Criminal Traffic Lawyer in Tempe, AZ

One Arizona traffic ticket can carry several counts, some civil and some criminal. For civil tickets, Tempe Municipal Court offers a defensive driving program or a choice between responsible and not responsible pleas. Criminal counts sit outside that menu: they go to arraignment on the citation's appearance date, and sending payment as if the count were civil amounts to pleading guilty to a crime. According to the court, defensive driving can address only one eligible charge on a ticket, so every other count on a mixed ticket still needs its own answer.

Who wrote it decides where it goes. When Tempe Police writes a criminal traffic count, the City Attorney's Criminal Division prosecutes it on Fifth Street at Tempe Municipal Court, which hears criminal traffic matters arising within Tempe. A ticket from a DPS trooper on a freeway or from a Sheriff's deputy can be assigned to a county justice court instead. A driving felony, such as unlawful flight, goes to the County Attorney and Superior Court downtown.

The suspended license question usually comes down to why. Under A.R.S. § 28-3473, driving while your privilege is suspended, revoked, canceled or refused is a class 1 misdemeanor. There is one carve-out: where a § 28-3308 failure to appear suspension is the sole suspension, § 28-3482 makes the driving a civil traffic violation, and proof that the unrestricted privilege was reinstated lets the court dismiss. That makes the MVD record, and the reason behind each suspension on it, the first thing we pull.

Old fines can be part of the story. Tempe Municipal Court runs a Compliance Assistance Program for past due financial obligations, which lets a person set up a time payment contract. The court says that taking part releases a suspension tied to criminal traffic fines and fees owed to the Tempe court, while any other suspension reason has to be cleared with MVD before driving privileges come back.

The tow is its own process. Tempe's Vehicle Impound Unit lists the violations covered by the state's 20-day tow law, among them driving on a revoked license, driving with no license and no record of ever having one, a canceled license combined with a collision and no proof of insurance, a driver under 21 with any alcohol in the body, and an ignition interlock violation. A suspended license is not on that list. To contest the tow, an owner calls the Post Storage Hearing Message Line at 480-350-8465; the hearing that follows is about the car and leaves the charge untouched.

Do not assume the court will appoint you a lawyer. Arizona Rule of Criminal Procedure 6.1(b) entitles an indigent defendant to appointed counsel in a proceeding that may result in punishment by loss of liberty. In misdemeanor court, the prosecutor can avow that no jail will be requested and the judge can rule that no jail will be imposed, and once that happens, there is no right to appointed counsel at all. Arizona's Court of Appeals upheld exactly that in Campa v. Fleming, 134 Ariz. 330 (App. 1982), on a class 1 misdemeanor carrying up to six months in jail, for a defendant who was on probation and facing immigration consequences.

Avoiding jail is not the same as avoiding a conviction. A criminal traffic conviction goes on your record, can trigger or extend MVD action, and can matter to an employer who relies on you to drive. Commercial drivers, licensed professionals and anyone who is not a U.S. citizen should get advice before entering any plea.