Lowell License Suspension Lawyer

Your driver’s license is one of your most valuable assets. Driver’s license suspensions can make your life a living hell. Without your driver’s license, you will likely find it difficult, if not impossible, to handle life’s most basic but vital tasks. Getting to work, getting your kids to school and medical appointments, getting back and forth to the grocery store – most people are wholly dependent on their drivers’ licenses for these necessary activities. However, for a variety of reasons, the Registry of Motor Vehicles can suspend or revoke your license.

When your driver’s license is on the line, your livelihood and freedom to move about hang in the balance. With so much at stake, the prospect of navigating the courts, the registry of motor vehicles, and the board of appeals can be overwhelming. Our knowledgeable traffic attorneys are here to forge a path to getting you back on the road. Reach out to a Lowell license suspension lawyer at Erkan & Sullivan, P.C. today.

Understanding the Charge

In Massachusetts, driving with a suspended or revoked license is prohibited under Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 90 § 23. This statute makes it illegal to operate a motor vehicle on any public way while your license or right to operate is suspended or revoked.

Potential Penalties

• Operating After Suspension: A first offense is punishable by up to ten days in the county jail and a fine of $500–$1,000, with a mandatory 60-day license loss.
• Repeat offenses: A second or subsequent offense is punishable by at least 60 days in jail, and up to one year in jail, a $1,000 fine, and a mandatory 60-day license loss.
• Operating After Suspension as a Habitual Traffic Offender: Being designated a habitual traffic offender under Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 90 § 22F results from accumulating multiple traffic violations. Operating a vehicle after such a suspension is punishable by up to 2 years in the county jail and a fine between $500 and $5,000.
• Operating After Suspension for OUI (Operating Under the Influence): the 60 day sentence is mandatory without the possibility of parole. The fine jumps to between $1,000 and $10,000.
• Operating After Suspension After Serious or Fatal Accident: This provision is triggered by convictions for OUI Serious Bodily Injury (Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 90 § 24L), vehicular homicide (Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 90 § 24G), or vehicular manslaughter (Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 265 § 13 1/2). If you are caught driving after one of these offenses, you face a penalty of a up to 2 1/2 years in jail. The first year of that sentence is a mandatory minimum, meaning there is no eligibility for parole. The sentence is consecutive to any other sentence you are facing. There is also a fine between $2,500 and $10,000 and a license loss of one year.

Whether it’s your first or subsequent suspension in Lowell, our lawyers will use all of our available resources to fight for your right to a driver’s license.

Drunk Driving Suspensions

If police arrest you because they suspect you are driving drunk, they will ask you to take a breathalyzer test. If you register a blood-alcohol level of 0.08 or higher, or if you are under 21 years old and register a blood-alcohol level of 0.02 or higher, your driver’s license will be suspended for 30 days. If you are under 21, you could face an even longer term of suspension.

Of course, you have the right to refuse to take the breathalyzer. Click here for more information on breathalyzer refusals.  If you refuse the breathalyzer and it is your first offense, you will lose your license for 180 days. If you are under 21 years old or have prior drunk driving offenses, you could face a longer period of suspension.

If your driver’s license was suspended in Lowell because you were charged with drunk driving, speak with our attorneys to discuss your next steps.

Important tip: The fact that you refused the breath test cannot be used against you as evidence!

If you are convicted or admit to a drunk driving offense, the registry of motor vehicles will suspend your license. The length of the suspension changes depending on whether you have prior DWI offenses on your record – in Massachusetts or elsewhere. Click here to learn more about DUI suspensions.

Relentless Defense

As you can tell by the range of penalties, operating after suspension charges can range in consequence from a slap on the wrist to a devastating sentence. As former prosecutors with over forty years of combined experience, regardless of the severity of the offense in Lowell, our driver’s license suspension lawyers will navigate your case toward the most favorable result possible.

Negotiated Dismissal

Oftentimes, when dealing with simple license suspension charges, even repeat offenses, our attorneys can negotiate with Lowell prosecutors for dismissal of these charges. People’s licenses can be suspended for a variety of minor or mundane reasons, including failing to pay a ticket or failure to pay taxes or child support. I think some prosecutors are also beginning to understand that suspended license charges are closely associated with economic hardship rather than unsafe driving. In those circumstances, criminal prosecutions can result in additional fines and convictions that can make securing employment difficult, creating a repeating cycle where the driver owes more and more money while at the same time being placed in a position where they are less and less able to pay. In those cases, we will work hard to convince prosecutors that the best way to ensure roadway safety and thriving communities is to let people get back on the road. The best way to do that is to agree to dismiss these charges.

An intermediate solution may also be to negotiate a continuance without a finding or “CWOF”. This is a special disposition in Massachusetts where the accused agrees there is enough evidence to support the charge, but the judge does not find him or her guilty. Instead, the case is continued for a period of time and sometimes on conditions like community service. If there are no problems during the continuance period, the case will be dismissed. In certain circumstances, this can be a great way to resolve these charges. Bear in mind that this type of disposition is not available for more serious forms of this offense, including driving after suspension for DWI or for an accident with serious or fatal injuries.

Defense Through Litigation

When the prosecutor decides to push forward with the case, having us on your side will stack the deck in your favor. Prosecution of these offenses are more complicated than many prosecutors understand. The prosecution needs to prove that your license was in-fact suspended, that you received notice of the suspension, and that you actually operated the vehicle.

Proof of notice

One area in which prosecutors frequently stumble is as to the proof of actual notice. We can often identify surprising gaps in the proof on this point. Whether there was an issue with proof of mailing, proof of address, or other administrative errors, we will capitalize on these deficiencies to weaken the government’s case.

Necessity Defense

Another potential defense that our attorneys can use for an operating on a suspended license charge in Lowell is the defense of necessity, sometimes referred to as the “competing harms” defense. The underlying premise behind this defense is that sometimes people need to make tough choices – including breaking the law – to avoid a more serious harm. There are a wealth of situations where this defense could apply to a charge of driving on a suspended license. For instance, if you needed to drive because a family member was experiencing a medical emergency. Another example might be if you were in imminent threat of attack and needed to drive to get away. In either of these circumstances, society’s interest in prosecuting the offense gives way to the greater harm which would occur if you did not drive.

Overcharging Operating after Suspension for OUI

The offense of driving after suspension for a DUI or OUI offense is extremely serious. It carries a minimum mandatory jail sentence. But prosecutors and police often misunderstand this charge. It only applies when a person’s license is suspended for an OUI offense. Notwithstanding this, police and prosecutors will erroneously bring this charge against someone whose license is suspended for a breath test refusal, or simply fails to pay a reinstatement fee after a DUI suspension has lapsed. Unfortunately, many lawyers are unaware of this nuance and set their clients up to serve mandatory jail sentences when that sentence does not apply to this type of case.

At bottom, every case is unique. The creative, diligent and experienced lawyers at Erkan & Sullivan, PC are uniquely equipped to find strategies best suited to the circumstances of your case.

Hardship Licenses

If you are convicted of operating under the influence, the court will order your license suspended.  However, there is a way to get a hardship license, commonly referred to as a “Cinderella license.”  A hardship license will permit you to drive within a 12-hour window every day.  Within those 12 hours, you will have the chance to handle childcare responsibilities, get to and from work, and attend to all of life’s necessities.

Hardship licenses are not automatic, however. Instead, after you are convicted of a drunk driving offense, you must go to the RMV for a hearing. You must show the hearing officer proof of employment, and proof that you are unable to use public transportation or another alternative to get to and from work.

You can apply for a hardship license shortly after your conviction. As a result of your conviction, the court will likely order that you take a variety of alcohol awareness classes. Three days after you register for the classes, you can apply for your hardship license.

If you got a license suspension due to a drunk driving conviction, our lawyers can help you get back on the road in Lowell. Depending on your particular background and your employment circumstances, we will help you gather the necessary documents and appear with you at your hardship hearing. With our proven advocacy skills, we can help you get back on the road – the first step to getting your life back on track.

Note that you are generally ineligible for a hardship license if you refused the breathalyzer. You have to serve out the whole period of suspension, which is a minimum of six months. However, there is a strategy we can use to get you back on the road even during your breath test suspension. Click here to learn more.

Habitual Traffic Offenders

Small problems have a way of snowballing into big problems.  A single speeding ticket is a minor inconvenience and a small fine.  But under Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 90 § 22F, if you accumulate 12 or more traffic violations within a five-year period, or 3 or more “serious” moving violations during that time period – the RMV can revoke your license for four years – a huge problem!  The RMV will give you a hearing, but only to challenge the accuracy of your driving record.  If you indeed accumulated 12 traffic violations, the RMV will revoke your license.

You are entitled to a second hearing, however, with the RMV Board of Appeals. At this hearing, the Board of Appeals can consider a wider variety of issues – whether there are any mitigating factors involved with any of your violations, whether you have addressed any underlying problems that caused your traffic violations, and whether you will suffer any hardship if you lose your license. Our attorneys can help guide you through this process and advocate for you at your hearings in Lowell.

Fatality Suspensions

Under Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 90 § 29, whenever there is a fatal accident, the operator’s license will be suspended indefinitely while the cause of the accident remains under investigation unless a preliminary investigation reveals that the operator was not at fault.  Assuming there is no clear indication the operator was not at fault, the operator’s license will be revoked, and cannot be reinstated for at least six months, following which, the operator can request a reinstatement hearing.  If charges are issued, the RMV will then suspend the operator’s license as an “immediate threat,” which is described more fully below.

Immediate Threat and Medical Suspensions

Pursuant to Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 90 § 22, the RMV has the authority to suspend a driver’s license without a hearing if the driver committed a driving violation “of a nature which would give the registrar reason to believe that continuing operation by such holder is and will be so seriously improper as to constitute an immediate threat to the public safety.”  This is called an “immediate threat” suspension.  Police have wide discretion to initiate these suspensions whenever they feel that particular driving behavior meets that highly subjective standard.  A person who receives an immediate threat suspension has the right to a hearing at the RMV where they can request reinstatement.

Similarly, the same statute permits suspension of a person’s driver license when there is reason to believe that the driver suffers from some sort of incapacity or medical issue which renders their operation unsafe. There is a right to a hearing to contest this type of suspension as well.

Here’s the catch. As a matter of policy, the RMV will not grant a hearing on an immediate threat or medical threat suspension while the underlying criminal case is open. That means they can keep you pinned down and unable to drive for however long it takes to resolve your case. This is a shockingly unfair tactic that appears to run afoul of the most basic principle of due process of law: the opportunity to be heard prior to the deprivation of a right. The practical reality of immediate threat suspensions is that they are a blunt instrument designed to coerce people into resolving their criminal case by pleading guilty — even if they are not. If you are dealing with this sort of driver’s license suspension in Lowell, contact our lawyers to talk about lodging a court challenge to this dirty tactic to ensure your rights are protected.

License Fraud

For most people, driving is the only way to handle life’s necessary activities. This creates a big problem for non-citizens living in the United States without lawful immigration status. As a result, undocumented immigrants sometimes obtain driver’s licenses under false identities. This can create problems for you even after you obtain lawful immigration status. If the RMV suspects that you had a driver’s license under a false name, you can end up with a license suspension or revocation, even after you get a green card.

The good news is, there is still hope. You can schedule a hearing with the RMV to prove your identity. We can help you identify documents necessary to prove your true identity and establish your residency in Massachusetts. We can appear with you at the hearing in order to help you address these complex, sensitive issues with the RMV.

If you are charged with possession of a fraudulent identification in Lowell, you should call our driver’s license suspension lawyers right away. This offense is a felony prosecuted pursuant to Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 90 § 24B. Although these license suspension cases seem straightforward, they are in reality almost always vulnerable to attack. There is a fairly significant paper trail that the prosecutor must assemble, together with a series of witnesses which the prosecutor must line up in order to present these cases at trial. Prosecutors are rarely aware of all the technical connections they must establish to secure a conviction.  When we appear on your behalf, rest assured, the prosecutor is in for a most unpleasant surprise.

Most lawyers tell their clients to plead guilty to these charges, because they cannot envision a practical defense. That is simply a shame. Our office has obtained dismissal of these charges in virtually every case we have handled.

Driving on a Suspended License

Driving on a suspended license is a misdemeanor offense with varying penalties prosecuted pursuant to G.L. c. 90, section 23.

Related Sections

Because many license suspension charges are misdemeanors, you may be entitled to a clerk’s hearing prior to the issuance of any criminal complaint. Click here for an in-depth discussion of clerk’s hearings. Also, because most license related offenses constitute “motor vehicle” offenses, click here to check out our discussion of how we can take advantage of errors in the citation process to seek dismissal of your charges under the “no-fix” laws.

How Erkan & Sullivan, PC Can Help

Navigating the legal system can be overwhelming, but you don’t have to do it alone. Our experienced Lowell driver’s license suspension attorneys will:

• Provide a Thorough Case Evaluation: We’ll examine all aspects of your case to identify weaknesses in the prosecution’s arguments.
• Develop a Tailored Defense Strategy: Based on the specifics of your situation, we’ll craft a defense aimed at reducing or dismissing the charges.
• Challenge Evidence and Procedures: We’ll scrutinize the legality of the traffic stop, arrest, and any evidence obtained to ensure your rights were not violated.
• Negotiate with Prosecutors: We’ll advocate for reduced penalties or alternative resolutions when appropriate.
• Represent You in Court: We’ll stand by your side throughout the legal process, providing expert representation and support.

Contact Our Lowell License Suspension Attorneys Today

Don’t let a charge of operating on a suspended license derail your life. Contact Erkan & Sullivan, PC for a confidential consultation with a Lowell license suspension lawyer. We’ll provide the guidance and representation you need to navigate this challenging time.