Why Fight A Ticket?
What is a "continuance" and how
do I request one?
Why should I request a continuance?
What is a Request for Discovery?
What is a Motion for Discovery?
What is an Open Records Law?
How do I make an Open Records Request?
What is an interrogatory?
What is a deposition?
What is a subpoena?
What kind of personal research
can I do?
Will errors on the ticket result
in the charges being dropped?
If I don't sign my ticket, does
that mean it's invalid?
What if the prosecution doesn't
give me the information I requested?
If my speedometer was defective,
will the court dismiss the ticket?
Should I hire an attorney?
Can I write the court and tell
them why I'm not guilty?
Can a police officer issue me a
ticket if he's outside his own jurisdiction?
What if I don't believe I was going
that fast?
What if the officer was rude?
What if they only ticket people
of my race?
What will happen if I just ignore
the ticket?
But everyone was going over the
speed limit. What if I was just pulled out of the crowd?
Why Fight A Ticket?
The simple answer is
to improve your situation. If you plead guilty to a
citation you will have to pay the fine set forth on
the ticket and will also receive the corresponding amount
of points on your license according to state law. Most
importantly, a permanent judgment of guilt will be made
on the record of the state motor vehicle department
which may affect several things including the rate you
are charged for insurance, your ability to continue
driving, and even your job if it depends upon driving
at all.
While you should clearly consider fighting
a ticket if you are innocent, there are also reasons
to do so even if you may be guilty. Because prosecutors
are over burdened, their goal on most traffic citations
is to close the file with a favorable result as soon
as possible. That means avoiding trials because they
take time, money and can require the attendance of police
officers as witnesses whose services are better used
elsewhere. As a result, prosecutors will usually offer
a deal, called a "plea bargain," which is
more favorable to you than pleading guilty to the original
charge. This is particularly true if you are represented
by an attorney who has the ability to take your case
to trial with a significantly better chance of winning
than you do. The prosecutors know this so they will
offer plea bargains to attorneys.
For instance, if your goal is to avoid
points so you can retain your drivers license the prosecutor
may be willing to reduce the charge to a no point violation
in return for an enhanced fine. Alternatively, if you
do not want to pay the fine the prosecutor will sometimes
agree to dismiss the charge if you attend a defensive
driving school. However, there is always the possibility
that we can beat the ticket entirely as there may be
a defense of which you are not aware or the prosecutor
simply does not want to take the case to trial for whatever
reason. But there are also some situations such as those
involving an accident, particularly if there is an injury
or fatality involved, in which the prosecutor is seldom
willing to enter into a plea bargain.
What is a "continuance"
and how do I request one?
A continuance is the moving of a trial date to a later
date. The prosecution or the defense may request a continuance
for any of several reasons. Work conflicts, school schedules,
health problems, vacations and the need for more preparation
time are all acceptable reasons for requesting a continuance.
You can request a continuance by contacting
the court, via the court clerk, and explaining why you
need it. This can be done by telephone or in person.
We recommend using registered mail so you will have
proof that your request was sent and received. The burden
is then on the court to respond. It's best to make a
request for a continuance at least two weeks in advance
of the trial date.
Why should I request a continuance?
If you intend to gather
information for your defense and prepare your presentation,
you may need more time than the court has allotted between
the time you received the ticket and your trial date.
You may live a long distance from the court, and it
would be more convenient to move your court appearance
to another time. Or, you want to increase the likelihood
that the officer who gave you the ticket will not appear
in court on the day of your trial.
How do I get the information I need
to prepare my defense?
There are both formal and informal
mechanisms for the gathering of information: Request
or Motion for Discovery, Open Records or Public Records
Laws, Interrogatories, Depositions, subpoenas, and personal
research.
What is a Request for Discovery?
A Request for Discovery
is an information request you would make to the prosecutor,
usually the District Attorney, for relevant information
related to your case. If you were cited for speeding,
you may want information on the kind of speed measurement
device the officer used to clock your vehicle, or the
training records for the officer that measured your
speed. A simple written request, sent via registered
mail to the District Attorney's office, is usually sufficient
to exercise this inquiry.
What is a Motion for Discovery?
A Motion differs from
a Request in that a defendant makes the Motion to the
court and not the prosecution. In a Motion for Discovery
you must justify your reasons for making certain requests
for information and the court will decide if your request
has merit. If the Court determines that your request
is legitimate and the information is needed for your
defense, it will order that the information be given
you. The prosecution can object to your motion and the
court could order a hearing to argue the Motion for
Discovery.
What is an Open Records Law?
These laws go under
different names in different states, but their intent
is to make public records available to all citizens.
In general these laws mandate that public records be
released to anyone making a request. Certain records,
such as medical or tax records, may be protected by
privacy laws and are not available through a simple
request. However, you can usually obtain radar equipment
maintenance records, calibration records for breathalysers,
and training certificates for specific officers through
an open records request. Open Records Requests are independent
of the court and your trial, and the failure of an agency
to provide requested records will not automatically
result in a dismissal of charges. Remember, this procedure
is for the purpose of obtaining EXISTING RECORDS. It
cannot be used to force the government to create new
records.
How do I make an Open Records
Request?
A visit to your local
library and a review of your state's open records law
is a good place to start. Generally an open records
request is made to the agency you believe holds the
records you want. This is usually the police agency
that issued you a citation. For best results make the
request in writing and cite the open records state statutes
that give you the right to request the information you
seek. There may be reproduction cost fees (the law usually
requires that they be "reasonable") for the
materials you want. You may also want to request that
the agency certify the documents to be valid copies
of the originals.
What is an interrogatory?
An interrogatory is a written request to the
prosecution for information related to your case. For
example, if you want to know where the officer was sitting
when he or she clocked you with radar, you could ask
that question and perhaps include a map of the general
area where the officer could mark his location when
he observed your vehicle. If your request appears reasonable
and has a bearing on your defense it will most likely
be honored.
What is a deposition?
A deposition is a formal
meeting, with a court reporter, where the defense and/or
prosecution may question witnesses who are under oath.
This is a very expensive and time- consuming procedure
and not often employed in traffic ticket cases.
What is a subpoena?
A subpoena is a court
order to appear or bring information to a court proceeding.
The target of the subpoena can object to the order,
and a case within a case can evolve that deals solely
with the subpoena. A subpoena has to be "served"
on the party being ordered to produce information or
testimony. Anyone can serve a subpoena, as long as they
are not directly involved in the litigation. Along with
the expense, another downside of subpoenas is that the
information is usually not produced until the time of
trial. For purposes of developing a defense it is desirable
to have all relevant information well before your trial.
What kind of personal research
can I do?
Any defendant should
clearly understand the violation they are being charged
with. You may need to make another visit to the library
and look up the statute you have supposedly violated.
It may be possible that the officer cited the wrong
statute, or that you did not meet the definition of
a violation.
Re-visit the site of your alleged violation
and look for elements that you could use to your advantage.
Take photos that will help you make your arguments.
Make measurements that may show errors in distances
that were reported by the officer.
Will errors on the ticket result
in the charges being dropped?
Courts will often excuse
minor errors on a ticket. A misspelled name, incorrect
address or difference in opinion on whether your car
is aqua or green in color will not result in a dismissed
ticket. Conversely, a major error such as citing the
wrong statute, radically misidentifying your vehicle
or listing the wrong highway as the site of the violation
should provide justification to dismiss the ticket.
If I don't sign my ticket,
does that mean it's invalid?
No. Signing for your ticket,
which isn't required in all areas, merely means that
you will pay the fine or plead not guilty and show up
in court (recommended).
If your name was spelled wrong, that
could be used in court with other anomalies to introduce
reasonable doubt in the officer's testimony. However,
if all the information relevant to the stop is correct,
a spelling error will not result in the dismissal of
the charge(s).
What if the prosecution doesn't
give me the information I requested?
If your state mandates that certain
items be given you, and they aren't, or the court orders
that certain items be given you, and they aren't, you
can ask for a Motion to Dismiss for failure to provide
Discovery and it's likely the motion will be granted.
However, if no such mandates exist and the court has
not ordered that certain items be given you, there is
little likelihood that a dismissal will be granted.
Although, a continuance might be granted to give you
more time to seek the information through other channels.
If I prove that my speedometer
was defective when the officer stopped me for speeding,
will the court dismiss the ticket?
No. The court might consider
it a mitigating circumstance, but it's likely you will
still be found guilty.
Should I hire an attorney?
This is always a personal call.
In the vast majority of cases an attorney will arrange
a plea bargain for his/her client. It is very rare for
an attorney to get involved in a protracted traffic
court trial. The expenses for such a trial would exceed
most defendants' financial limits. Our experience is
that a well-prepared defendant is quite capable of representing
him or herself in a traffic court trial.
Can I write the court and tell
them why I'm not guilty?
Some states allow a "trial
by declaration", which is, in a sense, a written
explanation or defense you send to the court. In general,
we doubt the fairness or effectiveness of such a defense.
There is very little incentive for the court to find
the defendant "not guilty."
Can a police officer issue
me a ticket if he's outside his own jurisdiction?
If the violation took
place within his jurisdiction the answer is yes. If
the violation took place outside his jurisdiction the
answer is less clear. There may be interagency agreements
that allow police to exercise their authority outside
their jurisdictions. There may also be state laws that
allow inter-jurisdictional enforcement actions. One
point to remember, the officer that observed the violation
and issued the citation is the only person that can
testify against you. The likelihood that an out-of-area
officer would appear to testify against you at your
trial is somewhat remote.
What if I don't believe I was
going that fast?
It's possible the radar
was picking up another vehicle. It's also possible that
the radar unit was being operated improperly.
What if the officer was rude?
If the officer had to
follow you for a quarter-mile or more until you noticed
him in your rearview mirror, he may be unhappy. You
were guilty of "contempt of cop," which happens
when you don't do whatever it is an officer wants you
to do. Regardless, it is not a good idea for you to
act in a similar manner.
What if they only ticket people
of my race?
Sometimes this has every
appearance of being true, largely due to stops for trivial
traffic laws like seat belt violations, playing the
radio too loud, or having a blown out light bulb. If
you believe the officer stopped you based on your race,
we recommend making a complaint to the police department
and/or city government. If it continues to happen after
the complaint, consider a lawsuit.
What will happen if I just
ignore the ticket?
If it's for a moving
violation such as speeding, ignoring it may result in
a suspended license and/or a bench warrant being issued
for your arrest. This is true even if you got the ticket
outside of your home state.
But everyone was going over
the speed limit. What if I was just pulled out of the
crowd?
It may be true, but
it is totally irrelevant now. Plead not guilty and go
to court. In court, don't complain that you were being
victimized; the judge does not want to nor have time
to listen to a claim that is nearly impossible to prove.
If the officer shows up in court, cross-examine him
by asking questions in such a way as to make it appear
he had no idea which vehicle caused the reading on the
radar gun.
Does it have any bearing on the validity
of the citation if the officer who observed the violation
and the officer who issued the citation are NOT one
in the same? (ie. one officer operating the RADAR radios
to another officer down the road, who pulls you over.)
Yes it does. First, the clocking officer
must be able to confirm that the car being pulled over
was the car he clocked. This confirmation should be
made to the officer that does the stop. The officer
that does the stop is responsible for identifying the
driver to whom the ticket is issued. Both the officer
that clocked the vehicle's speed and the officer that
issued the ticket must be at the driver's trial. This
also applies to situations involving the use of airplanes
to clock vehicle speeds.
