Calamity Jane Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 Yeah...I got stopped tonight by one our young State Police. I'm thankful they are out there to keep us all safe. I'm not sure how fast I was going...but I know how fast he said I was going. I gave him 2 registrations because I was nervous and couldn't tell which one was correct. He ended up writing me a ticket but used the wrong registration. He documented that I was driving a black, year 2000 , Jer make. I think this is the registration for our black trailer. So the ticket is not correct. If I choose to go to court...do I have a legal leg to stand on....or do I just take the 4 points and $175 fine? I'm low on cash, and a little irked on how the officer handled the stop...so I'm looking for alternatives I wouldn't normally explore. Thanks to anybody who knows the legal skinny on the situation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al503 Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 So the ticket is not correct. If I choose to go to court...do I have a legal leg to stand on....or do I just take the 4 points and $175 fine? The pertinent issue is whether you were driving a motor vehicle faster than the speed limit within the officer's jurisdiction. Whether the officer writes your info (name, licence number, address, etc.) correctly is of less importance and is usually not sufficient in and of itself to let one off the hook. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merlin Orr Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 Get an attorney. The money spent on the actual ticket is a small part of the deal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoMiE Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 (edited) I don't know if traffic school is an option in your state, but you usually give up that right if you chose to plead not guilty and fight the ticket. You can do some stuff before you have to appear, I found some good information here... http://www.trafficschoolcatalog.com/speedi...06YourBasic.asp "I fought the law and the law won"...but the judge did reduce my $252 ticket to $147 for similar offense. Edited February 12, 2008 by HoMiE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSMITH Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 Push the court date out 3, 4 or 5 times if you can. The odds of the Trooper being able to be there after that much horsing around get slim, if he isn't there you are doing much better. If the Trooper isn't there and the ticket is incorrect you are doing better yet. Challenge the calibration of the speed device used. You should be in pretty good shape at that point. Or, you could just pay it if you were in the wrong and move on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WDB Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 Sorry to hear you got caught, been there (ALOT) when I was younger but, you admittedly got caught. Pay up and move on. I won't get into my personally beliefs on the situation as they would probably be received as agrumentative. When you go in to pay it explain to the person you talk to the situation. Who knows, they my dismiss it right there, I've seen stranger things happen, but the bottom line is you will have done the right thing. Remember,,,,KARMA is a B****!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe4d Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 I dont think the ticket info will get you off, If you were speeding the honorable thing to do would be to either pay it or go to court admit fault apologize and ask for mercy. That would probably get you more than claiming not guilty because you handed the LEO the wrong registration. If you dont think you were speeding definetly get your speedometer calibrated and challenge the radar calibration. Probably an uphill battle though. Traffic is generally a guilty until proven innocent situation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GentlemanJim Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 If you are guilty...do you really want to try to beat it tieing the officer up with court dates ...just takes a valuable man away from his job. It does suck to have to pay the fine....But I think its the right way to handle it. You have my sympathy...but just by asking this question you show you are in conflict on what to do. I would bet real money that you have already decided to do what you think is the right thing. Best wishes Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UW Mitch Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 I debated this with a ticket I got on campus at UW once. I decided to "do the right thing," and pay the ticket. I felt good about what I considered taking the moral high ground - but boy was it expensive!!! ~Mitch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G-ManBart Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 The paperwork technicality probably won't get you out of the ticket, but it will make the officer look bad in front of the judge....keep that in mind to use in your favor. States are all different, but in many cases, what happens in the court doesn't directly transfer over to the motor vehicles department unless/until you're guilty or mail the ticket in to pay the fine. Often, the place you mail the ticket in is to the motor vehicles folks....if you send it in, you pay the fine and get the points automatically. If you go to court, it's very common for the judge to offer to let you take a driver's safety course, or do some other sort of service and you won't get points on your license. I'd go to court, dressed professionally (I know a guy that got out of a ticket by wearing a suit and the judge made a positive example of him), and politely mention to the prosecution the errors on the ticket and somehow slip in that I didn't want to make a nice young officer look stupid in front of a judge that he WILL be in front of in the future and see if they're willing to offer a deal of some sort. Trust me, the cop doesn't want to make a bad impression in front of a judge and something as bad as not comparing the registration in his hand with the vehicle in front of him during a traffic stop is going to bring his attention to detail into question on other matters such as calibrating his radar/lidar etc. Unless you have proof (nobody really ever does) the one thing you absolutely, positively don't want to do is suggest that the officer was wrong, or was picking on you in any way...you'll lose that one every time. If you say something like "I didn't think I was going that fast as I try to be responsible, but I will take responsibility for my actions" you'll make a much more positive impression than if you deny it. Many years ago I got a ticket for racing...a little stoplight action that never went over 40mph and got a ticket for it. I thought it was funny that I got a ticket for racing when the officer clocked me at something like 40mph in a 45mph zone....below the speed limit! I went to court, dressed professionally, and spoke with the prosecution. I told them that yeah, I'd goosed it a little off the line, but never spun a tire and never went over the speed limit. I also mentioned that when the officer turned on his lights I pulled over and the other car fled. Instead of a very expensive racing ticket they knocked it down to a normal speeding ticket that was like 3pts instead of 6 and only around $100 instead of several hundred. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AikiDale Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 You will probably do best if you go to court with an attorney; do not wear your blaster or an STI shirt and don't tell them you are Calamity Jane. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ipscbob Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 Assuming I was guilty of speeding, a couple of points and $175 would not be worth the hassle of fighting it. I would take my lumps and learn from it........It is the honorable thing to do after all Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AikiDale Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 It varies from state to state I guess, but going to court and not getting the points saves a whole lot more than the cost of the ticket, that's the inexpensive part you only pay once. The increased insurance rates for a moving violation is worth avoiding else you pay for years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoMiE Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 Traffic Tickets = Revenue for City, County, State, etc. If you definately know you were not speeding I would fight it. If you weren't paying attention and don't know how fast you were going, the officers know what to ask you and try to get you to say you were or might have been speeding. Either way it doesn't matter, their testimony will "say" you admitted you were going above the speed limit, case closed. Judge will usually side with officer since they are usually more credible (since they make notes on the back of their copy of the citation). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calamity Jane Posted February 12, 2008 Author Share Posted February 12, 2008 So the ticket is not correct. If I choose to go to court...do I have a legal leg to stand on....or do I just take the 4 points and $175 fine? The pertinent issue is whether you were driving a motor vehicle faster than the speed limit within the officer's jurisdiction. Whether the officer writes your info (name, licence number, address, etc.) correctly is of less importance and is usually not sufficient in and of itself to let one off the hook. Certainly the moral thing to do is to pay the ticket which I'm sure I will end up doing. My question was not a moral one...it was a legal one. ALSO...just a tip to all you police people out there. Things that irked me about the stop: 1. Let me PASS you before you flip on your head lights. When you flip your headlights on bright and blind me as I'm passing you....it is scarey and irritating. 2. When I'm trying to get my registration out of the glove compartment....and the glove compartment door comes off and spills all the contents of said container ALL over the floor....inculding my stash of tampons and advil....wipe that smirk expression off your face and have some respect.....I AM TRYING to help you...help me.... (my officer was young and my guess unmarried....clearly he was not trained properly on how to handle women!! Which was IRRITATING! 3. When you ask me "Do you know how fast you were going?" Be thankful I don't tell you what I really think...like,,,"Fast enough for you to stop me!" That's all I want to say....I'm off to work with the goal to drive like the responsible citizen my young State trooper is trying to mold me to be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dajarrel Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 Ms Jane, I think you will fare better paying the ticket and moving on. JMHO. As for the young trooper. When I was a cop, many, many years ago, I noticed that a lot (not all) of young policemen, are scared silly and nervous as a long tailed cat in a room of rocking chairs when stopping a car and writing a ticket. Sometimes they try to cover it up with bravado and BS. It is a nervous position to be in. And there is no excuse for a lack of courtesy. I'd rather get ticketed by an old veteran who has written a few tickets. FWIW dj Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mdstihl Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 Dunno what Indy is like, but in Maryland if you go to court, and plead guilty with explantion, they knock off the points and you only pay the fine. Very few ever bother with a lawyer just for a traffic violation. FWIW. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hitman Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 Go talk to the procecutor ASAP you can most likely get it tossed before court. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chriss Grube Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 Be honest and pay it, you admit you were speeding. He will likely run your info prior to the hearing and amend the citation at the beginning of the hearing which will correct any error. You can try the delay but I can tell you he will be there. You continue it and they will just change the date to match his schedule. He probably flipped on the lights so he can save having to chase you for miles and also for officer safety it gives him a chance to size up what he is encountering. As far as the smirk, he was probably thinking I don't get paid enough to deal with these people! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rocket35 Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 And don't use the Terminex guy as a character witness!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LPatterson Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 Sorry Jane but 4 points & $175 makes it sound like you were going a lot faster than you should have been. Last ticket I got was in the city because I passed an old fuddy duddy who put his brakes on to go around a curve in a 35MPH 4 lane street. I went down the next day to pay the ticket and since it was within a 3 day period, they allowed me to plead guilty and accept 6 months probation and did not notify the DMV about the ticket. Still cost $60 for 10 over. Might see if that applies in your state. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Boudrie Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 When you ask me "Do you know how fast you were going?" He was really asking "Care to make an admission of guilt that I can write on the back of the ticket and testify to if you fight this in traffic court?" As to the error - the answer is "it depends" - mainly on the practices in your state, and the inclination of the judge. If they push forward, the police are asking the court to accept the premise that they did not accurately record the details about the car being driven, but the police evaluation of your speed was none the less error free. I know I would not want to be attempting to convince the courts that while my statements that could be independently checked were inaccurate, those that could not be verified were indeed being accurately recalled. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick Sweeney Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 You can always go the "under advisement" route. Basically, you talk to the prosecuting attorney before the scheduled meeting. (This only works if you have a spotless record.) You as that your violation be taken "under advisement". The Judge waives the charge provided you remain infraction-free for (time varies) six months to a year afterwards. If you behave yourself and don't get another ticket, it goes away. Get caught again and you get both the old and the new. If you get a grumpy Judge, or a prosecutor who just can't be bothered and they turn you down on this, you say "guilty" when asked your plea, pay the fine, and get on with life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scribble Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 I'll add that I was given a ticket for imprudent speed.( I squealed the tires in the truck going around a wet corner.) I took the ticket not happely then started looking at it once I got home. I noticed the time of day was incorrect, the color, make, model was all wrong on the ticket. I decided to go to court to challenge. I sat there all day and my name was never called, judge asked what I was here for and I explained. He said nothing was on file and dismissed it there. Never heard a thing about it again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Moore Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 (edited) The other thing you could do is to plead guilty and ask the judge to waive the points. This will more then likely raise the price of the ticket but your insurance company will not be notified and your rates shouldn't go up. Here in Michigan if you get points they raise your rates. Edited February 12, 2008 by Thomas Moore Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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