Traffic ticket help!!!

Okay, so I got my first speeding ticket a few weeks ago, and my court date is coming up in another month from now... supposedly I was going 80mph in a 45 zone, although I don't think I was going as fast as 80, and the zone is definately a 55. Regardless, the cop wrote on my ticket that I was going 80 in a 45 zone, but he wrote "No" in the box indicating whether or not he caught me on radar.
For any of y'all familiar with traffic violation court procedures, traffic school, fighting tickets etc. do you see any way I could possibly get out of this? I heard that if the cop doesn't show up to the court date you get dismissed. But say he does show up, will I have a chance of getting my fine reduced if I can prove that the speed limit was actually 55? Or are my chances better considering he didn't get me on radar?

Maybe I should be asking elsewhere but any help would be nice.....

check into if your state has a Prayer for Judgement
(pushes the ticket under the table unless you get another one in 2 years)

get a lawyer

- sed

What state are you in?

I would get a lawyer here big time. 35 over is trouble. Certainly double check that you were in a 55 and not a 45. Take pictures/video to prove it. That alone might invalidate the ticket.

Definitely show up to the court date. So many times officers don't show up to those and then your ticket is thrown out if you're there to argue on your own behalf.

I'm in california.
And some advice I got was to get the court date postponed because the officer may be less likely to show up on a rescheduled date.
And I think a lawyer is out of the question, because for that much money I might as well just go to traffic school and pay to have the point taken off my record.
I was hoping along the lines of getting the ticket invalidated because the officer put the incorrect speed limit.. though, just wondering if anyone else may have done something similar?
thanks for the replies so far... keep em coming

Check the ticket over well. Many times they'll throw the ticket out for incorrect information. Check the date, the time, the street and any other information you can. If he wrote the wrong speed limit on the ticket I bet you can get it thrown out for that.

Up here in the great north, you could get a speeding ticket thrown out for any information that is incorrect (date, time, violation, etc); furthermore, you have the right to ask the officer for his radar gun and the forms for its last calibration date. If the officer doesn't have the radar gun when you ask, he cant write you the ticket.

Either way you broke the law.

you got caught just admit it.

your best is to plead no contest and try to take a lesser charge such as driving probation or driving school.

no you dont need a lawyer for traffic court lol

cant fight it really they are pretty bias unless you have physical proof that you didnt speed.

Corey, I couldn't disagree more.

Court isn't about the truth, it's about the law.

yeah corey, didn't you see the O.J. trial?

A good lawyer can argue you out of it if you have a decent record... mine did twice within a year and a half. Worth the 200$ to avoid 2K in increased insurance? hell yeah.

- sed

This says it best.

http://www.slate.com/id/2090877

Traffic law disgusts me.

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Originally Posted by sed

yeah corey, didn't you see the O.J. trial?

A good lawyer can argue you out of it if you have a decent record... mine did twice within a year and a half. Worth the 200$ to avoid 2K in increased insurance? hell yeah.

- sed

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you must be a shitty driver then. going 100 in a 25?

really though he broke the law, his first yea, if he is under 18 take his mom or dad with him and the judge should be lenient and also

dress nice!!! nothing like a punk ass kid going to court trying to look like a bad ass

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Originally Posted by Corey

you must be a shitty driver then. going 100 in a 25?

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Not one to judge are you? I just ran into a 45->25 trap and 25 I thought was 35.... those damn 25mph zones kill me.

- sed

yup 25 mph are bitches...

Corey, WTF are you talking about? I've been to traffic court sooo many times, never hired a lawyer, and never had a ticket stick. That covers speeding, red lights, reckless driving, driving w/o license, and I'm sure I'm missing something here. Knowing the system is the key. It doesnt matter what the ticket is, follow these easy steps

1. Go to the clerk's office ahead of time and request "discovery" on your charges. They are required to give you a copy of the officers ticket. He wrote extra notes on this, try and find something wrong here.

2. Look for other errors. Yours is a good example, you have to prove that he wrote the speed limit on the ticket wrong. Incorrect date, time, license plate (yes, I have gotten off on this one), car make/model. Any of these gets you out the door. If the officer isnt there to rebut your contesting of the ticket, bye-bye.

3. If no errors, negotiate with the ADA. If they dont give you what you want, request a continuance to hire an attorney. Lather, rinse, repeat. You can normally do this two, sometimes three times, while trying to get an ADA that'll work with you.

4. As a last resort, shell out the $$$ for the lawyer. They can get you out of anything, and the little fee is worth saving on your insurance over the next 3 years. Go to court with him, to watch what he does. Learning, for the future, is always good.

One more thing, if you wind up dealing with a magistrate or judge, dont kiss their ass but be respectful. Their the most arrogant people you will ever come across, so if you piss them off (and they get pissed over the stupidest things possible) you will have alot of problems. Not trying to scare you, just be careful.

Good luck

your goal here IMO isn't getting out of the ticket but keeping it away from your insurance. I have heard good things about talking to the prosecutor before the trial, although the person who got out of their ticket that way who i know is a 50 year old woman, i doubt they'd be quite so nice to you, but that's definitely worth a try.

Next, if you don't find some blatant error in the ticket (ie, misspelled name won't get you off, wrong car make/model will), i would definitely get a lawyer. got a ticket a few months ago, 150 +70 for defensive driving class + 400 a year more for insurance. multiply that 400 x 5 years, yea you get the idea... if you can find a lawyer for 150 bucks who will keep it away from your insurance, and get that knocked down from 35 over to 25 over, you'd be dumb not to.

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Originally Posted by stevedonel

One more thing, if you wind up dealing with a magistrate or judge, dont kiss their ass but be respectful. Their the most arrogant people you will ever come across, so if you piss them off (and they get pissed over the stupidest things possible)
Good luck

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Can't agree more here. The only place you're going to find a more arrogant SOB is in a doctor's office.

Steve is right. Get a lawyer (it's not expensive) and talk to the prosecutor. Usuallly, if you get a lawyer from the same area, they both know each other anyways. Also, look for the discrepencies. Finally, it all depends on the state if a cop has to show up or not. In NY, I got a ticket, and when the cop didn't show up, like 25 of us just walked out of the courtroom home free. But in NJ, cops do NOT need to show up at all.

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Corey, WTF are you talking about? I've been to traffic court sooo many times, never hired a lawyer, and never had a ticket stick. That covers speeding, red lights, reckless driving, driving w/o license, and I'm sure I'm missing something here. Knowing the system is the key. It doesnt matter what the ticket is, follow these easy steps

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Let me explain a little bit more... No you dont need a lawyer for small traffic fines. In your case Steve yes you would need one.

This is my point. You broke the fucking law; sure go to court to get it lowered, I can gaurantee that in this case of going 80 in 45 will not be dropped. What city is stupid enough to say oh you have your lawyer with you, this case is dismissed. The best that the judge will do will probably drop the ticket to 10mph over or give you driving school and or probabation.

If your going to break the law then pay your ticket or do your best to get it knocked down.

The only reasons I would even consider getting a lawyer would be, reckless driving, no license and more severe traffic tickets...

I mean come on its a misdameanor. Since your young and you do not want this ticket on your insurance, then I would try your best to work out a deal. Ask the judge what are your options dont be afraid to ask him any way I can keep this out of my insurance?

Sure you can see if the ticket is wrote wrong, drive back to the site you were pulled over and see if he posted it wrong. Sure it might make a difference... also in misdameanor traffic court a DA will not be present, it will be you, the judge, and the court typer lady.


but either way..

you broke the law, if your going to break the law driving and get caught beware of paying for your fucking stupidness.

Sorry Corey. You make a valid point. I kept arguing the logic side of court cases to friends, friends who either are lawyers or are in law school and they always fought me.

I have to agree with Fnord.

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Originally Posted by Fnord

Court isn't about the truth, it's about the law.

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The same backward-logic that lets a killer go because the officer didn't have a warrant for that room of the house will let RHCNNN off because everything wasn't perfect.

^^^ Exactly, I'm looking for that logic that will let me off. I know I did wrong by speeding, but I still am not gonna lie down and pay a fat fine when there are possible loop holes around it. Corey you sound like a self-righteous bastard. I have my own interest in mind, and only mine, $300 will affect me majorly and the court systems 0. This is not like I stole something and to make things morally right I should give it back, its a freakin' traffic ticket and its only a lose situation for me. I don't know what inspired you to get up on your soap box, but I hope someday you get a ticket and are able to contently send in your bail money + $100's a year to your insurance without a grimace, since it WAS your own stupidity...

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Originally Posted by RHCNNN

^^^ Exactly, I'm looking for that logic that will let me off. I know I did wrong by speeding, but I still am not gonna lie down and pay a fat fine when there are possible loop holes around it. Corey you sound like a self-righteous bastard. I have my own interest in mind, and only mine, $300 will affect me majorly and the court systems 0. This is not like I stole something and to make things morally right I should give it back, its a freakin' traffic ticket and its only a lose situation for me. I don't know what inspired you to get up on your soap box, but I hope someday you get a ticket and are able to contently send in your bail money + $100's a year to your insurance without a grimace, since it WAS your own stupidity...

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Wow took it personal didnt you. You obviously dont know what your talking about. Call me what want. Morally yes you should pay it. I am saying anyone who tries to get off a ticket even though they know they have done wrong is just dumb. Lol bail money, dude its a fucking ticket you dont go to jail for that. Jeez man, this is your first ticket. I honestly wish that the judge is going to be lenient on you. I just stated the facts kid, if you cant handle the facts then dont break the law.

I hope your ticket is dropped to 10 mph over, but the way you stated your first post, that the cop stated no on your ticket for radar, so yes you have a legitimate reason to plead not guilty pay your arrianment fee then another court date will be set up. If the cop doesnt show then yes its dismissed.

If you want to fight it then fight it kid, thats up to you, good luck and I would advise look down at your speedometer every once in awhile bud.

well its kinda wack to be looking for helpful advice and someone comes along and basically says shut up and get over it, know what I mean?
And just to let it be known, I found out that there is actually law that allows you to do the whole case by written letter. The benefits of doing it this way include that the cops doesn't get paid overtime to complete the prosecution by letter (as he does when showing up to court) so hes less likely to bother with a lot of paper work, and if you lose you are still eligible for ANOTHER trial in live court. So my chances improve of getting dismissed if I do it this way... and hopefully it goes well.

Honestly RHCNNN, good luck, only way and I mean the only way for you to get out of this, is to plead not guilty.

pleading no contest means yea you did it but wont admit it.

And also try the discovery thing that stevedonel has stated.

later tonight I will post why did I just say you broke the law pay it, you should understand more of why I stated it, I wasnt trying to be an asshole.

good luck and hope your still getting some advise on the net and locally. 1 tip: call a neighboring police department or even call the court house and ask these questions..

RHCNN, good luck man. I know someone who got off because he proved something was wrong with the radar gun (like there was a recall on it or it wasn't calibrate right or something). Maybe google that or something?

Wow, a lot of drama for yo' momma in this thread. :D

After reading through everything it sounds like the written letter appeal could be your best bet. One of my best friends is a cop and he, along with just about every other cop he knows, HATES paperwork. Maybe you've got some asshole cop that would really want to fight this, but it could work.

Either way, I'd fight it. When I turned sixteen I got a speeding ticket for 30mph over and they dropped it to 20mph over (so it wasn't reckless driving or whatever). The state I live in (Kansas) also allows you to double the fine on your first two tickets to change them from speeding tickets to non-moving violations. This gets you out of the higher insurance cost mess.

Either way, good luck.

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Originally Posted by RHCNNN

^^^ Exactly, I'm looking for that logic that will let me off. I know I did wrong by speeding, but I still am not gonna lie down and pay a fat fine when there are possible loop holes around it. I have my own interest in mind, and only mine, $300 will affect me majorly and the court systems 0. This is not like I stole something and to make things morally right I should give it back, its a freakin' traffic ticket and its only a lose situation for me...

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Here's my .02. Traffic law is gay. I've had numerous tickets, some speeding and some other misc. non-moving violatioations. If you think you can find a way to get off, research your ass off and give yourself the best possible chance you can to get it reduced/dropped. As far as stealing something and making things morally right. Had you done this, you'd would still have a fine for the stealling and be required to pay restitutioin on top of it. The restitutioin pays for the stolen property, the fine is for the breaking of the law. Looked at it in this light you should have to pay the fine, because you broke the law. Still as stated above, the law is not about doing what is morally right and paying accordingly when you don't make morally correct decisions. Law and morality and are often quite different things. The more contact and incidents you have dealling with it, the more that becomes apparent. Speeding can be worse than stealing however. You didn't take anything from anybody, you potentially endangered other members of the public. They have speeding fines for a reason; they want it to hurt your wallet bad enough to make you think twice the next time you may be wanting to endanger lives of others. Sure, chances are you will not actual endanger anyone else by speeding, but the potential is there. Especially 80 in a 45 or whatever. Still good luck in not getting the book thrown at you; do all you can to put yourself in the best possible situation given the circumstances, but take the time to realize that the law is there for a reason. There is a bigger picture here than just your fine and insurance.

You're on the right track with fighting it.

If you think the speed limit was incorrect take a picture w/i 1/4 mile of where you got caught. That will give you the correct posted speed limit, but you were probably still speeding.

The cop will probably show up. I've helped a lot of people with tickets and my own tickets and the state and local cops always showed up. That's the good news. Assuming you have a fairly clean driving record, plead your case with the cop off the record. Admit that you were out of line but politely ask that they lower the charges to mimimize the effect of the ticket, ie. lower fine, less points whatever they can do in CA.

You'll have to pay a fine but hopefully the cop will be reasonable and they will not throw the book at you.