Traffic Court

I've got to go to court Friday for a ticket. I've never been to court before. What can I expect and how long will I be there? Sucks it's on my birthday.

 

time: 30 min to 2 hours

plead guilty and pay the fine/court costs.

 

you might be able to talk to the DA or an assitant to plead down the charges and have it not affect your insurance

you can hope the cop doesn't show up - happened to a few friends who've fought the ticket and once the cop doesn't show, they dont' ahve to pay anything

in NH, my friend fought the ticket and won...the cop showed up. he had to question the cop and the cop questioned him...had to do an opening and closing statement and such. he made the cop look like an idiot on the stand haha

it really depends on how things are done where you are.

 

Fight it, demand a trial by jury, if the issuing officer isn't there and it's a speeding ticket, say it's a mistrial on those charges.

It'll likely be dropped. I've done it twice, the courts are too backed up here for them to persue it.

Or you could just be quiet, humble and pay the fine. It'll go on your record then, but it's up to you. It'll probably be less of a hassle.

 

Court sucks ass period, expect an ass of a judge and fines

 

i got a ticket for going through a stopsign once, when i was 17. i paid it. i was guilty. did the driving school thingie to clear my record. haven't received a ticket since, though i've gotten warnings and once the cop gave me a ticket to give to my husband who wasn't there. i'm jovial. it must be sort of a relief.

 

Trial by jury for a traffic ticket? I've never heard of such a thing.

 

Never been in that position before , hope everything turns out good for you.

 

it's always your right to be tried by a jury in court. always. it's constitutional. if they'd lose more money trying you than letting you go, typically they'll let it pass...unless enough people start asking for it, then you maybe screwed. though my father won his jury traffic case on preponderance of evidence. apparently the officer assumed he rolled through the stop sign despite the fact that the officer couldn't actually SEE the stop sign from where he was eating his donuts in the squad car.

 

court sucks cuz your going to have to wait!!! sitting, waiting, sitting, waiting.
till all the cases before yours are over.... then its your turn.... then you sit and wait till your paper-work is processed(i don't know if this applies to you).... then finally ya get to leave.


ive been to court about 20-30 times and it never changes...

 

explain to the judge how there was no traffic violation but how the secret government is trying to bring you down for all you know

 

You'll have to come up with cause. My friend said the prosecutor was after him for political reasons. His fathers a lawyer, and they tried to get another date set.

Somehow in the midst of that, he got away with a speeding charge. I'm not even sure his dad knew about it.

 

it is my understanding that if you do fight it, and lose, then you can't go to traffic school. I could be wrong though. I'd just plead guilty, because it won't go against you if you go to traffic shool.

 

I once tried to fight a ticket in Texas. Made a date. Waited the whole morning to see the judge, and the bitch asks me if I want to fight it. I said hell ya and tried to plead my case, and the bitch says no you can't fight it now this is just for me to set another date to fight it. But if I didn't want to fight the charge I would've just paid the fuckin ticket and not wasted my whole fuckin morning. Stupid bitch. In Florida you set a date and that's it. Needless to say I paid the ticket. Guess their bullshit jackin me around worked. Texas sux ass.

 

I've had a few tickets and fought one with a traffic lawyer. I was speeding way over the limit (about 60 kph over) and the law here says that more than 50kph above the limit is a major offense (1 year suspension, lots of demerits and a huge fine) but less than 50 is a slap on the wrist...

so... he said that since my car is so old we could argue that the speedo was way out, if there was some way it could be proven to be way out... and guess what it magically tested about 20 kph slower than actual speed... so I got a reduced charge instead and kept my license...

moral of the story there are loopholes, and laws can be bent if you find a lawyer to help. if you're looking at a stupid charge then just pay it, but if you have a really bad charge DON'T PLEAD GUILTY!!! try to cut a deal, lawyers are worth the money.

 

I ran into a tree in a national park (national colonial park... yorktown battlefield) went 300 feet into trees off of a US highway and had weed in the dashboard.

I went to the hospital and split my head open and they gave me wreckless driving charges. The front end was so messed up that the doors wouldn't unlock/open and I had to crawl through the trunk and fold the backseat down, then I just laid on the side of the road till the paramedics picked me up. Next thing I knew I woke up and a doctor was stapling my head and stitching me.. sticking tetnus boosters into me and needles... IV...

Then they gave me a bunch of painkillers... which I wouldn't normally take, but since I was in a car accident and could not feel my face since it hurt so bad and had nerve damage done to my leg and a cerebral contusion, I decided to accept the offer and told them to crank it up.

Anyway, I plead not guilty due to the fact that nobody witnessed the accident and the officer did not even phone anyone in my family after I told them two or three different people he could call. Then I said I was staying there and not going to the hospital until he did... but he never did. I wasn't drinking or anything... I had smoked hours earlier that night, but I don't do DUI...I pull over and just chill at peoples' houses. It was only because I hadn't slept but 4 hours that night and was installing air conditioners and going to school that day... so I fell asleep, I suppose. I didn't even remember, so I couldn't say anything anyway.

They reduced the charges to improper driving because the officer said I appeared to be tired and it was 1am (I took my friend home; she had broken down in the middle of nowhere). $150 fine/court costs.

Then I sold it for parts to this used foreign car parts place.

It was a '96 Toyota Camry XLE, but I got an '04 Volkswagen Jetta VR6 now out of the insurance.

 

what was the ticket for??

 

The cop claims I ran a stop sign, which I didn't. What's odd is that I wasn't pulled over until I was over a block away from were I made the alleged offense. I would like to know where this cop was when he saw me run the stop sign, because I didn't even see the cop car behind me until seconds before I was pulled over. For all I know, it could have been a different car he saw.

 

well than maybe you should fight it, that one's on you. But it would probably be cheaper to plead guilty and do the 4 hour traffic school, then to get a lawyer and fight it with no guarentees...

 

I am not going to any traffic school for a couple points on my license. I will speak with the DA, have the charge lowered, and plead guilty to the lesser charge. That makes the most sense.