Misdemeanor!?!?

[bestcoast]

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A friend is matching this year.
He just found out that he has gotten a misdemeanor.
Basically, he got a speeding ticket at a speed trap zone. He forgot to pay the ticket on time and did not appear in court. Now he has a "no show" --> "contempt" misdemeanor charge.
The clerk told him that it's not a misdemeanor in the sense of criminal offense but in the sense of "moving violation".

How bad is that? He is going there this week to pay for it.

 

[deleted87716]

How bad is that?

What do you mean, on a scale of jaywalking to genocide? I'd give it a 0.1.

 

[topsurgeon2010]

A friend is matching this year.
He just found out that he has gotten a misdemeanor.
Basically, he got a speeding ticket at a speed trap zone. He forgot to pay the ticket on time and did not appear in court. Now he has a "no show" --> "contempt" misdemeanor charge.
The clerk told him that it's not a misdemeanor in the sense of criminal offense but in the sense of "moving violation".

How bad is that? He is going there this week to pay for it.

once he pays it'll be thrown out..but he should pay ASAP...not a big deal

 

[bestcoast]

Won't residency program kick him out if they found out he has a record of "contempt" in civil court?

 

[gutonc]

Won't residency program kick him out if they found out he has a record of "contempt" in civil court?

Your "friend" should think about talking to a "lawyer."

 

[zagazig]

Your "friend" should think about talking to a "lawyer."

this made me LOL

 

[bestcoast]

Your "friend" should think about talking to a "lawyer."

Haha. I'm actually in a program right now so I'm not worried =P

 

[Siggy]

Won't residency program kick him out if they found out he has a record of "contempt" in civil court?

What state is it in? Not all states treat traffic violations as "civil." In California, for example, an infraction is the lowest of three types of crimes (the other two being felonies and misdemeanors). As such, technically traffic court is criminal court. Granted, my understanding is failure to appear charges are generally dismissed once the defendant appears and pays fines, but I wouldn't brush it off as being "civil court" either.

 

[bestcoast]

So here's an update.
Basically, there is a citation for speeding and a citation for contempt.
According to the clerk, if he just pays, he is pleaing gulity for both citations and the contempt will be a "indirect contempt" counted as misdemeanor.
He talked to a lawyer and the lawyer said he should be able to get the contempt charge dropped.

Here's the thing. When he submitted his ERAS, he had no idea about this.
Should he tell the program director on Friday? Can the program just kick him out like this?
I mean it's simply because he forgot about a speeding ticket (non-criminal. Apparently the court asks ALL speeding violators to appear in court instead just mailing out the fine)

 

[bestcoast]

Ha I think I have too much time today (2 patients scheduled for the clinic because of a secretarial error).

Anyhoo, if you have read the other thread about the "misdemeanor", you would know that a friend of mine (not willing to sign up here because of paranoia) recently found out about the unpaid speeding ticket causing him to have a "contempt of court" charge for not showing up in court.
It turns out that the city asks all speeding violators to appear in court. My friend thought the city would simply mail him the fine and forgot about it. He found out this month when a friend got stopped and was found to have a bench warrant + contempt charge for the same reason.

Basically, he did not mention about the charge in ERAS because he was not aware of it at the time.
Should he talk to his program director this Friday asap or should he wait for the lawyer to clear things up?

 

[topsurgeon2010]

So here's an update.
Basically, there is a citation for speeding and a citation for contempt.
According to the clerk, if he just pays, he is pleaing gulity for both citations and the contempt will be a "indirect contempt" counted as misdemeanor.
He talked to a lawyer and the lawyer said he should be able to get the contempt charge dropped.

Here's the thing. When he submitted his ERAS, he had no idea about this.
Should he tell the program director on Friday? Can the program just kick him out like this?
I mean it's simply because he forgot about a speeding ticket (non-criminal. Apparently the court asks ALL speeding violators to appear in court instead just mailing out the fine)

dont tell the director until he/you tries to get the contempt charge dropped which will happen once you pay the citation..it's a minor mistake happens quite commonly

 

[Winged Scapula]

I'm not sure why you're creating a *new* thread to basically discuss the same issue, so I'll merge them for you...

 

[bestcoast]

Here's an update. My friend would like some advices again.
Basically, he hired a lawyer, paid the fine, explained the situation and had the contempt charge dismissed unconditionally.
However, on the license application, here's one question:

17. Have you ever been arrested or forfeited collateral, bail, bond for breach or violation of any law, police regulation or ordinance other than for a minor traffic violation; been summoned into court as a defendant or had any law suite filed against you?

Based on what the lawyer said initially after the court date, she said that since he was never arrested, the charges were in the context of a minor traffic violation, and the contempt charge was dismissed without arrest, he should've said no to the above question. So he put NO to that question.

Should he contact the medical board and tell them that he would change the answer to YES and give an explanation of what happened at the traffiic court?

 

[survivordo]

It is really not going to be a big deal. What WILL be a big deal is if anyone gets the sense that he is trying to hide it or in anyway be untruthful. As long as he is upfront about it and does his best to contact everyone it will all be fine.

Survivor DO

 

[spinnerette]

One of the residents I know got arrested because of outstanding speeding tickets right before he started residency.
No one cares. It's not like you had a drug, DUI or assault charge dismissed

 

[Rippey]

Here's an update. My friend would like some advices again.
Basically, he hired a lawyer, paid the fine, explained the situation and had the contempt charge dismissed unconditionally.
However, on the license application, here's one question:

17. Have you ever been arrested or forfeited collateral, bail, bond for breach or violation of any law, police regulation or ordinance other than for a minor traffic violation; been summoned into court as a defendant or had any law suite filed against you?

Based on what the lawyer said initially after the court date, she said that since he was never arrested, the charges were in the context of a minor traffic violation, and the contempt charge was dismissed without arrest, he should've said no to the above question. So he put NO to that question.

Should he contact the medical board and tell them that he would change the answer to YES and give an explanation of what happened at the traffiic court?

lol just admit this is you, not some friend. ur not fooling anyone

 

[DoctorMedic]

Here's an update. My friend would like some advices again.
Basically, he hired a lawyer, paid the fine, explained the situation and had the contempt charge dismissed unconditionally.
However, on the license application, here's one question:

17. Have you ever been arrested or forfeited collateral, bail, bond for breach or violation of any law, police regulation or ordinance other than for a minor traffic violation; been summoned into court as a defendant or had any law suite filed against you?

Based on what the lawyer said initially after the court date, she said that since he was never arrested, the charges were in the context of a minor traffic violation, and the contempt charge was dismissed without arrest, he should've said no to the above question. So he put NO to that question.

Should he contact the medical board and tell them that he would change the answer to YES and give an explanation of what happened at the traffiic court?

1) ERAS only asks for felonies so not reporting this is np. Also no need to disclose to the PD if it was only a charge and not a conviction as Employers (residency programs) can only inquire about convictions not arrests.
2) Medical Boards being state entities can inquire a lot more in depth and can get arrest as well as conviction records. Your "friend" was arrested but not booked, there is a difference. When a citation is issued for a misdemeanor that is the police or court basically arresting you and releasing you to your own recognizance. I had a juvenile MIP citation that was dismissed, I still reported it to the my state's Med Board because I would much rather them ask me about it now than thinking I tried to lie to them in the future.
3) Your "friend" should report it as an arrest with no conviction.

"For most misdemeanors, the police will arrest or detain a person and then make a decision as to whether or not to hold that person in custody or release them with a criminal citation to appear in court. In some cases they may be issued a criminal citation, which looks a lot like a traffic ticket, at the scene and released without even seeing the inside of a police station."

Source: http://blog.la-criminal-defense.com/the-process-of-arrest-booking-and-arraignment/

 

[NotAProgDirector]

1) ERAS only asks for felonies

Although this was true in the past, ERAS now asks for misdemeanors also.

 

[DoctorMedic]

Although this was true in the past, ERAS now asks for misdemeanors also.

You are correct thank you for making this correction.

To the OP, the point still stands that ERAS does only ask for convictions and not arrests. The explanation I received was that employers (ERAS goes to residencies which would actually be your employer) are not allowed to ask for anything but convictions because arrests could cause unfair bias and discriminatory hiring for a crime someone was never convicted of. States and government agencies are allowed to see this information to determine if there is a pattern of behavior that is concerning.

 

[VenusinFurs]

Just call the state board. They won't care if you messed up the application due to an honest mistake, they'll just care if you never fix it.

 

[medres2145]

hey guys I was hoping you could help me.

I was recently arrested for smoking marijuana in public. so stupid i know, it was the first and last time. regardless the charges were later dismissed and I was not convicted. however the judge stated that the incident would be removed from my record in 3 months permanently. But in that time my the board of medical examiners has a mandatory background check for incoming pgy-2s and the arrest was found. Now the board is asking for an explanation.

I'm freaking out and im sure someone is going to tell me i'm screwed but has anyone else had to deal with getting caught with marijuana while in residency or know anyone that has? I'm pretty distraught

 

[FamilyMed2016]

hey guys I was hoping you could help me.

I was recently arrested for smoking marijuana in public. so stupid i know, it was the first and last time. regardless the charges were later dismissed and I was not convicted. however the judge stated that the incident would be removed from my record in 3 months permanently. But in that time my the board of medical examiners has a mandatory background check for incoming pgy-2s and the arrest was found. Now the board is asking for an explanation.

I'm freaking out and im sure someone is going to tell me i'm screwed but has anyone else had to deal with getting caught with marijuana while in residency or know anyone that has? I'm pretty distraught

You are not screwed, but you are not in a good position. I think the board sees lots of marijuana related arrests, but they usually occur in the applicant's youth (18-23 yrs of age). The fact that this occurred while in residency is going to raise some red flags, as it should. First thing you do, retain a lawyer. Second thing, be honest with the board. Don't try to hide anything. Probably should tell your PD, ask your lawyer first. I would expect at the very least you will have to sign a consent agreement and go through some sort of treatment (even though there was no conviction). Drug and alcohol meetings, required drug testing, quarterly meetings with the boards etc... Bottom line is no one can answer this definitively. Retain a lawyer. Go through the process. Hope for the best. Maybe you are in Washington or Colorado, then things might be easier.

Best of luck

 

[Med Peds]

Disclose it!!!
This is peanuts compared to what state medical boards have to deal with (drugs, alcohol, inappropriate pt contact, tax fraud, medicare fraud, selling prescription drugs).
Honesty is the best policy. Just attach a copy of legal documents and an explanation.

If you lie, and dont disclose, and they catch you, your career in medicine is in serious jeopardy.
Good luck!

 

[Khaos]

Haha. Here you go. I was arrested for worse, atleast when you look at the initial charge. I was arrested for domestic violence. I went through medical school, residency, and have a job. I am about to get it finally expunged (you pay a charge to a lawyer, show up to the city it was done if need be, and they pull it from your record completely as long as they see you're not a screw up).

My brother, 17 at the time, and I (18 at the time) were in a physical altercation where pushing, shoving, and a 3 punches were thrown. I was arrested because I was 18. In the end, the judge threw out the case once he heard I was a good student, going to college, and wanting to go to medical school. I put it on all of my paperwork and never hid it. I was asked once about it during residency interviews and they laughed.

Be honest, call them up, say you (I mean your friend) need to make an addendum to your packet and explain it all out. Then, get the lawyer again and have it expunged so you will never have to bring it up again.