Legal Question in Traffic Law in Texas

Hello, I received two citations for expired inspection sticker in one week. Both became cases at the municipal court. I fixed the vehicle and was charged two $20 disposal fees. One case was disposed of, one was not. Is this double jeopardy? What is going on here? Thanks for any help you can offer. Andrew


Asked on 1/05/10, 11:22 am

1 Answer from Attorneys

Paul Walcutt Law Office of Paul Holt Walcutt

The doctrine of double jeopardy applies to being punished twice or more for the same conduct (think incident rather than offense). In your situation, I don't think that doctrine applies. You committed an offense every time you operated a motor vehicle with an expired inspection sticker. You were ticket once, earlier in a week, and second later in the week. There may be a fairness argument that you could make to a prosecutor (if, for example, you got the vehicle inspected within a reasonable amount of time) but you are not being put in jeopardy twice for the same incident of conduct.

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Answered on 1/19/10, 1:25 pm


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