The Umansky Law Firm

A 78-year-old Florida grandmother spent 15 days in jail after she was arrested for driving with a suspended license in November. She was initially pulled over in September for driving too slowly and given a ticket then for driving with a suspended or revoked license. A judge then issued an arrest warrant for her when she did not show up for a court appearance. The criminal charge carried a penalty of $1000 fine and up to a year in jail.

However, ten days after the woman was given her ticket, she received a letter from the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles that stated her driving privileges were being restored upon further review. The problem is that this letter was referring to another incident the woman was involved in. Why should she have gone to court when she received a letter saying everything was okay?

In November, police came to her house and arrested her. She told the Miami Herald that they treated her as if she had killed someone. At her initial court appearance, public defenders failed to show and there was not assistant public defender to meet with her at the Broward County Jail. The pretrial services division found she was eligible for pretrial release on her own recognizance on the morning of her initial court appearance; she never let the judge know this, though.

Fifteen days after she was arrested at her December 2 arraignment, charges were dropped against her by the prosecutors. The judge saw a 78-year-old woman handcuffed and chained and released her and reportedly said, "I think she's suffered enough at our system's mistakes."

If you have been pulled over and given a citation, but you are unclear about what it means, or if you have been arrested on a warrant, please contact the experienced criminal defense attorneys at the Umansky Law Firm for an initial free consultation.