Charge Reductions and Dismissals in Exchange for Driving School or Community Service
In misdemeanor and traffic cases where the state can prove your guilt, your best move may be to negotiate a plea bargain or to try for either a formal or an informal deferral agreement. A plea bargain would mean pleading guilty to something in exchange for a reduction of the charges or a reduced sentence. An informal deferral would mean that the prosecutor agrees that if you do something to earn it, the case will be reduced or dismissed. To give us the best chances of making this sort of deal, we will sometime suggest doing community service, or in the case of a traffic offense, we may suggest taking a course at a driving school.
Community service means volunteer work done at a not-for-profit organization. This means any charity. Unless you are required to work with the Office of Community Service, you can pick a social welfare organization like Habitat for Humanity or the Food Bank, or a government agency like a fire department or a park.
Our clients have worked at schools and theaters. So long as the organization is not for profit, they should be fine. You will need them to accept you as a volunteer and then to write you a letter on their letterhead saying that you have done the required work. If you do have to work through the Office of Community Service, they will assign you to an organization and will give you forms that they require you to use. There is also a fee if you must do your community service through the official community service program.
If you are taking a driving school course, we can give you information on what driving schools are acceptable to the District Attorney’s Office. Accepted schools are very different from county to county and among different traffic offenses so it is best to talk with us about your individual situation before sign up for classes. You should be prepared to pay for these classes, though and to give up a weekend or two.
When you call our office, we will talk through your situation in detail and we can give you advice appropriate to your specific situation to develop a plan that is right for you. Call us. We can help.
Our traffic lawyers help people throughout Wake County, North Carolina. We frequently handle offenses arising out of the following cities: Knightdale, Zebulon, Cary, Holly Springs, Fuquay-Varina, Wake Forest, Apex, Rolesville, Garner, New Hope, Morrisville, Wendell and Raleigh.
