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Yeah, you've paid your taxes for the privilege of a few days in jail rent-free with full catering.
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Not exactly; what I meant by "constructive notice" is something sent according to a legal procedure that's considered effective regardless of whether it was received, as opposed to "actual notice." Since the guy in that case couldn't serve the prosecutor & clerk by constructive notice, it might follow that they can't serve you by constructive notice. But again, that all depends on what the local rules allow.Originally posted by Felch View Post
In that case the statutes aren't too helpful; essentially if driving with a suspended license is considered a criminal charge there then the standard (bolded below) is "fails to appear in court in response to a citation" which doesn't imply much about whether it must be received. If it's considered a "traffic charge" there then apparently the local District Court was supposed to have set a method for you to "acknowledge [the citation's] receipt" (bolded below).Originally posted by Felch View Post
Are you saying you got the citation and just never got the summons, or did you get neither? If you got neither (i.e. the cop just left you with nothing in your hands and suggested something would be coming in the mail), it looks like they didn't comply with § 1-605(d)(10)(ii) and therefore can't say you had statutory notice, but if you got one and not the other, their sending summons that way is totally within the District Court's discretion under § 1-605(d)(11)'s optional language, so it's their local procedure that'd decide how to go about sending it.
As for cases, none in Maryland match your facts or even deal with these statutes; FWIW a DMV notice of suspension need only go to the last known address per § 12-114(a)(2) and cases have held that a wrong address wasn't a defense for people driving with a suspended license, but that doesn't say anything about citations/summons and failure to appear, which might require better notice than that.
MD Code, Criminal Procedure, § 5-212
Criminal Procedure
Title 5. Release
Subtitle 2. Pretrial Release
§ 5-212. Failure to appear in response to citation
(a) This section does not apply to a citation:
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(2) adopted by the Chief Judge of the District Court under § 1-605(d) of the Courts Article, for use in traffic offenses; or
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(b) A bench warrant may be issued for the arrest of a defendant who fails to appear in court in response to a citation.
(c) A person who fails to appear in court in response to a citation is guilty of a misdemeanor and on conviction is subject to a fine not exceeding $500 or imprisonment not exceeding 90 days or both.
MD Code, Courts and Judicial Proceedings, § 1-605
Title 1. Court Structure and Organization
Subtitle 6. District Court
§ 1-605. Chief Judge; authority and functions
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(d) ... the Chief Judge of the District Court shall:
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(8) After consultation with police administrators and the Motor Vehicle Administrator, design arrest--citation forms that:
(i) Shall be used by all law enforcement agencies in the State when charging a person with a criminal, civil, or traffic offense...
(9) Authorize the use of a single document for issuance of more than one, separately numbered, citation;
(10) Specify appropriate means, such as a signature on a citation, electronic signature, or data encoded in a driver's license or identity card issued by the Motor Vehicle Administration, to be used by:
(i) The police officer issuing a citation to execute it by certifying under penalties of perjury that the facts stated in the citation are true; and
(ii) The person to whom a citation is being issued to acknowledge its receipt;
(11) Authorize a citation to include a summons to appear...
This referral service at least seems a tad specialized, but no names:Originally posted by Felch View Post
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Looking over the above language, I infer that a court date, time and place were specified on the citation itself and that no further summons was necessary.
But again, consult with a local lawyer. They'd know far better than I.Comment
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