Ready for some madness?
Here's a classic example of my luck...
OCTOBER 2006 - Pulled over for speeding in Savannah. Given ticket.
NOVEMBER 2006 - Call court on day of court date to find out fine, since I couldn't find ticket on their website. Clerk says she can't find it either. She says "We lost it, you don't need to show up". SWEET!
MARCH 2007 - I get pulled over in Statesboro for an improper tag display. The tag on my truck was off my del Sol, but I had had the truck less than 30 days and had a notarized bill of sale stating such. Whatever, I'm ok with accepting the improper tag fine. My license comes back as suspended by Savannah/Chatham County. Tell cop I didn't know, he believes me and writes me a ticket for it, but doesn't arrest me. I get home, call courthouse. Tell them that I had gotten a ticket months before but clerk couldn't find it, and that it was for 58 in 45. Based on speed, they tell me what the fine is, and that I have to pay it IN SAVANNAH. I tell them my license is suspended and I have no way to get there to pay it. They say I can have someone there on my behalf pay it. Deposit money into my friend's bank account, she goes to courthouse to pay ticket at 11am. 6 hours later, she calls me. It took the clerk 6 hours to find the ticket. My name was wrong, my address was wrong. That explains why I never got failure to appear notice and why clerk couldn't find it initially. Tehnically I shouldn't have paid it, but whatev, Diana paid it and I went on with my life.
MAY 2007 - I go to Statesboro to appear for driving on suspended license ticket. I get pulled over on the way down for a taillight out. Cop ran my license, came back fine. Clerk had said my court date was at 9am. Drive down to 'Boro, they say my hearing isn't till 3pm. Since I'm already in 'Boro, I drive down to Savannah for a few hours then come back, my friend Diana with me cause she wanted to come up to Athens. Judge asks if I have been driving all day. I say "pretty much, why?" thinking that he meant had I been in a car travelling all day, and he says "because your license is still suspended on your driver's license, young lady, and I don't appreciate your devil may car attitude". I think "****.. pissed judge and license suspende still?". Apparently he meant if I had literally been driving every time I got in a car. So I ask why license is suspneded. He says I never got it reinstated/got a new license. I said that I never turned it in and didn't know I needed to get it reinstated. He says they gave me a piece of paper when I paid the fine to bring to DMV. I say Diana paid fine for me (luckily she's in the courtroom with me to vouch). Diana says they never gave her a piece of paper. Judge is pissed, and then even MORE pissed when it comes to light that the officer who wrote me the ticket isn't present which means he has to dismiss the charge. He takes my license, tells me again that he doesn't like my attitude, and that had the officer been there he would have added contempt of court ontop of my charge and that I better leave his courtroom before he goes ahead and does that. We leave, Diana drives home.
JUNE 2007 - It took Savannah/Chatham county 2 weeks to send me my reinstatement paperwork, which I had to call and ask for. I go and pay to get new license, relieved this is all over... or so I think...
AUGUST 2007 - I come back down to Savannah for school after summer in Athens. My roommate was watching mail for me to see if anything certified/important came. I'm going through my stack of mail from the summer and see a pretty non-descript envelope from Bulloch Co. Courthouse. Curious, I open it up. It's postmarked May 2007. Inside is a copy of a citation stating that "an officer" saw me driving the morning of my court date when I showed up at 9, and the citation is written for driving on a suspended license. My court date for this citation was July 2007. I call my dad and then I call the solicitor general. He says he is aware that I missed court date, and I explain I was in Athens, the citation went to Savannah, it wasn't certified or anything, yadda yadda. He tells me to show up on September 17, 2007 for court.
SEPTEMBER 17, 2007 - My parents and I get to Statesboro at 9am for court. We spend ALL DAY there. During lunch break, I happen to run into the judge outside the courtroom, and get a moment to give him a heartfelt apology (which was no bs... I really didn't mean for him to get pissed or think I was lying). He seems to lighten up a bit and says that he appreciates me taking the initiative to speak to him. Second half of the day goes by. At the end of the day, the judge hasn't called my name, and calls me up to basically ask why I am there. I explain, show him my copy of the ticket (which was literally a xerox copy of it). Judge and solicitor general look through stack after stack of tickets. They say they can't find it. I say "So I'm free to go?" Judge says "yes, you're free to go." In my mind, he was going to give me a hard time about it, but when I apologized at lunch, maybe he changed his mind and said he lost it. Whatever, this is finally over.
Not.
FEBRUARY 2008 - I get a speeding ticket and pay it in Savannah.
APRIL 2008 - I get pulled over for improper tag display (Tag applied for sign fell out of window.. oops.). License and insurance come back fine (Cop ran both because the VIN on my dash didn't match VIN on car since the dash was replaced).
JULY 2008 - I go to get new license at DMV with Athens address on it. Clerk says "I'm sorry but I can't give you a license." .. "why?" I ask. "Because your license is coming back as suspended by Bulloch County."...
......
I call Bulloch County. They say they have had a bench warrant out since July 2007. I ask why...
... failure to appear.
... I say that I showed up for that court date in September. Clerk tells me she needs the exact date. Luckily we went out to dinner in Savannah after court, so I look through my dad's bank statements from September and find the date of the charge, which gives me the date of the dinner and the court date. I call Bulloch Co. back and tell them "September 17". Clerk says she has no record of me ever showing up. She tells me to show up on August 11 for court.
So on Sunday we're going to Savannah and then on Monday it's off to Statesboro... again...
Cliff's notes - Statesboro hates me.
So yeah.. for those of you who give me an odd look when I say "long story" in response to you asking why my license is suspended, there's the long story.
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Originally Posted by Echonova
