Fighting A Traffic(Speeding) Case(Ticket)

Saturday March 10, I got my first speeding ticket. Yes, i'm fracking mad. So I told my co-workers about it and they gaved me some of their opinions. One of best i found was the "nolo contendere", but pleading "not guilty" seems like a better soultion than plea "nolo", and pleading "guilty" is the absoulte worst. I'm still researching on the "nolo" at the moment. (any help would be much appreciated about it)

So doing more research, i'm trying the find any possible solutions to win my case for speeding which is (64mph on a 45mph zone).While doing even more research i've found many solutions that can prove useful in my case. Even if i'm not represented by a attorney, but that would be horrible. Also from research, it's tough to win against traffic cases, because many of the arguments used for the traffic cases are already used and can be easily countered by the experienced cop.

LINK! FOR MY STATE I fall right inbetween the two age limit of under 18 and over 21. AHHH how aggravating!!.

THe sad thing is that I only learned all these information after i've gotten ticked by that FAAA****** officer.

I have questions, lots of them, since this is my very very first traffic offence.
- Do I not recieve my fine till the court?
- Are there any reasonable arguments i can use to win my case?
- Should i just plea "nolo", not guilty or just plea for a plea bargain?

These sites have some pretty convicing evidence that can be used, but there's too much for me to handle by myself.

-BackPage Forums
-Traffic Tickets Resource Center This was my favorite place.

There's so many options and the answers are too vague and complex. Any help would be much appreciated.:doh:

Jam it back in, in the dark.

This isn't really a political thread. Moved to general.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Well i had two choices, I guess I made the wrong choice. No pun intended.

Crap, the officers hand writings deplorable.

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You have two choices:

In essence, depending on the state, you may or may not be able to win the case depending on if the cop shows up. If he does, you're fucked and you lost the case. Good thing is that I don't think you can be punished additionally for losing the challenge (unless you're represented by an attorney you hired, in which case you will have to pay his fees in addition to the fine). You can reduce the cop's chances of showing up by delaying the process as much as possible and praying that the cop will either forget or give up. In that case, you're scot free, but this is a very risky maneuver and may get them pissed at you.

The other choice is to just PAY THE TICKET, and that's the end of that. This is what I would do, personally. 19 miles over the speed limit = 190 bucks. If you don't have the money, pull out a loan. It's tough shit, but that's what happens when you can't learn to just ease up on the gas.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

It looks like you fail.

You don't really have a legitimate defense. You broke the law and got caught doing it. I don't see how you can get out of this one, but more importantly I don't know what would make you think you could. It's not like you got dicked by some kind of speed trap, you were just driving 20 miles too fast.

How ya doing, buddy?

Yeah man, whatever happened to owning up to your mistakes and suchlike? Stop being such a pansy-assed dodger and bite the bullet, son.

How ya doing, buddy?

Originally Posted by Aoie_Emesai

...i'm fracking mad...

Haha, some BSG tendencies there.. When I was marathoning last month, I was using "frack" all the time also. It was kinda embarassing to blurt it out during games of basketball and such.

But yeah, this case is fail.

FELIPE NO

From what I can find on the matter a "nolō contendere" or "I do not wish to dispute" claim is that you are simply stating that you are unsure if you committed the crime, leaving it to the court to decide. In this case, I really can't see how it applies, but there it is.

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I don't think you'll be able to weasel your way out of a ticket where you were going 20mph over the speed limit. Maybe if it was 3-5 you'd stand a chance, but if you're blowing along at 20 then you've kinda got it coming.

Nobody to really be angry at here except for yourself.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Yeah, seriously. You broke the law. Why are you angry at the police for giving you a fine when you obviously doing something against the rules? Seriously man, you did something wrong and you should stop trying to fight against something so stupid.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Originally Posted by Murdercrow

In essence, depending on the state, you may or may not be able to win the case depending on if the cop shows up. If he does, you're fucked and you lost the case. Good thing is that I don't think you can be punished additionally for losing the challenge (unless you're represented by an attorney you hired, in which case you will have to pay his fees in addition to the fine).

In my state, you are fucked if you plead not guilty and lose. They basically go to the maximum fine rather than the minimum like if you just pay it right off.

Just pay the fine. Jesus. Maybe that will teach you not to do 20 over.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

I wouldn't recommend you try to fight it. That'll just make it worse for you.

If you plead guilty the judge might go a little easier on you then if you plead no contest. After all, this is your first speeding ticket. I did that my first time and the judge let me off with a stern warning.

A no contest plea would only work if you could cite an example that you were "keeping with the flow of traffic".

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Originally Posted by BlueMikey

In my state, you are fucked if you plead not guilty and lose. They basically go to the maximum fine rather than the minimum like if you just pay it right off.

Just pay the fine. Jesus. Maybe that will teach you not to do 20 over.

Don't they also tack on court fees if you lose? That has to be a decent amount of money.

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Meh, I wouldn't know. When I got my first (and only) speeding ticket, I was a good boy and paid up.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Originally Posted by Watts

I wouldn't recommend you try to fight it. That'll just make it worse for you.

If you plead guilty the judge might go a little easier on you then if you plead no contest. After all, this is your first speeding ticket. I did that my first time and the judge let me off with a stern warning.

A no contest plea would only work if you could cite an example that you were "keeping with the flow of traffic".

Hummm... I think I can prove a few points that may be able to lower my fine. Some of the stronger arguments is that the lower traffic and better visibility can permit a more stable driver as opposed to driving in the rain at 10pm on a foggy day going 85mph on a 60mph zone. Some other argument is that the speed signs have 3 different classification that can limit your speed, like absoulte, presumed or basic speed. Obvioulsy it's not absoulte where 1mph over is a federal offence. So it has to be basically presumed, which 10mph over is reasonable.

AND-Ahh come on, please do the math correct, it's 19 mph over not 20. Which isn't quite considered reckless driving yet. 24+ is reackless driving.

But thanks for all the information that you all gave me. But though it seems it's better not just to fight, eh?

PS: I hope i can just get a warning or something such as that.

FELIPE NO

No one in this thread knows what the fuck they're talking about.

*ALWAYS* fight the ticket. Even if you're found guilty, your record shows that the ticket was contested in court - which actually has some weight because most people won't bother going to court over such a thing. The fact that you are means that the judge has to suspect mitigating factors.

The major thing to do is put on a production when you go to court. Suit and tie, slacks or khakis. You also need "props" - pictures of your car, a copy of the traffic ticket, your registration, proof of insurance. Also, some print outs on basic court proceedings would be good. Walk in that door, take a seat and wait for your name to be called. The state/town will attempt to plea bargain - this usually depends on how much you look willing to fight. I went into court once and I ended up paying nearly nothing because I looked the part. (Remember: whatever they offer - tell them you're willing to pay more in the form of a check if they can reduce the number of points)

Also - and this is VERY important - you have to find out is if the officer that pulled you over was the officer operating the radar gun or not. In most cases, if the officer who shows in court is not the one operating the radar gun but is the one who ticketed you, the court will throw out the case.

Heres some basic things to yell out in court to make you look like Sam Waterson.

OBJECTION, INDEPENDENT RECOLLECTION When the officer begins his testimony, more than likely he's going to read from the copy of his citation. You should immediately object to this since the officer is required to testify from independent recollection. You should also ask to see what the officer is referring to even though you have received a copy of the citation through subpoena. More than likely the Judge will allow the officer to use his notes to refresh his memory, if the officer indicates to the court that he requires the notes to testify properly. This starts everything for dismissal because the sixth amendment to the Constitution guarantees you the right to be confronted with the witnesses against you. In this case, the officer and his testimony, not the citation, are the witnesses against you. If the officer can not recollect the circumstances of your ticket, he may be consider incompetent to testify. You have to prove that the officer is unable to testify without his notes to make him an incompetent witness. If the back of the citation and the officer's notes signifies SB 124, then all he can testify to is SB 124, not Southbound on highway 124. As you'll soon see the notes on the back on the officers citation can hurt the officers' testimony and help you greatly.

OBJECTION, FOUNDATION A situation arises when any witness testifies to something that has not been previously established as evidence. For example, the officer states that the speedometer on his police vehicle read 70 miles per hour. It is inadmissible in court unless the calibration for the speedometer had been entered prior to that point in time.

OBJECTION, SPECULATION This type of objection occurs when a question is asked of a witness and they introduce evidence that they could not possibly know. For example, they introduce the fact that you could clearly see a street sign or a speed limit sign and there's no way that they could know that. Only you could be aware of that fact.

OBJECTION, CONCLUSION In this case the Prosecution would ask the officer to draw a conclusion based on an insufficient amount of facts. For example, the officer volunteered that you saw a stop sign and chose to ignore it. He cannot make that decision because he does not have the facts.

OBJECTION, NARRATIVE The officer is allowed to testify in the form of a story rather than a question and answer procedure. He has given a narrative. You have a right to decide if a particular question would have an objectionable response. If he tells the events without questioning, you have no opportunity to object.

OBJECTION, NOT QUALIFIED It's similar to the previous objection, but in this instance the witness testifies to something that they have no expertise in. If the officer were to testify that your muffler was defective, he doesn't have the expertise to make that determination since he's not a muffler mechanic.

OBJECTION, HEARSAY In essence this is anything said outside of the courtroom by someone who's not a witness. The officer may not state what a witness told him at the scene. The actual witness would have to appear in order for that testimony to be entered into the court record. If one officer wrote a speeding ticket for a radar violation for another officer, both officers must testify, only to the extent of how much they were
involved in that particular incident.

OBJECTION, IRRELEVANT These are events that may or may not have happened and have no bearing on the particular law that you are accused of violating. The officer may state that you have had a hostile attitude towards him, which has no bearing on the ticket. Your attitude is not relevant in the speedy fulfillment of the law.

OBJECTION, IMMATERIAL It's very similar to the previous objection. It may be closely related to the previous facts at hand, but it's really not close enough to remain admissible. Perhaps the officer would bring up your driving record. Your prior traffic convictions have no influence and should have no relevance to the ticket that you were fighting at the present. You cannot be judged on your past performances. If that were the case and you've had 12 speeding violations in the past three years, they would be assuming that you would be guilty of this violation.

THE PREEMPTIVE OBJECTION This is when you realize before the fact that the officer is going to drop some bit of information that could be damaging to your case. In this case, you would object prior to the officer even mentioning it, just to disrupt their rhythm enough so that it would throw them off. Be advised that you are only permitted to be able to use this once or twice during the course of the trial because you are going to aggravate the Judge. If you abuse this type of objection, when you have a real objection the Judge will just overrule automatically without hearing your case.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

I agree with LeHah - but not ENTIRELY.

You won't need a goddamned lawyer. Don't waste the court's time and your money on a fucking lawyer. Are you kidding. Its a fucking speeding ticket.

I know whenever *I* get one, I fight each and every one of them. The last one I fought (2 years ago in Connecticut) was dismissed since NO ONE thought 75MPH in a 65MPH zone was bad.

Also, 65 in a 45 is not that horrendous. You memes, man.

How'd the officer nail you? Was he using a radar? Did he catch you by eye? It should say on the citation. Depending on how he caught you, you may or may not get off the hook.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by Aoie_Emesai

Do I not recieve my fine till the court?

Did you send in the ticket as "Not Guilty"? If you do and go to court and are found guilty, you have something like a month to send a check in.

Allow me to point this out - if you fight a ticket, you *will* pay less in the fine. The town/state will attempt to bribe you into a plea deal - even if you don't take it, by contesting the validity of the ticket, you're saying "Okay, I didn't do it no matter what you said" and they take that as some value, especially since this is your first ticket.

Besides, I don't think theres a court in the history of the US in which the court was allowed to exceed the original amount stated on the ticket. You cannot do worse (unless you purposely piss off the judge and he sends you to jail - but I sincerely doubt that)

Originally Posted by Aoie_Emesai

Are there any reasonable arguments i can use to win my case?

Depends. Was there a mitigating factor? Were you rushing to a hospital? Were you late for a funeral? If so, be prepared to offer physical evidence - if your wife is having a kid, bring the birth record.

Originally Posted by Aoie_Emesai

Should i just plea "nolo", not guilty or just plea for a plea bargain?

Depends on how strong you can make your case. Where the hell were you speeding exactly? If you're just being a bad driver, I'd take the plea bargain provided it's a reasonable one.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Originally Posted by Aoie_Emesai

PS: I hope i can just get a warning or something such as that.

Don't count on it. I was very lucky, and had a very understanding judge. Not to mention my speed violation was only three miles over what was posted.

Originally Posted by LeHah

*ALWAYS* fight the ticket. Even if you're found guilty, your record shows that the ticket was contested in court - which actually has some weight because most people won't bother going to court over such a thing. The fact that you are means that the judge has to suspect mitigating factors.

That's what you're missing. The record won't show anything if a guilty plea is entered in exchange for a 5 mph reduction in speed. Since the speed violation would be at/below 14 mph. According to one of the links such a plea deal in Georgia is not unusual.

If you fight it and lose it goes on your record. I'd rather go with a sure thing then a maybe. Especially when it concerns your insurance premiums. Biting the bullet will save you more money in the long run.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Originally Posted by Watts

Biting the bullet will save you more money in the long run.

But how many tickets do you get before your insurance goes up? It's two here in Connecticut. And how long does it take to be removed from your record? (Seven years in this state)

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Originally Posted by LeHah

But how many tickets do you get before your insurance goes up? It's two here in Connecticut. And how long does it take to be removed from your record? (Seven years in this state)

Depends on the insurance company. Wouldn't surprise me if it took just one for a new driver. According to my understanding of Georgia's laws you're still considered a 'new driver' until you get out of their second age grouping. Their laws are not lax on new drivers or people who break the speed limit.

Second question no idea.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Originally Posted by LeHah

Allow me to point this out - if you fight a ticket, you *will* pay less in the fine. The town/state will attempt to bribe you into a plea deal - even if you don't take it, by contesting the validity of the ticket, you're saying "Okay, I didn't do it no matter what you said" and they take that as some value, especially since this is your first ticket.

Don't be so sure. It doesn't work the same way in every jurisdiction. Many of the places around my city will fuck you over if you fight it, they figure if you are wasting their time then they are going to waste your bank account.

Arizona has a range of fines, and the fine on the ticket is the lowest allowable, I believe. So if you pay it, you're done. You can then either get it all taken off if you are not guilty, or you can get a crapload more.

Additionally, I think Arizona law states that you cannot get the ticket expunged from your record by taking a defensive driving course if you fight the ticket, while you can if you do the no contest thing. And your insurance skyrockets here on the first ticket. So if you don't get it taken off, you really are fucked.

He should find out how his state works before anything, but, to be honest, it probably isn't worth his time to contest it.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Originally Posted by BlueMikey

He should find out how his state works before anything, but, to be honest, it probably isn't worth his time to contest it.

I disagree. Worse case scenario? Better to take the reduced fine of a plea bargain than to plead guilty outright.

FELIPE NO

You could always fight the ticket with the theory of relativity....

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Originally Posted by LeHah

But how many tickets do you get before your insurance goes up? It's two here in Connecticut. And how long does it take to be removed from your record? (Seven years in this state)

Around here (MD) the norm is your rates hike the moment you get points on your license.

I got caugh doing 86 in a 55 (highway) back in November and decided to wait for the court notice at the reccomendation of the lady cop who wrote the ticket (fucking speed traps). She didn't show up, case was dismissed.

You could always try your luck and hope you get super fucking lucky. If you do go, make sure you show up though. There were at least 10 people who failed to appear that day, and I can't help but think that didn't help their case any.

How ya doing, buddy?