Anyone ever successfully beat a traffic ticket in court?

[riverdeep]

I had to go to court a couple of weeks ago, I was originally going to fight it, but the prosecutor took me aside and made me a deal. Pay $160, 3 month probation and nothing goes on your record and be the first in line (there were about 40 people in the room), or have a trial and risk paying $260 if you lose and the ticket goes on your record, and go last.

The cop showed up, and from what I've heard, any evidence you present doesn't really matter since the judge will take the word of the cop every time. I took the deal.

BTW, the ticket was for failing to completely stop at a stop sign. It was at night, the cop was very far away, and there was a small mound blocking his full vision. I stopped, but only barely. I did look both ways, I don't want an accident.

[amitten]

1. Whenever I've had one, I plead "not guilty" and the cop never

shows up for trial, so I've always gotten off the hook.

[riverdeep]

2. I was hoping that would be the case.

But he showed up both times. Once, to plead and arrange the trial date, and then on the actual trial date. From what I hear, they get paid overtime, so they're happy to show up.

[av8rdave]

3. My flight school roommate did

I was with him when he got busted. Doing 105 in a 50 MPH zone and running 3 stop signs (at said 105 MPH speed). It was 3 am (we were late for report)and you could see the cross roads/stop signs for miles.

We actually had a roadblock set up for us.

He represented himself, made the arresting officer look like an a$$ (to the point that the judge admonished the officer). The fine and all points were dropped. He did have to donate a pint of blood.

I should add that said roommate went on to law school and graduated near the top of his class.

[LisaM]

7. Geeze. How can you go and argue when you're WRONG?

I'm sorry, but I don't like your roommate. What if someone's cat was wandering across the road when he was going 105? It doesn't surprise me he went to law school. I'm guessing he gets more fun out of trying to beat the rules than observe them.

I really don't like when people speed. It bugs me.

[av8rdave]

9. Well, you need to hear the whole story...

Of course he was wrong. And he knew it. He didn't even decide to argue it (he showed up to plea for leniency, and NEVER questioned the facts of the case) until the arresting officer started to talk. This guy blathered on and on about safety - this offense was all about the public safety, he was doing his job, protecting the citizens, etc., etc.

My roommate merely questioned him as to why, if this was safety critical, that he continued to follow his car 1/4 to 1/2 mile behind him with no lights/sirens for 6 MILES as the speeding/running stop signs continued. He pointed out that it seemed more like "piling on" offenses rather than stopping an unsafe situation. The judge agreed. He reprimanded the officer for his hypocrisy.

As far as his legal career goes? He worked briefly for Kirkland & Ellis (Ken Starr's law firm), until he couldn't stand the ethical breaches that took place in case after case by the firm. He resigned.

Following that, he pursued social security and immigration law - not a very lucrative specialty, since he was serving those who are disadvantaged, disenfranchised and discriminated against.

I'm sorry too. Much like looking at the current slate of candidates, it's wrong to judge a person based on one isolated incident 27 years in the past.

On edit: Not that it excuses the speeding, but this took place on a desert road far from any development, the land flat as a pancake, and visibility for miles in every direction. Granted, we weren't thinking about anyone's cat at the time - we were thinking about the consequences of showing up late for briefing.

[LisaM]

12. The circumstances are mitigating!

And even though he was wrong, it certainly seems that the police officer was wrong, too.

That said, I really wish society didn't encourage speeding, for example, with so many artificial deadlines. So what if you get there 15 minutes later. It shouldn't really matter, should it?

[av8rdave]

13. I understand and agree with what you're saying....but

The world looked very different through the eyes of a couple of 22 year old military flight school students (I still can't believe it was that long ago). At that time, late for briefing literally had career implications - it could affect your class standing (VERY subjectively determined at that time), which could affect what assignment you got out of pilot training, etc. The military is notoriously obsessed with punctuality.

Whose fault was the speeding? Ours! We lived 1/2 hour away and got a late start that day.

[LisaM]

15. I know. But being in a deadline-driven occupation myself

I've learned to despise them.

I took a summer computer class years ago. We had to turn in a term-long project, no excuses, by the time the last class started (and not a minute later). It was an evening class. Well, as fate would have it, ten minutes before the class, the sirens went off for a tornado warning. I went to class anyway, completely torn about it, but figuring I didn't want to take the chance.

Two foreign students on the way to class (probably the top students) heard the sirens, too, and they thought it was the law to take cover. So they did, and arrived about fifteen minutes late to class. The instructor wouldn't accept their projects. I can still see them arguing with her, and the tears running down her face. I think she was wrong. I hope the students appealed it. But I could never, NEVER, figure out why this deadline was so important to her. The other students were fine with her accepting the late papers. It was clear that the guys were trying to follow the law in a foreign country. It's been years, and it still rankles.

[av8rdave]

16. Sounds a lot like the military!

I hope they had some recourse - an appeal or a chance to make their case to the instructor.

I often wonder how many accidents have happened over the years as people rush to make one deadline or another. I would bet that in most cases, the consequences of being tardy were the dominant thoughts in their minds at the time.

[LisaM]

18. That's an excellent point

which I'm taking note of.

[jobycom]

4. Sounds like you'd have lost if he showed up. I challenged one, but the cop didn't show

I got a ticket for 23 in a 20 school zone, but showed the judge that the sign marking the end of the school zone was hidden behind a tree, and there was no school visible, and I had only sped up at the end because I thought the zone had already ended--it was a mile long. The judge said he would have dismissed the ticket, based on the pictures, even if the cop had shown up.

Yours sounds more subjective. Maybe you could have taken pictures of the scene, showing where the cop was and where you stopped and why he couldn't have seen you anyway, but probably it would just come down to his word. Some judges are more critical of police testimony than others. I had a friend challenge a ticket once, and the cop gave his side, and the judge called the cop a liar, in court, and dismissed the ticket. There was no evidence other than the two stories. Cops are all different, too. Some will say "To be honest, your honor, I didn't see him stop, but he is correct about where I was when I saw him." Others will lie: "I was sitting at the intersection watching him, your honor. He didn't even slow down."

You never know. Usually, though, if the cop shows up and you don't have something pretty darned conclusive, you won't win.

[riverdeep]

5. I had photographs.

They were where he was positioned and his view looking at where I was, in both daylight and at night. It was total bullshit, a shakedown racket. But I couldn't take that chance. I barely had enough money for the ticket, to risk even more than that, and have my fees go up, I just gave in to the system.

The cost of the actual offense was only $40, but the cost of the court fees is what made up the rest of the ticket. I couldn't believe how expensive it was.

[jobycom]

8. Sucks. That's a choice innocent people face all the time in our system.

And for worse crimes than traffic tickets.

[tigereye]

6. my husband borrowed a special camera from his workplace to show pix

that proved that the cop could not possibly have seen him run that stop -sign. (which he hadn't run)

It worked. The ticket was thrown out.

[Deep13]

10. I've seen people beat them.

DEpends on the judge. S/he doesn't necessarily take the cop's word for it. Nevertheless, the judge usually believes the cop because presumably s/he is a trained and experienced professional and has no movtive to lie.

[riverdeep]

11. "presumably" being the key word.

I think they have some reasons to lie. The first one, they don't want to look like fools in court. Second, a string of people successfully challenging tickets means a sweet revenue stream might get cut off.

The judge in this case seemed like a decent guy. Gave a speech at the beginning of the session of how he knows how high the court costs are and he disagrees with them, but is mandated to hand them out by law.

[Crazy Dave]

27. My prick neighbor, a retired officer (and thank God) once told me...

That a "good cop" can make $900 - $1100 an hour. He told me they know where the "easy places" are to get people and I quote, "we try to catch the people who are late for work".

[Inchworm]

14. I got a speeding ticket a week ago

I could either pay court costs + fine in advance or go to court.

I ain't doing nuttin that day, so I'm going to goto court and argue with the judge since I am paying for it anyhow.

I'm silly like that.

:D

PS: my speedometer doesnt work, so I probably was speeding in my Bootleggermobile :P

found pic in photobucket. Apparently I was drunk and made this for some reason.


:hi: :rofl:

[Tommy_Carcetti]

17. I had a traffic ticket attorney handle it.

And it got dismissed outright. I have no idea how, but I didn't ask questions.

[Blue_Tires]

19. twice - both times failure to stop at a stop sign/red light

although every city and town is different...

here in Virginia Beach, there is (or was) the unsaid understanding that unless you did something majorly stupid, just showing up to court on time would get the ticket thrown out or reduced at the bare minimum...

Now, the times I lived in D.C. and got caught by the traffic cameras was much different...As far as those traffic courts are concerned, the camera never lies, and they never care about the extenuating circumstances...Judge shows the photo and asks two questions: 1. Is that your car? and 2. Were you the driver? Unless you can prove a 'no' to one or the other, you're stuck

[old mark]

20. River - I hope you took the deal.

Most times you are guilty no matter what. In a magistrate's court, the magistrate is THE authority, and knows all the cops, and does not want to hear your story. You can take these things to court, but I hope your wallet is deep.
I know people who have lost lots of money, had points put on their license and lost their job because of traffic violations.

mark

[riverdeep]

21. Yeah, I took it.

Reluctantly, because to me the whole thing just reeked of legalized extortion. I happened to be driving back the same way, and saw the same cop had pulled someone else over. It was just a quota scheme, and I got caught.

From the bit of research I had done, I figured my chances weren't very good, as the cop can simply lie. He could have said, I was closer than that, or the lights showed no stoppage or something. Because I didn't count to three when stopped, how am I going to defend against that? I figured I'll quit while I'm only behind.

Since this incident, I been paying special attention to how often people come to a complete stop. I'd say that when it's just two cars whose paths aren't going to cross, it's about half the time. When the car's paths signal a cross, it jumps up to the majority of the time.

[old mark]

23. Legalized extortion is exactly what it is. Just be glad it wan't worse.

If they really want you, they can get you in a lot of ways.


mark

[Ikonoklast]

22. Yep. Had an expired thirty-day tag

The bank sent me the wrong white copy of the title to me in order to get plates, and by the time I got the correct copy my tag expired.

Got pulled over driving home from work. Told my story, told the trooper the car sat all week in the yard while I was driving my truck, and had no way to either not drive the car, or get the correct title in time to get plates.

He didn't care. He said I was lucky he didn't have the car towed. He didn't want to talk about whose fault it was.

But he did talk about the cruise he and his wife were going on the next month.

My attorney got the case continued to that date.

Trooper never showed, and the judge was pissed after being told by the state that the trooper was on vacation.

I walked.

[harmonicon]

24. sort of

Some lady rear ended me, but I was a teenager at the time, and she had some bullshit story about how it was my fault - that I'd pulled out in front of her, when in fact, she had changed lanes right into the back of my car. The insurance company backed this up.

Anyway, that's not why the ticket was thrown out. The ticket was thrown out because the magistrate said that the cop didn't write down the proper traffic violation number, so I got off on a technicality. I don't really know if I would have been successful otherwise.

If I had been in your place, I probably would have done the same as you.

[Symarip]

25. I beat the man

But alot of it was timing. I'll spare you the details of what and how and where. But I got pulled over in 11/01 and issued a metric shit ton of tickets.

I showed up to court in my Navy Dress Blues. I had a folder containing a copy of my orders. The judge asked me what the hell I was doing and I said, "Well, your honor, you see I had to drive cross country from Virginia to San Diego after being dispatched to NYC on 9/11..."

30 seconds later - case dismissed.

[wickerwoman]

26. One of my students did it

but he drives blood from blood banks to hospitals. The cop nailed him on a run, wouldn't take his word that it was an emergency and gave him a $400 ticket for going 75 in a 55. The judge overturned it because the circumstances and the amount of the ticket were both ridiculous (it was late at night in a sparsely populated area too.)

[Forkboy]

28. Yes.

I got pulled over eons ago in a school zone. The cop said I was doing 40 mph, but I was right behind a school bus, which obviously wasn't going that fast. The cop actually pulled me over in the school parking lot (I was dropping off my girlfriend). On the ticket he said the speed was estimated, but then they send you a copy of the ticket, and on the copy the officer checked "by radar" instead, which was curious seeing a though it was supposed to be a copy of the original. He clearly just wanted to look cool in front of the girls at the school, and I said that right to him in front of the judge. The judge dismissed the ticket. :)