Missed Court Date for a Fix-It Ticket (license, office)

[mid14]

Hi all:

I picked up a fix-it ticket a little while back and missed my court date. I scheduled it for the Monday after the July 4th weekend, thinking it would be a slow week at work, but ended up getting slammed during the weekend with a transaction that my team was working on. When Monday rolled around, being that I'm the low man on the totem pole, I couldn't get out of the office, thus missing my court date.

By no means do I think I am any less responsible for my court date as a result of my schedule, but I missed it regardless. What was a fairly small fine jumped to $588.00, plus my license is now on hold.

I'm curious to hear if anyone has ever gone to court and had the fine reduced - I'm not looking to make excuses, but frankly just looking for some forgiveness. I had the issue that I received the ticket for resolved in a timely manner, but got jammed up at the last minute and didn't push hard enough to get out of the office to attend my court hearing.

The $588 fine is manageable, but of course, a bit steep and would serve as a very painful reminder that I am an idiot sometimes.

I guess I'm trying to decide if I'm wasting my time by going to court, or if this could be a worthwhile exercise. I appreciate any input and understand the frankness of responses that will likely follow. Thank you!

[Patrolman]

It's worth a try. Not all judges/hearing commissioners are heartless souls. Dress appropriately, act with courtesy and be honest about the circumstances surrounding the missed court date.