Comments on: How to Beat a Mississippi DUI – Number Seven

By: Clarence T. "Gup" Guthrie III

Clarence T. "Gup" Guthrie III — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 04:48:50 +0000

Thank you for calling my firm. What can you do? You can hire an attorney to help you with it. If you would like to schedule an appointment please call my office.

By: Trena

Trena — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 19:24:28 +0000

I am an attorney who practices in TN and does not do criminal law. I am trying to help my niece. She subpoenaed the videotape and it is only partial. She says that she never refused the field sobriety test and the officer got mad and arrested her for asking too many questions. The videotape they produced cuts off at the point where she gives her answer to the breathalyzer question and there is no audio for the traffic stop. She said she was never given the chance to respond because they we’re frustrated by her. What can we do?

By: clarence

clarence — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 22:40:29 +0000

Good question. The statute quoted above (which is Mississippi’s Uniform Traffic Ticket Law) states that “The officer issuing the traffic ticket shall also give the accused a copy of the traffic ticket.” This is the one you get during your arrest, and of course it won’t have the time the officer turned it in to the court, because he hasn’t turned it in yet.

When he – I’m saying he, but it could be she as well – turns the ticket in, there is a space for the officer to sign, and the clerk’s office to acknowledge receipt, right on the original ticket. The ticket is then kept in the court’s file. Although discovery of the evidence in the state’s case in misdemeanor cases is limited in scope in Mississippi, and every court does it differently, I have never had any trouble looking at the ticket after I have served a discovery request on the court and the prosecutor.

So the short answer is to ask the court clerk to see it, and then if they direct you to the prosecutor then go through them.

By: Heath

Heath — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 17:46:34 +0000

How do you go about checking the time and date of said ticket submission to clerk?

By: clarence

clarence — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 20:18:05 +0000

Thank you for your comment. No, there is no case law on this new provision of the statute yet. As the post mentions, courts are not applying it in a uniform manner. I have seen some dismissals, but I have also seen some that have not been dismissed. Based on the new amendment to the statute, with its mandatory language, the point should be argued if it is applicable, in my opinion.

And no, I have never witnessed nor heard of an officer being prosecuted for the misdemeanor, either.

By: DUI Lawyer Morgantown WV

DUI Lawyer Morgantown WV — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 02:59:09 +0000

Is there case law that requires dismissal of the case for failure to file the ticket? Sounds like more of a problem for the cop that he is committing a misdemeanor, which would unlikely be prosecuted.

West Virginia has something similar. In a DUI case, the officer has to notify the DMV within 48 hours of the arrest. Failure to notify is a misdemeanor, BUT there is nothing that can be used to dismiss the criminal case or DMV license revocation hearing.