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    Infraction Dissatisfaction? Getting your 14-219 and 14-218a Speeding Tickets & 21a-279a Marijuana Infractions Reversed After Pleading Guilty By Mail

    Infraction Dissatisfaction? Getting your 14-219 and 14-218a Speeding Tickets & 21a-279a Marijuana Infractions Reversed After Pleading Guilty By Mail

    By now, our Connecticut readers who have driven during morning and afternoon rush hours in downtown Stamford, Greenwich, New Canaan, Darien and Wilton have seen for themselves the gratuitous amount of police speed traps. Hundreds of 14-219 and 14-218a Speeding and Traveling Unreasonably Fast infraction tickets are being doled out by Greenwich, Darien, New Canaan and Stamford police. The same goes for tickets charging the newly enacted 21a-279a infraction for possessing less than one-half ounce of marijuana.

    So how do you make these tickets go away quickly? Some police officers will tell you to just check the guilty box and send in these tickets for a light fine. Sure, this seems like the easiest way to resolve the ticket and move on. But what the police usually don’t tell you is how pleading guilty to these tickets will taint your driving record, threaten your driver’s license, and possibly affect your insurance premiums. That you find out the hard way—in an unsolicited letter from DMV or your insurance carrier months after you’ve already sent in your guilty plea and fine money. Luckily, and with the assistance of a top Stamford Connecticut speeding ticket lawyer, there may be a way to reverse these guilty pleas and undo the damage.

    Here’s how…Once you check the guilty box on your 14-219 and 14-218a speeding tickets, or a 21a-279a marijuana possession infraction ticket, the ticket and the fine are mailed to Connecticut’s Central Infractions Bureau in Hartford. There, your check is cashed and your guilty plea to these infractions are recorded and communicated to the Connecticut Department of Motor Vehicles. The DMV then records these infractions on your driving record and, in many cases, assesses penalty points against your driving record. Depending on your driving history, your guilty plea by mail could cause the DMV to suspend your license or require you to attend a driver retraining program. And while a marijuana possession infraction under 21a-279a does not affect your driving privileges if you are over 21, it does trigger a 60-day driver’s license suspension if you are under 21. Whichever the case, many Connecticut drivers do not realize that a suspension or retraining program requirement will be triggered until after it is too late and they have already pled guilty by mail to 14-219 and 41-218a.

    Automobile Insurance, Life Insurance, & Background Check Consequences of Pleading Guilty By Mail

    In addition to the DMV consequences, there can be long-lasting insurance policy consequences to having guilty pleas to these types of infractions on your driving record. Usually, your auto and life insurance carriers will conduct intensive background checks on your driving record and criminal record. If these moving violations or a marijuana possession infraction plea show up, it can cause the carrier to increase your annual premiums or even terminate coverage. Further, a marijuana possession conviction, even if it is an infraction and not a crime, can show up in an employer or landlord background check. In today’s competitive job market, a conviction for 21a-279a marijuana possession could in fact be a key consideration in a potential employer’s decision to hire you.

    Have Hope – Infraction Ticket Reversal

    But there’s hope. As some of the top Greenwich and Stamford Speeding Ticket attorneys and lawyers understand, there is a legal loophole that allows you to reverse your guilty plea to 14-219 Speeding tickets, 14-218a Traveling Unreasonably Fast tickets, or your 21a-279a Marijuana Possession ticket. It is a very technical loophole that involves legal acrobatics by a top Greenwich and Stamford Speeding Ticket lawyer or top Marijuana Possession attorney.

    So why take chances with these convictions if there is an opportunity to undo the damage and move the Court to vacate and reverse the convictions for these infractions? This is a fair question that many of our readers consider from a cost-benefit analysis, meaning…is it worth spending the money and time to attempt to reverse the infraction convictions? Are there guaranteed results? How does this reversal process work? There are all fair questions which we try to answer below and alternatively, encourage you to contact a top Connecticut Speeding Ticket and Marijuana Possession criminal lawyer to discuss the costs and chances for success.

    Step 1 – Getting the 14-219, 14-218a & 21a-279a Speeding & Marijuana Tickets Reversed

    Just how likely and quickly can the best Stamford Speeding Ticket lawyers get your guilty plea reversed? It depends on several factors, including how old the conviction is. There are state and federal constitutional grounds for moving to the Stamford Superior Court to reverse and vacate a guilty plea.

    The process begins by having your Connecticut criminal attorney file the motions and pleadings required to vacate the guilty plea. Usually this is done on constitutional due process grounds. Your right to drive is a constitutionally guaranteed right, and any action of the State of Connecticut that takes away this right (i.e. through a license suspension) must come with a proper advisement of your rights. While the best Stamford speeding ticket lawyers and attorneys can never promise you that the Court will reverse your convictions, they can likely estimate the probability of success. For example, the speeding ticket attorneys and marijuana possession lawyers at Mark Sherman law have successfully filed motions to reverse and vacate guilty pleas by mail to these types of charges. Our focus is on results and the satisfaction of our clients. As a result, we will give you an honest assessment of your chances of success, even if it means we ultimately advise you not to hire us or pursue the reversal.

    Once the motions are filed, we will appear in court to argue for the reversal of your charges. If successful, then your infraction charge will be reinstated by the Court and set down for a disposition court date, where we will try and get the charge dismissed or reduced.

    Step 2 – Once the Conviction is Reversed, Your Stamford Speeding / Marijuana Lawyer Will Then Fight the Infraction Charge

    If we are successful in getting the guilty plea reversed, then the next step in the process is trying to get the ticket dismissed. For the 14-219 and 14-218a Speeding and Traveling Unreasonably Fast tickets, this involves a close and careful analysis of the police reports for defects and speed detector device and calibration problems. (Click here to learn how the Mark Sherman Law Firm fights Speeding Tickets). For the 21a-179a marijuana possession charges, this also involves an analysis of the police reports, and careful scrutiny of the search and seizure methods applied by the police. For more information on the Firm’s Possession of Marijuana Practice, click here.

    Call A Speeding Ticket / Marijuana Possession Attorney at Mark Sherman Law Today to Learn More About Reversing Your Infraction Ticket

    So if you are interested in reversing a guilty plea by mail to a moving violation like 14-219 Speeding or 14-218a Traveling Unreasonably Fast, or a drug infraction charge such as 21a-279a Marijuana Possession, call one of the Mark Sherman Law attorneys today. We routinely get infraction guilty pleas reversed and are able to get the original charges dismissed and wiped off your DMV record. Our priority is results. Give us a call today at (203) 358-4700.