Football Star’s South Florida Traffic Tickets Dismissed, but Firearms Charges Remain
Former New York Giants football player Plaxico Burress successfully contested four traffic tickets from Broward County, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported June 1. Burress was pulled over March 1 and issued tickets for speeding, improper lane changes, overly tinted windows and improper display of his tags. Burress and his Fort Lauderdale traffic tickets defense attorney contested all four tickets because he was not given information on paying or fighting them, as required by Florida state law. Neither Burress nor the sheriff’s deputy testified at the hearing.
As this case shows, you don’t necessarily have to plead guilty to a traffic violation just because you get a ticket. Law enforcement officers are human and make mistakes at work just like the rest of us, and sometimes, those mistakes can get your ticket dismissed. Furthermore, pleading guilty -- which you do automatically whenever you pay the ticket -- can have consequences that affect your driving record and your life. Because paying a ticket adds points to your license, people who pay easily contested tickets unnecessarily sign up for a license suspension, which can lead to yet more legal trouble when they don’t realize they’re driving on a suspended license. At Balliro, Galasso, Leskovich & Seltzer, our Miami traffic ticket defense lawyers protect our clients from unreasonably harsh penalties for minor traffic infractions like speeding.
Burress faces more legal trouble, most notably for a firearms violation. The former Giants wide receiver carried a handgun in the waistband of his sweatpants into a Manhattan nightclub, where the gun began to slip down into his pants. In catching it, he accidentally pulled the trigger and shot himself in the right thigh. The wound was not serious, but he had no concealed weapons permit for the state of New York, and only an expired one from Florida. He was charged with unlawfully carrying a handgun and suspended for the rest of the season. Reports say Burress, who has a home in Lighthouse Point, would be interested in joining the Miami Dolphins if he’s acquitted, but is in talks with other teams.
As Fort Myers firearms violations defense lawyers, we wish Burress luck with his firearms case as well. Carrying a concealed weapon is a victimless crime in itself, and it infringes on citizens’ Second Amendment rights. In fact, in this case, the only victim is Plaxico Burress himself, who suffered a gunshot wound and professional consequences for his mistake. BGL&S is proud to represent people accused of firearms violations in South Florida, including concealed weapons violations, felon in possession charges and civil matters before state and federal regulatory agencies. Several of our Sarasota weapons charges defense attorneys are hunters, collectors and marksmen, so we understand the bureaucratic hassles our clients face to exercise their legal rights.
BGL&S represents Floridians accused of all types of crimes, from traffic tickets to serious, violent crimes. Our South Florida criminal defense attorneys don’t believe in the automatic plea deals that some other firms strike. We have taken hundreds of cases to trial and we are more than happy to do the same for our clients, when justice demands it. And because we know criminal charges come at all times of day and night, we make ourselves available to clients and potential clients anytime -- 24 hours a day and seven days a week. If you or a loved one is accused of a crime and you need help, contact BGL&S online as soon as possible for a free, confidential consultation or call 1-866-ARRESTED toll-free.
