Attorney represents drivers charged with driving while suspended
Stephen A. Gravatt, Esq.
Attorney
565 NJ 35
Middletown, New Jersey 07748
(732)-337-7922
email: pipking@comcast.net
Attorney represents drivers charged with driving while suspended
If you have been charged with 2C:40-22, you need to know that it is a serious criminal offense which exposes you to possible jail time, criminal record, fines of up to $15,000.00, if convicted. I have 30 years of experience handling criminal cases and can possibly help you void conviction of the charge, jail time, criminal record, max fines. Please contact me for evaluation and vigorous and competent criminal defense. (732)-337-7922.
ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLE OF HOW THIS GENERALLY OCCURS:
Your New Jersey driver’s license is suspended for failure to pay surcharges and other court imposed fines. But you still have to get to work, so you have resolved to continue operating your ford F-150 truck anyway. One evening your vehicle unexpectedly collides with a Toyota tercel at the intersection of 44th and vine streets when the driver of the tercel runs a red light. Your front bumper is a little banged up but overall you are O.K. (thank you ford). Unfortunately, the victim in the Toyota Tercel sustained serious bodily injury when the front of your truck collided with the driver’s side front door of the Tercel. The police arrive and you think to yourself that you’re O.K. because you weren’t drinking and you weren’t at fault for the manner in which the accident occurred. But, have you just committed a serious criminal offense? Yes.
N.J.S. 2C:40-22–COPY OF THE LAW
a. “A person who, while operating a motor vehicle in violation of R.S.39:3-40, is
involved in an accident resulting in the death of another person, shall be guilty
of a crime of the third degree, in addition to any other penalties applicable under
R.S.39:3-40. The person’s driver’s license shall be suspended for an additional
period of one year, in addition to any suspension applicable under R.S.39:3-40.
The additional period of suspension shall commence upon the completion of any
Term of imprisonment.
b. A person who, while operating a motor vehicle in violation of R.S.39:3-40, is
involved in an accident resulting in serious bodily injury, as defined in N.J.S.2C:
11-1, to another person shall be guilty of a crime of the fourth degree, in addition
to any other penalties applicable under R.S.39:3-40. The person’s driver’s license shall be suspended for an additional period of one year, in addition to any suspension applicable under R.S.39:3-40. The additional period of suspension shall commence upon the completion of any term of imprisonment.
c. The provisions of N.J.S.2C:2-3 governing the causal relationship between conduct
and result shall not apply in a prosecution under this section. For purposes of this
offense, the defendant’s act of operating a motor vehicle while his driver’s license
or reciprocal privilege has been suspended or revoked or who operates a motor
vehicle without being licensed to do so is the cause of death or injury when:
(1) The operation of the motor vehicle is an antecedent but for which the death
or injury would not have occurred; and
(2) The death or injury was not:
(a) too remote in its occurrence as to have a just bearing on the defendant’s liability; or
(b) too dependent upon the conduct of another person which was
unrelated to the defendant’s operation of a motor vehicle as to have
a just bearing on the defendant’s liability.
d. It shall not be a defense to a prosecution under this section that the decedent
contributed to his own death or injury by reckless or negligent conduct
or operation of a motor vehicle.
e. Nothing in this section shall be construed to preclude or limit any prosecution for
homicide.”
The answer to the question is YES. Because government has determined that your driver’s license was suspended or revoked at the time of the collision and because you were involved in an accident which resulted in the death or another person, you are guilty of a third degree crime, punishable, if convicted, of a monetary fine of up to $15,000.00, plus the imposition of possible jail time of a minimum of three (3) years and a maximum of five (5) years, presumptive four (4) years, plus a criminal record N.J.S.A. 2C:43-3(b), and an additional one year suspension of your driver’s license. It does not matter that you were not at fault for causing the collision, nor would it have mattered even if you did not know your driver’s license was suspended.
If you’ve been charged with violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:40-22, you need to retain a skilled and experienced attorney to get the charges downgraded or obtain an acquittal. Please contact me today for vigorous and competent criminal defense.
