Tennessee Criminal Lawyer Blog

Tennessee Speeding Ticket Attorneys understand that Tennessee law is designed to make our roads and highways safe. Speeding is a concern for lawmakers and law enforcement officials statewide. The police officers throughout Tennessee do the best job they can to enforce these laws for public safety. What should you do when you receive a speeding ticket in Tennessee? Most people simply pay the Tennessee Speeding Ticket through the mail, but this could be more expensive down the road.

Tennessee Speeding Ticket Attorneys understand that the facts and circumstances surrounding each speeding citation are different. Whenever you pay your ticket through the mail, you are essentially pleading guilty to the offense of speeding. This may cause your annual insurance rates to go up depending upon your insurance coverage. The increase of payments to your insurance company over time may be much more expensive than the cost of the paying the speeding ticket.

If you are convicted of a traffic offense, points may also be applied to your license. If enough points accrue, your license could be suspended. Transportation in today’s society seems to be a necessity, instead of a privilege. It is important to have a license for work, grocery shopping, and almost every basic activity, especially in rural areas. In addition, a speeding ticket can be devastating if you have a commercial license. Companies are increasingly letting go drivers who speed and receive traffic tickets.

An experienced Tennessee Traffic Attorney can help Tennessee drivers reach the best resolution for their speeding ticket or other traffic violation. Before you simply pay the traffic ticket through the mail, consider the consequences associated with simply paying the ticket.

The impact that a worthless checks charge can have on your life is enormous. It is important to realize that the facts of every worthless checks case in Tennessee are different. Our Tennessee theft lawyers handle worthless checks charges in the Gatlinburg, Sevierville, Pigeon Forge, and Knoxville area.

According to Tennessee law, A person commits the crime of passing worthless checks if he, knowingly or with fraudulent intent:

• issues or passes a check or similar sight order knowing there are not sufficient funds on deposit to pay it and other outstanding checks in full, or
• stops payment on a check (provided the items or services bought were represented at the time the check was issued). Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-14-121 (2007).

This statute permits a person to issue a stop payment order on a check if the goods or services were not as represented at the time the check was written. The statute permits fraudulent intent to be inferred if there was no bank account when the check was written or passed, or if the person did not “make good” within 10 days after being notified that the check was rejected by the bank. However, another provision of this law states that it does not apply to a post-dated or other check if the payee has good reason to believe the drawer did not have sufficient funds on deposit when the check was written.

The crime of passing worthless checks is punished the same as theft in Tennessee. The amount on the face of the check represents the value of the theft for purposes of assessing punishment.

• It is a Class A misdemeanor if the value of the property obtained is five hundred dollars ($500) or less;
• It is an E felony if the value of the property obtained is more than five hundred dollars ($500) but less than one thousand dollars ($1,000);
• It is a Class D felony if the value of the property obtained is one thousand dollars ($1,000) or more but less than ten thousand dollars ($10,000);
• It is a Class C felony if the value of the property or services obtained is ten thousand dollars ($10,000) or more but less than sixty thousand dollars ($60,000); and
• It is a Class B felony if the value of the property or services obtained is sixty thousand dollars ($60,000) or more. Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-14-105 (2007).

A conviction of a worthless checks charge could adversely affect your future employment, reputation in the community, and liberty interests. An individual charged with worthless checks should contact a Tennessee Criminal Lawyer as quickly as possible to discuss different legal avenues that may be pursued.

Knoxville DUI attorneys understand that if you are charged with DUI for the first time, you are probably concerned and worried about your future. Our Knoxville DUI lawyers realize that Driving Under the Influence is typically not a crime involving malice. Many individuals charged with DUI are not familiar with the criminal justice system. The DUI laws and regulations are confusing and seem to change frequently.

Under Tennessee law, any person convicted for a first offense DUI shall be fined between $350 and $1,500. The court will prohibit a convicted person from driving a vehicle in the state of Tennessee for a period of one year. Tenn. Code Ann. § 55-10-403 (2007). A first offense DUI violation is a Class A misdemeanor. The jail time depends upon the circumstances surrounding the conviction.

If you are less than twenty-one years of age at the time of the offense, the court shall sentence you to confinement in the county jail or workhouse for a minimum of forty-eight hours to a maximum of eleven months and twenty-nine days incarceration. As a condition of probation, you must remove litter during daylight hours from state route highways or state-aid highways, for a period of twenty-four hours. The period of litter removal shall be served in three shifts of eight consecutive hours each.

If you are twenty-one years of age or older at the time of the offense, the court shall sentence you to confinement in the county jail or workhouse for not less than twenty-four hours nor more than eleven months and twenty-nine days. As a condition of probation, you must remove litter during daylight hours from state route highways or state-aid highways for a period of twenty-four hours. The period of litter removal shall be served in three shifts of eight consecutive hours each.

• If at the time of the offense the alcohol concentration in your blood or breath is twenty hundredths of one percent (.20%) or greater, the minimum period of confinement for you must be seven consecutive calendar days rather than forty-eight hours.

• If at the time of the offense, you were accompanied by a child under eighteen years of age, you must be punished by a mandatory minimum incarceration of thirty days and a mandatory minimum fine of one thousand dollars $1,000.

• If at the time of the offense, you were accompanied by a child under eighteen years of age, and the child suffers serious bodily injury as a result of the DUI, the violation is a Class D felony.

• If at the time of the offense, you were accompanied by a child under eighteen years of age, and the child is killed as a result of the DUI, the violation is a Class C felony.

Contact a Knoxville DUI lawyer to talk about the facts and circumstances surrounding your case. A Knoxville DUI attorney can discuss different legal avenues applicable to you. Our Knoxville attorneys handle DUI cases in Knoxville, Sevierville, Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg, Loudon, Maryville, and Newport.