pleading not guilty to a speeding ticket. is it a REAL trial? (NJ)

[BlazingSaddles]

basically the topic.... when i go to court, will it be a real trial, like swearing in, witnesses and whatnot? if it is i'm gonna sh*t my pants lol.... call me a wuss i don't care. anyway. can i just talk to the prosecuter or something to get my points/fine reduced? thats not a big ordeal is it? just go up to him and sorta BS around, not in front of the judge or a crowd?

 

[Viper GTS]

In your case the executioner will be wearing a floral mask.

Viper GTS

 

[notfred]

You go to the courtroom w/ a whole bunch of other people who got traffic tickets. One a t atime you're called up in front of the judge. He asks how you plead. If you say "not guilty" they schedule you a time to come back, with evidence and witnesses, and the ticketing officer will be there. If you say "guilty" they ask you to pay the fine and leave.

There are a few other things that go on. You can say "I plead guilty but want to take traffic school" so that the ticket doesn't go on your record.

If your judgeis like the one in my hometown, he says "Ok, I can reduce your fine to.... " and looks up the minimum fine for your offense. (usually 35-50% less than the original fine). If you plead guilty, he makes you pay the reduced fine. If you plead not guilty, you get to go to court over the cost of the entire fine.

 

[BlazingSaddles]

up. i already pleaded not guilty and they set up a date for me.

 

[Harvey]

Then, it's a real trial. Your best defense is a good offense. That is, if you can absolutely prove you weren't speeding, you'll win.

I once beat a ticket where a cop cited me for making a darting left turn (punching out from the intersection when the light turned green to beat the oncoming traffic). He had written on the ticket that the weather was sunny and dry.

I cross examined him on the stand, and I asked him what the weather was, that day, and he said the same thing. I then handed him the weather report from the newspaper for that day, which said it had been raining and asked if he thought my Chevy would spin out if I tried that on a slick city street.

The judge shot a nasty look at the cop, and asked him to stick around, and that was the end of the trial.

 

[Keego]

Originally posted by: Harvey
Then, it's a real trial. Your best defense is a good offense. That is, if you can absolutely prove you weren't speeding, you'll win.

I once beat a ticket where a cop cited me for making a darting left turn (punching out from the intersection when the light turned green to beat the oncoming traffic). He had written on the ticket that the weather was sunny and dry.

I cross examined him on the stand, and I asked him what the weather was, that day, and he said the same thing. I then handed him the weather report from the newspaper for that day, which said it had been raining and asked if he thought my Chevy would spin out if I tried that on a slick city street.

The judge shot a nasty look at the cop, and asked him to stick around, and that was the end of the trial.

LOL EVIL!

 

[Muadib]

Originally posted by: Harvey
Then, it's a real trial. Your best defense is a good offense. That is, if you can absolutely prove you weren't speeding, you'll win.

I once beat a ticket where a cop cited me for making a darting left turn (punching out from the intersection when the light turned green to beat the oncoming traffic). He had written on the ticket that the weather was sunny and dry.

I cross examined him on the stand, and I asked him what the weather was, that day, and he said the same thing. I then handed him the weather report from the newspaper for that day, which said it had been raining and asked if he thought my Chevy would spin out if I tried that on a slick city street.

The judge shot a nasty look at the cop, and asked him to stick around, and that was the end of the trial.

Outstanding!

 

[RayH]

I plead a ticket in Bridgewater, NJ where you had to show up at around 5PM where they do a roll call to make sure you're there. Then you sit in the back of the courtroom and they start bringing in the the real offenders in orange jumpsuits and handcuffs and they sit up front with armed guards who yell at them every once in a while when they get out of line. Then for then next 4 hours or so you wait as the judge goes through the guys in orange.

It wasn't until some time after 9PM when the judge then starts going through the traffic offenses one at a time. The funny thing is that just before it's your turn, the prosecutor calls you to a back room where he asks you privately how you're going to plead and tries to "help you out". For me it was obvious that the trooper wasn't there and if I wanted to plead not guilty they could reschedule me up to 2 times before they drop the case but the prosecutor said if I plead guilty he would recommend to the judge a lower penalty. From what I could tell the judge pretty much used whatever recommendation the prosecutor gave him so I plead guilty and paid more than the original ticket due to court fees but the points was knocked from 4 down to 2. There were some people there with lawyers who didn't do any better than I did on my own so if you're not in danger of losing your license I wouldn't worry too much about it. If insurance rates due to points is a concern you're going to have to balance the increase with the cost/benefit of a lawyer.

 

[EvanGeliSt]

Originally posted by: Muadib

Originally posted by: Harvey Then, it's a real trial. Your best defense is a good offense. That is, if you can absolutely prove you weren't speeding, you'll win. I once beat a ticket where a cop cited me for making a darting left turn (punching out from the intersection when the light turned green to beat the oncoming traffic). He had written on the ticket that the weather was sunny and dry. I cross examined him on the stand, and I asked him what the weather was, that day, and he said the same thing. I then handed him the weather report from the newspaper for that day, which said it had been raining and asked if he thought my Chevy would spin out if I tried that on a slick city street. The judge shot a nasty look at the cop, and asked him to stick around, and that was the end of the trial.

Outstanding!

Lol. U're really great

 

[Spac3d]

Originally posted by: Harvey
Then, it's a real trial. Your best defense is a good offense. That is, if you can absolutely prove you weren't speeding, you'll win.

I once beat a ticket where a cop cited me for making a darting left turn (punching out from the intersection when the light turned green to beat the oncoming traffic). He had written on the ticket that the weather was sunny and dry.

I cross examined him on the stand, and I asked him what the weather was, that day, and he said the same thing. I then handed him the weather report from the newspaper for that day, which said it had been raining and asked if he thought my Chevy would spin out if I tried that on a slick city street.

The judge shot a nasty look at the cop, and asked him to stick around, and that was the end of the trial.

You are my hero

Congrats on beating the cops, more power to you!

Spac3d