Quote:
Originally Posted by mmcfadden
wow... I guess things have changed. There used to be statutes on misdemeanors and thought traffic violations were also in this category...
Back in the day you could get a dui in NJ and just not return for 3 years and the charge went away... statutes of limitation they call it. The only crime that didn't have it was murder...
Maybe things have changed but I would say FUCK NJ... if you can't pay the fine via mail or online then don't pay the fine. I am very surprised to hear that a traffic violation resulted in an arrest 7 years later when a dui will be negated after 3....
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Statute of Limitations still exists, but it does not apply in your circumstances. Basically, it prevents them from prosecuting you for a crime after a certain period of time. So if you rob a bank, they can't charge you with the robbery four years later.
You have
already been charged, so there is no time limit in which to hold you accountable. In some cases, if you do not appear, you will be convicted in your absence, which means that you have to pay the fine. But in your case, the appearance is MANDATORY. That means, that the Court cannot convict you in your absence. If you do not show up, a bench warrant will be issued for your arrest.
So you have a mandatory appearance either because you do not hold a US drivers license or you were driving WAY too fast, which is more serious. That is why there is no fine - the Court can impose a fine, suspension, etc., and this is hard to do since your drivers license is from Canada.
As far as not getting into trouble unless you are pulled over, it doesn't work that way. 45 of the states share driving information with each other, and all of the states share warrant information.
What you don't know is that the police randomly run the license plates of vehicles that they see on the road. So if you go back to the USA, they will probably type in your plate. They won't see any information (because they don't have access to Canadian motor vehicle records), but they probably will see an outstanding warrant for failure to appear. Then you will get pulled over and arrested. And they will search your car to see if they can cause you more problems. So you will be hauled off to New Jersey to wait in a jail for a few days. Then you have to answer for this ticket and also for not appearing, which could result in a jail term.
Really, you are better off showing up.