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Friday, March 29, 2024 | Back issues
Courthouse News Service Courthouse News Service

Driver’s Appeal Won’t Go to Washington After All

(CN) - The Supreme Court changed its mind Tuesday about its decision to take up a criminal case involving a driver who was pulled over for playing his music too loudly.

An appeals panel of the New York Supreme Court had upheld the sentence against Jose Tolentino in February 2009, after the man claimed his driving record should have been suppressed in his trial for driving with a suspended license.

After the traffic officer ran a check of Tolentino's file with the Department of Motor Vehicles, he discovered that Tolentino's license had been suspended at least 10 times prior.

Tolentino pleaded guilty to first-degree aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle in exchange for five years' probation, but he had claimed the police stop and subsequent DMV record search were illegal on appeal.

The Supreme Court agreed to review the case in November, but it is backing away now. "The writ of certiorari is dismissed as improvidently granted," the unsigned opinion states.

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