June 2013 Motor Vehicle Moving Violation
Police Report:
State Police charged a motorist with making an illegal U-turn in front of a toll bridge. Police stopped the motorist after he crossed the bridge made the illegal turn just before the toll booths and then attempted to proceed back over the bridge. The motorist was fully cooperative with the State Trooper who stopped his vehicle and issued the citation. The motorist hired Attorney Calcagni to represent him in traffic court.
Though the issued ticket was only $85 the potential adverse impact to the motorist if he received a moving violation on his driving record was immeasurable. The motorist licensed to drive in Massachusetts had a less than favorable driving record. Within a period of a few years he received several moving violations such as multiple instances of speeding failing to obey traffic signals reckless driving and a chemical breath test refusal. One more moving violation could have resulted in a license suspension.
Further and perhaps most important a license suspension would have ended the motoristӳ new career. The motorist was recently hired by BMW as a service technician. As conditions to his employment he was required to successfully complete a training course of several months in length and be insurable by the company’s automobile insurance carrier. The insurance requirement was of particular importance. Service technicians often test drive customers’ cars that undergo maintenance and repair. In order to do this in the scope of one’s employment service technicians must be covered by BMW’s automobile insurance policy. The motorist in this case would be deemed uninsurable with another moving violation on his driving record. If uninsurable he would be terminated from BMW and as a result he would be required to repay more than $10000.00 in tuition for attending BMW’s service technician school. Because of these potential collateral consequences to a moving violation conviction the motorist and his family invested in hiring Attorney Calcagni to defend him in this matter.
Attorney Calcagni found it tactically advantageous to not initially advocate on his clientӳ behalf before the Traffic Tribunal or Traffic Court but instead to advocate first directly with the State Trooper who issued the ticket. After several calls letters and other communications with the Trooper Attorney Calcagni successfully convinced him to support dismissal of the citation upon the motoristӳ performance of community service. With the State Trooper and Attorney Calcagni speaking with one voice the two then approached the Traffic Court Judge and successfully convinced her to adopt their joint recommendation.
The joint recommendation provided that in exchange for the motoristӳ performance of 30 hours of community service and payment of $35 in court costs the matter would be dismissed. The Court accepted the joint recommendation engineered by Attorney Calcagni and upon proof of the motoristӳ community service performance and payment of costs the matter was dismissed./p]
Criminal Case Result:
- Making an illegal U-turn in front of a toll bridge: 30 hours of community service and payment of $35 in court costs