I am going to court on Friday, need help!

[ElectricEyes]

I am going to court on this friday to protest my speeding citation. i hope the police who caught me will not show up, so then i will win the trial. But what if he shows up, what should i say? by the way, is following the flow of the traffic
legal even my speed was over the speed limit??

 

[MrBond]

Try using the search function, there have been lots of threads with advice this summer. I think its due in part to the kids being out of school and speeding in their parents cars

 

[somethingwitty]

how fast over the limit were you?

btw, ditch the "flow of traffic" defense-you're basically saying "everyone else was breaking the law, so i did too-and then I got caught. waaah"

 

[NJArtist]

Listen bro, the cop NEVER shows up...why? CUZ he/she's working!

YOu'll probably get a point reduction just for waiting in line to walk into the prosecutors office and a fine raise.

Why?

You think the court wants to sit there all day dealing with every mofo who claim's not guilty when they have better stuff to do? They just want to process you as fast as they can and if they can get you out of there, they'll do it.

Just get in line and wait for the prosecutor...he'll cut you a "deal", you say okay and you plead guilty to a lesser charge with a higher fine.

I was stopped for running a stop sign...they changed it to impeding traffic, a no point parking violation?!?!?!
I was stopped for speeding, they dropped me 2 points....whatever

These guys want to get the hell out of that court room as much as you do.

 

[riddelrp]

<< how fast over the limit were you?

btw, ditch the &quot;flow of traffic&quot; defense-you're basically saying &quot;everyone else was breaking the law, so i did too-and then I got caught. waaah&quot; >>


I agree, say that you followed the flow of traffic will get you a nice full payment/full points ticket.

Think of this. I was in a bank. Two guys robbed one of the tellers. Since the other teller still had money I robed her. Would I go to court and say, &quot;well they did it so I thought it was ok.&quot; Nope, not unless I want to spend a few years behind bars with Bubba:Q!

-Ryan

 

[riddelrp]

WRONG! The cop is working, but he/she gets paid to go to court. They stay on the clock while they are there. Let's think about this. If you were a cop, would oyu rather:
A)Ride around in a cop car and get out in the heat to write MORE tickets or;
B)Sit in an air-conditioned court house for half the day getting the same pay and do a quarter the work?

I know a few cops and they say they jump on every oportunity to go to court. They don't have to do anything except for 5 minutes of testifing and get paid for half a day of work. Where I live [Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan] if you get points you can buy them off your record (very bribe[sp?] like!). I have never received a ticket, but my friends have.

They have all had the option of geting the points, or paying $100 per point to get them removed. PAY TO GET THEM REMOVED if you get the option. Each point raises insurance about $100-$150 a year for 3 years, so the pay off is VERY much so worth it. I know this because my sister is an actuary sceintist for the second largest insurance company in the US. She calculates rates to make the company as much $$$ as possible without making the plan look bad. However, she does Commercial Auto mainly, so I can't get her to lower your rates, sorry .

-Ryan



<< Listen bro, the cop NEVER shows up...why? CUZ he/she's working!

YOu'll probably get a point reduction just for waiting in line to walk into the prosecutors office and a fine raise.

Why?

You think the court wants to sit there all day dealing with every mofo who claim's not guilty when they have better stuff to do? They just want to process you as fast as they can and if they can get you out of there, they'll do it.

Just get in line and wait for the prosecutor...he'll cut you a &quot;deal&quot;, you say okay and you plead guilty to a lesser charge with a higher fine.

I was stopped for running a stop sign...they changed it to impeding traffic ?!?!?!
I was stopped for speeding, they dropped me 2 points....whatever

These guys want to get the hell out of that court room as much as you do. >>

 

[NJArtist]

Trust me bro, if they had to bring in every cop every day for every traffic violation, there wouldn't be any cops on the street. When the hells the last time you got a ticket man?

The line for violations is like 50 ppl long! If you live in SmallTownX, Utah, than I guess the cop could be there, but for the rest of us, HELL NO.

You obviously DIDN'T read my post:

&quot;YOu'll probably get a point reduction just for waiting in line to walk into the prosecutors office and a fine raise&quot;

 

[Rent]

The cops usually show here in Dallas. I've been to court twice and lost with no reduction in the fine or charge.

You'll have a very 1 sided arguement. My experience is that the court will usually side with the cop unless there is FLAT OUT compelling evidence that you were not breaking the law. My suggestion? Go there, have some detailed questions for the cop and make sure you sound confident, the first time I did this I was weak and the judge basically bitchslapped me for wasting their time. That was one of the things I was trying to do tho...

Have record of the time of day, traffic conditions, cop position if you can... just don't expect to win.

 

[Cenalian]

No, they schedule the court dates so that most cops have all thier trials on the same day. Alteast in Canada.

If he shows up and you can't get away, say this to the judge:

&quot;Your honor, I come before the court with a proposition. Instead of paying my fine to the court, I ask that you look with me upon mercy, forget the ticket, and allow me to donate the amount of the ticket to a local charity of this courts choice.&quot;

If the judge says no, he looks like a @$$hole infront of all the people in his court. If he says yes, you get away with no points, and get a tax write off at the end of the year. Win-win situation for you.

 

[NaturalChiller]

Just say your honor, I didn't watch my friends die face down in the mud at Khe San to come back here and get hassled by the Man!! I was following the flow of traffic just like i did back in 'Nam.

 

[riddelrp]

Heard of Detroit, Michigan? About a million people there. About 50,000 in Grosse Pointe Farms, plus all the people from the other Grosse Pointes (Shores, City, Woods, Park) that drive through the Farms every day. About a total of 7 million people living within 10 miles of downtown Detroit . . . so yeah, I guess I live in the middle of nowhere since Grosse Pointe is 6 miles from Downtown, at least my front door is, the edge of G.P. is about 4.5 miles away.

-Ryan

PS: Not everyone fights it. Actually on average less then 5%. Not many people can get time off work to fight the ticket. So there are plenty of cops left on the street. And in Grosse Pointe Woods, unless you donate a few mil to the city each year you aren't getting off the ticket or even a reduction.

PPS: I did read your post.


<< Trust me bro, if they had to bring in every cop every day for every traffic violation, there wouldn't be any cops on the street. When the hells the last time you got a ticket man?

The line for violations is like 50 ppl long! If you live in SmallTownX, Utah, than I guess the cop could be there, but for the rest of us, HELL NO.

You obviously DIDN'T read my post:

&quot;YOu'll probably get a point reduction just for waiting in line to walk into the prosecutors office and a fine raise&quot; >>

 

[riddelrp]

<< Just say your honor, I didn't watch my friends die face down in the mud at Khe San to come back here and get hassled by the Man!! I was following the flow of traffic just like i did back in 'Nam. >>


I think I would get arrested for purgery if I said this . . . born in 1982, 'nam was kinda over.

-Ryan

 

[vthorts]

What state was it in?

 

[NWRMidnight]

I'm sorry to say, but whether you where following the flow of traffic, if you are over the speed limit, you are breaking the law, along with everyone else. Now if you try to say use that as the defense, you will loose. And you are problably wondering why you? Think of it this way: Have you ever been fishing? Have you ever Caught ALL of the fish? You where just the unlucky fish that got caught.

A a questions for you: How much traffic was there, if during rush hour, how can the police officer actually prove you are the car that he radared (if a radar was used)?

Now, I don't know about where you are from, but here in Washington state, if they radar you, you have the legal right to 1) see the readout of the radar at the time of the citation, and if they didn't lock it, or can't show you, it isn't admisable. 2) You have the right to question the calibration of the Radar, and request calibration records, to make them prove that the radar was accurate and calibrated to local/state laws. 3) If you where paced, they must pace you for, I believe, 2 miles (I may be wrong about the distance on this) and you have the legal right to request logs on the calibraton of the speedometer in the police car.

To finish this, here is a good one for you :
I had an insurance man that got off on a ticket because the police officer said he paced him for 3 miles, however, the insurance man saw the police officer writing a ticket 1 mile back to another motorist, so he requested to see the mile marker writen on the ticker prior to his, when they learned that the officer lied, and could not have paced him for 3 miles as he stated (his own ticket book proved this) the case was thrown out. I don't know if the police officer was repromanded. IMO he should have been dismissed for fraud, since he knownly falsified legal documents.


Now, IMO, you have already admitted to speeding, so I would be a responsible man about it, and admit that you are guilty, and get it reduced if possible, and pay the fine.

Regards,
Daniel

 

[ElectricEyes]

thank you for your advice, guys! I am in the Bay Area, and it was around 4:00 p.m
the cop just came out of nowhere and caught me, damn. And i was driving just 75m/hr where the limit was like 60 or 65,,