Mudderoy
08-21-2012, 02:11 PM
I spent four hours in traffic court this morning.
370
When I received my speeding ticket back in May(?) I was surprised that I received it then I was surprised it was for 52 in a 40. When I told the officer I was told by my CHL instructor (concealed Handgun License) that the police didn't give traffic tickets to CHL holders, he was surprised and said he had never heard of that. Then he told me, I never show up to court. For a half second I thought "well good for you" but then it dawned on me what he was telling me.
So today was the day of the court date. I had gone before, back in June, to set a court date, for today.
I showed up on time at 8am. Wrong! You can show up and 9am without worry.
There is NO judge present until the afternoon. So what they do is have you talk to one of the three assistant district attorneys to reach a settlement, solution, etc...
The place was packed. By 9:45am I was sitting in the special seats waiting for my turn to speak to a D.A. My name was called the guy was really nice and he just wanted to help me get back to my life, work, whatever.
I told him I wanted the ticket dismissed. I told him why. I started with the citation that was printed on thermal paper, and it was illegible! Then I told him I was surrounded by other vehicles all doing the same speed I was and IF the laser actually struck any part of my vehicle it had to be above the hood which meant that the returning laser light would have been angled up in the air and not back to the gun.
I was within 100 feet of the 40 mph speed limit sign (a change from 45 mph), and was in the process of slowing down, safely as not to cause an accident with the cars following just behind me. Plus I was in a turn, which meant my relative speed to the stationary officer was constantly changing.
So being the great guy he was he was able to offer me a $50 fine, $103 in court costs, and 90 day deferred adjudication. So keep my nose clean, so to speak, for 3 months and nothing goes on my record. It was still going to cost me $153 though, and then I ran the risk of getting another ticket.
I told him I was fine with the $$$ but the 90 day thing I didn't care for. He said the 90 days was the least the judge would allow them to do. So then I played the missing cop card. He turned to the other DA, interrupting him from his defendant and asked if {insert name here} officer was there today. The other DA says "Oh yeah, he's here!" lol so now we're playing poker, okay.
I told the DA I didn't want to waste anyone's time but if I needed to go in front of a jury, okay. He said he could call the officer, hmmm why he's there isn't he?, and see if he remembers me and my ticket. He told me it might be an hour or longer. I agreed, and said if he remembers then we can do the jury trial, right?
So I went and sat. Sure they were waiting for me to watch that clock for a little while and cave in. Screw it, I'll take my chances with the jury! I've watched Matlock, LA Law, Judge Judy! I can do this!
Shortly after receiving my ticket letters from attorneys started showing up in the mail. For $50 the promised I wouldn't have to pay the fine. As my four hour stay progressed I was learning. Learning from listening to when the attorneys that people had hired were talking to their clients.
I was a little nervous about the call to the cop until I over heard another defendant asking his attorney what was going on. The attorney said they were going call the officer, so it might be another 30 minutes, but he should wait and see what the officer said. The man sat down. I just got a free bit of legal advice!
The court room was really clearing out. There was a big early waive of dismissals. Then one by one people would get paperwork, I suspect for defensive driving, and others were directed down the hall to pay their ticket. I'm sure it was that great $50 deal!
Finally there were 9 people left in the once completely filled and spilling out into the hall court room. Easily 200 people, perhaps 300.
One of the defense attorneys stood up and started calling people's names. All his clients as it turned out. He said, if I called your name your ticket has been dismissed. I even heard one guy say "best fifty dollars I ever spent!"
About this time the clerk called the 8th person, who wasn't there with an attorney, and I heard her telling him his case had been dismissed.
Then she called my name. Would I be the LONE person that was to wait for the jury trial at 1pm(ish). You know when the judge was there, and one of the asst. DA would have to try and win the verdict from the jury of 6 of my peers? Hell no! That would be crazy! Case dismissed!
In my opinion it was the goal of that court to get as many people processed in a short of an amount of time as possible (certainly before lunch). Get as many people to pay the fees and fines as possible and let the rest slip through with defensive driving. Anyone digging their heals in, dismiss.
I'm not bitter about going, I'm not bitter about having my ticket dismissed, I'm bitter about what I learned, and of course long suspected.
Tickets aren't about keep the public safe they are about collecting revenue for the state. The speed I was traveling wasn't unsafe as I was going with the flow of traffic. Was I speeding, yes. Was I going as fast as they said, no.
The court people were very nice and no one had that typical government worker shitty attitude, but how they are trying to work people is wrong.
So that group of 7 people with the one attorney, that was $350 worth of income for him that day, but I wasn't one of the ones that paid.
370
When I received my speeding ticket back in May(?) I was surprised that I received it then I was surprised it was for 52 in a 40. When I told the officer I was told by my CHL instructor (concealed Handgun License) that the police didn't give traffic tickets to CHL holders, he was surprised and said he had never heard of that. Then he told me, I never show up to court. For a half second I thought "well good for you" but then it dawned on me what he was telling me.
So today was the day of the court date. I had gone before, back in June, to set a court date, for today.
I showed up on time at 8am. Wrong! You can show up and 9am without worry.
There is NO judge present until the afternoon. So what they do is have you talk to one of the three assistant district attorneys to reach a settlement, solution, etc...
The place was packed. By 9:45am I was sitting in the special seats waiting for my turn to speak to a D.A. My name was called the guy was really nice and he just wanted to help me get back to my life, work, whatever.
I told him I wanted the ticket dismissed. I told him why. I started with the citation that was printed on thermal paper, and it was illegible! Then I told him I was surrounded by other vehicles all doing the same speed I was and IF the laser actually struck any part of my vehicle it had to be above the hood which meant that the returning laser light would have been angled up in the air and not back to the gun.
I was within 100 feet of the 40 mph speed limit sign (a change from 45 mph), and was in the process of slowing down, safely as not to cause an accident with the cars following just behind me. Plus I was in a turn, which meant my relative speed to the stationary officer was constantly changing.
So being the great guy he was he was able to offer me a $50 fine, $103 in court costs, and 90 day deferred adjudication. So keep my nose clean, so to speak, for 3 months and nothing goes on my record. It was still going to cost me $153 though, and then I ran the risk of getting another ticket.
I told him I was fine with the $$$ but the 90 day thing I didn't care for. He said the 90 days was the least the judge would allow them to do. So then I played the missing cop card. He turned to the other DA, interrupting him from his defendant and asked if {insert name here} officer was there today. The other DA says "Oh yeah, he's here!" lol so now we're playing poker, okay.
I told the DA I didn't want to waste anyone's time but if I needed to go in front of a jury, okay. He said he could call the officer, hmmm why he's there isn't he?, and see if he remembers me and my ticket. He told me it might be an hour or longer. I agreed, and said if he remembers then we can do the jury trial, right?
So I went and sat. Sure they were waiting for me to watch that clock for a little while and cave in. Screw it, I'll take my chances with the jury! I've watched Matlock, LA Law, Judge Judy! I can do this!
Shortly after receiving my ticket letters from attorneys started showing up in the mail. For $50 the promised I wouldn't have to pay the fine. As my four hour stay progressed I was learning. Learning from listening to when the attorneys that people had hired were talking to their clients.
I was a little nervous about the call to the cop until I over heard another defendant asking his attorney what was going on. The attorney said they were going call the officer, so it might be another 30 minutes, but he should wait and see what the officer said. The man sat down. I just got a free bit of legal advice!
The court room was really clearing out. There was a big early waive of dismissals. Then one by one people would get paperwork, I suspect for defensive driving, and others were directed down the hall to pay their ticket. I'm sure it was that great $50 deal!
Finally there were 9 people left in the once completely filled and spilling out into the hall court room. Easily 200 people, perhaps 300.
One of the defense attorneys stood up and started calling people's names. All his clients as it turned out. He said, if I called your name your ticket has been dismissed. I even heard one guy say "best fifty dollars I ever spent!"
About this time the clerk called the 8th person, who wasn't there with an attorney, and I heard her telling him his case had been dismissed.
Then she called my name. Would I be the LONE person that was to wait for the jury trial at 1pm(ish). You know when the judge was there, and one of the asst. DA would have to try and win the verdict from the jury of 6 of my peers? Hell no! That would be crazy! Case dismissed!
In my opinion it was the goal of that court to get as many people processed in a short of an amount of time as possible (certainly before lunch). Get as many people to pay the fees and fines as possible and let the rest slip through with defensive driving. Anyone digging their heals in, dismiss.
I'm not bitter about going, I'm not bitter about having my ticket dismissed, I'm bitter about what I learned, and of course long suspected.
Tickets aren't about keep the public safe they are about collecting revenue for the state. The speed I was traveling wasn't unsafe as I was going with the flow of traffic. Was I speeding, yes. Was I going as fast as they said, no.
The court people were very nice and no one had that typical government worker shitty attitude, but how they are trying to work people is wrong.
So that group of 7 people with the one attorney, that was $350 worth of income for him that day, but I wasn't one of the ones that paid.