Police Requirement to Issue a Motor Vehicle Citation

The Massachusetts Appeals Court recently addressed the requirement of police to issue a citation at the scene of a motor vehicle violation.  Specifically, the court in Commonwealth v. O’Leary heard testimony regarding the failure of an office to issue a ticket to the defendant driver in a motor vehicle accident until nine days after the incident.  The opinion in O’Leary explained that the failure by the officer to issue a citation met one of the enumerated exceptions to the rule and that the serious injuries that were sustained in an accident created an “ineradicable record of the event.”  In this set of circumstances, the court dispensed with the citation requirement citing the purpose of the statute as otherwise met.

Massachusetts General Laws chapter 90C, Section 2 provides in pertinent part that:

“A failure to give a copy of the citation [for an automobile law violation] to the violator at the time and place of the violation shall constitute a defense in any court proceeding for such violation, except where the violator could not have been stopped or where additional time was reasonably necessary to determine the nature of the violation or the identity of the violator, or where the court finds that a circumstance, not inconsistent with the purpose of this section to create a uniform, simplified and non-criminal method for dispensing automobile law violations, justifies the failure.  In such case the violation shall be recorded upon a citation as soon as possible after such violation and the citation shall be delivered to the violator or mailed to him at his residential or mail address or to the address appearing on this license or registration.”

In O’Leary, the defendant driver and his passenger were in an accident in which the car hit a stop sign and rolled over five times before coming to a stop.  The female passenger was covered in blood and broken glass at the scene and suffered broken ribs, loss of consciousness and at one point feared for her life.  The police officer did not issue a citation to the defendant at the scene and only wrote one nine days later.  The defendant did not receive the notice for 5-6 weeks due to an incorrect zip code on the citation.

When the police spoke with the defendant at the hospital, he admitted to driving the vehicle and was advised that he would be receiving a citation.  The Superior Court judge that first heard the case opined that the notice given to the defendant in the hospital was insufficient because the defendant was boarded, immobilized and receiving treatment for his injuries at the time.  The Appeals Court relied on the implicit notice to the defendant based solely on the serious nature of the injuries to over rule that notice requirement and allow the Commonwealth to proceed with their case.

While the Appeals Court did not dispense with the requirement of police to issue a citation at the time and place of a motor vehicle infraction, they did expand the statute to mean that whenever there is a serious motor vehicle accident in which there are injuries, the police may dispense with the citation requirement.

If you have been involved in a motor vehicle incident and need experienced counsel, please contact Criminal Attorney Kristen F. Bonavita at 978-376-6746.