the same MVC representative. At the conclusion of our arguments, we were very happy to receive an offer amending the original 30-day suspension to only 15 days.
While the results in this case do not guarantee the same outcome in future cases, this sort of reduction is not unusual for us to achieve. If you’re facing an administrative license suspension from the NJ MVC, contact an attorney before requesting a hearing. We can be reached 24/7 at 1-877-450-8301, and can talk to you about how we can help reduce your proposed suspension.
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