FAILURE TO MAINTAIN MOTOR VEHICLE TITLE RECORDS
Case No. 1700911 – Sharon E.
DISMISSED
Sharon owned an auto title services agency and was the holder of a Motor Vehicle Title Service License. Had she been convicted of this charge, she would have lost her license and her business. But a conviction seemed likely to her as she had a prior record for Fraud including False Title Application and Tampering with a Government Record to Defraud. This was a document-intensive case in which Sharon was accused of failing to keep title records for a vehicle sold from a re-po center to a man with several aliases including a father with the same name. Our position was that the tax a/c gets the title originals and that our client had provided him with all the computer scans required by law to keep. We used witness evidence in the form of Affidavits, invoices and notarized mechanic lien forms from company personnel and the seller [an ex-police officer who testified about the aliases of the Complainant], on precisely who did the transfer, how it was done, the computer scans, etc. Furthermore, the VIN is supposed to be 17 characters but was showing 18 characters; Sharon believed the buyer was being accused of stealing it which further complicated and obscured the title issues. On the eve of setting the case for Trial, Mr. Haggard forced justice to prevail.
My case involved a great number of records and was very complicated in the paperwork. Mr. Haggard showed extreme patience and diligence with the prosecutor. He worked very hard as my case was a “Dismiss or Try” case. [That is, she would not have pleaded.] My heart is pounding as I write this as he persuaded them to dismiss and save me a Trial. I think he’s the greatest!!!
~ Sharon E.
