Collier County, FL. A twenty-six year old father of four was stopped when an officer noticed a defaced license plate and what appeared to be an illegally tinted window on the vehicle. When a routine check revealed that the license of our Client was suspended for delinquent child support payments, he was arrested for Driving While License Suspended (DWLSR).
At the time of arrest the Client was on probation for Burglary of a Dwelling, Grand Theft and Habitual Driving on a Suspended License. Therefore, he received additional charges of two Felony Counts of Violation of Probation. If convicted on the Violation of Probation charges, the Client was facing a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison.
In the State of Florida, there are two types of probation violations, technical and substantive. A technical violation is any violation of either the general, or special, conditions of the probation. Some examples include: failure to pay court costs or fines, missing a probation meeting, or change of address without permission. Substantive violations occur when the probationer commits a new criminal offense. Violation of probation is a serious offense. Penalties for violating probation can result in a judge revoking probation. If a judge revokes probation, Florida law allows the judge to impose the maximum penalty for the charge.
In Florida, as in most states, the failure to pay court ordered child support can give rise to many forms of penalties. A teaching certificate or professional license may be suspended or denied along with other licenses or registrations, like fishing, driving and hunting license.
However, the Florida Statute (FS 322.34) provides that the driver must have actual knowledge that the license was suspended. During his extensive research of the case, the Musca Law Defense Attorney discovered that the Client had no actual knowledge of the child support hearing that lead to the penalty that suspended his license. The Attorney argued, to the
The Defense Attorney successfully defended his Client when he argued that the actions of this Client were not a willful and /or intentional violation of his probation. Based on the State's failure to produce sufficient evidence that the client knew his driver's license had been suspended due to his failure to pay child support obligations, and the persuasive argument of the Defense Attorney, the Judge found the Client NOT GUILTY of the two charges of Felony Violation of Probation
