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Old 09-03-2009, 12:42 PM
 
Location: NJ
31,771 posts, read 40,480,002 times
Reputation: 24590

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Quote:
Originally Posted by VeradoDan View Post
They let the people with lawyers go first because the lawyers charge by the hour. If the judge really wanted to grease the pockets of his fellow lawyers, he'd take their cases last so they could pile on a couple more billable hours.

Also, those cases are heard first because if you're in the position where you have to hire a lawyer, it's often more than just your average traffic ticket. They like to deal with those cases first and then move on to the minor issues like minor traffic infractions. It's a pretty standard drill. When I worked for the newspaper I'd often have to go to court to cover cases and the like. It's pretty entertaining, actually. I would suggest anyone go purely for the fun of it if they get a ticket.
its really the part where the judge tells the people to thank their lawyers that bothers me not that they go first. seems like they go out of their way to support their fellow scumbag lawyers. one thing i found interesting was that these people had much more serious charges and left with a lecture from the clearly liberal judge and a $25 fine. when i heard the fines i was like, "this is great, these fines are nothing." then they hit me with something like a $450 fine.
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Old 09-03-2009, 01:19 PM
 
23 posts, read 160,423 times
Reputation: 21
Quote:
Originally Posted by VeradoDan View Post
It's not a fair process, I doubt anyone actually cares what you have to say in court. But the money-hungry corruption actually works in your favor, in a way, since the state is so after their money they'll often trade a no-points offense for a higher fine.

...

JUDGE: Well, you were clocked at 137 m.p.h. Are you telling me you can't tell the difference between 65 m.p.h. and 137 m.p.h. on your own?


Yeah, I guess it's in your favor if you really are guilty. If you're not guilty, and I'm sure that not everyone who receives a ticket truly is guilty, you're out a few hundred bucks for no good reason. But I guess it's better than a points-bearing summons, surcharge, 3-year driver assessment fee depending on the violation, and an insurance surcharge, all of which are very likely from the instant you're pulled over in NYC, guilty or not.
...
I can't imagine 137 mph. My Corolla's little engine would probably explode way before that. These are the people who really need to get slapped with the huge penalties, if not suspension...esp. if they can't tell 65 from 137 or perjure themselves by just saying they can't.
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Old 09-03-2009, 03:42 PM
 
1,542 posts, read 6,018,454 times
Reputation: 1705
Quote:
Originally Posted by CaptainNJ View Post
out of some kind of dirtbag professional courtesy, it seems like the judges reward you for paying one of his fellow dirtbag lawyers so you get treated better with a lawyer. i remember when i had my case and the people with lawyers go first, the judge was telling all the people to thank their lawyers for the deal they got them.
yeah, they're all in cahoots - the judge, the cop, the prosecutor, and the lawyer. they don't really care about your insurance points as long as they get more $$$ out of you, the motorist. it's all a revenue-generating ploy.

for those who don't know, traffic lawyers are almost always quite chummy with the local municipal judges. since fighting moving violations is their bread-and-butter, they see these judges all day, every day - thus they're looking out for each others' best interests.

so while the motorist may get his violation plea bargained down to a non-moving violation that does not carry DMV or insurance points, it comes at a high cost that benefits everyone else he has to work with (municipality, judge, prosecutor, lawyer).
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Old 09-03-2009, 04:16 PM
 
1,542 posts, read 6,018,454 times
Reputation: 1705
Quote:
Originally Posted by petecheng View Post
Has anyone gotten this ticket before? I got a ticket for Improper Passing for driving on the merge lane, but i really thought there was an exit at the end of the lane.

This was the north of route 21. Question is the cop told me to appear in court and just pay the fee, and they will waive my points, obviously this doesn't mean I should plea not guilty, but i found out that if i plea guilty and waive the points, the $180 dollars fine becomes $600 dollars. So the cop basically asking for more money, I thought he was trying to be nice to me.

I am planning to plea not guilty. Anyone got any tips?
that really sucks - been there, done that (not the exact same infraction, but a moving violation nonetheless). i feel for ya, man.

your best course of action is to call the municipal court as soon as possible. tell the receptionist that you would like to set up a court date to fight the ticket and are pleading not guilty. the receptionist will then inform you that a notice should be arriving in the mail shortly with your new court date. she may even give you the court date over the phone, but no matter what, you'll be getting a notice in the mail.

whatever you do, don't plead "guilty" - that's the exact same thing as simply mailing in your check with your fine and then getting DMV/insurance points assessed to your driving record. you need to plead "not guilty" in order to have the opportunity to show up in court, speak with the prosecutor, and then get the ticket switched to an offense that doesn't carry points.

on the day of your court appearance, you'll have to "sign in" to let the court know that you've arrived. you'll then wait around for awhile until the prosecutor calls your name. at that point, the prosecutor will offer you a plea bargain in which the moving violation is downgraded to a non-moving violation that doesn't carry DMV or insurance points, but is more expensive than the original offense would've been.

the benefit of this strategy is that your insurance rates won't get raised. even though you're paying more money upfront, you'll save money in the long run, so it's worth it. believe me, your auto insurance company will not hesitate to jack up your rates for this offense; after all, they're in the money-making business just like everyone else. put simply, they're not looking out for your best interests.

you could also try to plead not guilty and then fight your case in court, but your chances of succeeding are slim to none. the only way you'd get the case dismissed is if the cop who issued your ticket were to NOT show up to court to present his side of the story. and that's highly unlikely, for the following reason:

tickets - especially those that are plea-bargained down to more expensive, non-moving violations that don't carry DMV/insurance points - are a major source of revenue for municipalities. so they'll do everything in their power to make sure that the offender pays up.

anytime some hopeful schlub decides he's actually going to try to fight the ticket by pleading his case directly to the judge, the court will immediately summon the officer who issued the ticket so that he can testify against the motorist, and so the town doesn't lose its revenue from the ticket. in order to buy some time, the prosecutor will shuffle the poor schlub's case to the bottom of the list and then hear everyone else's case first while waiting for the cop to arrive in court.

so in addition to the indignity of waiting all night and being one of the LAST cases to be heard that evening, you have ZERO chance of convincing the judge of your innocence if the cop were to testify against you. it's incredibly frustrating, but that's how the system works.

in the past, people used to frequently plead "not guilty" and then bet on the cop not showing up. and every once in a while, this would actually work, especially in huge, sprawling municipalities like houston where the cop might be on the other side of town at the time of the court proceedings. if there's no one present to dispute their version of the story, then the judge would have no choice but to throw out the case.

but in recent years, municipalities have wised up and now make sure that the cop shows up in the event the offender doesn't accept the plea bargain.
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Old 09-03-2009, 06:01 PM
 
Location: NJ & NV
5,767 posts, read 16,504,255 times
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Reminds me of way back in the 70's, I got stopped and written 2 tickets. Somehow I kept postponing them, think I said I was away at college. Finally went to court much later like a year or two, the judge asked me how I plea, I said not guilty, he strikes down the hammer says, "So be it". I looked surprised as h*ll, he explained the cop moved out of state, and I put on a big smile and walked on out the door.

Similar thing happened in NYC, I threw the ticket out and finally showed up 4 years later, the cop told the judge it was 4 years ago and he couldn't remember anything about the incident.
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Old 09-03-2009, 06:47 PM
 
Location: Epping,NH
2,105 posts, read 6,639,418 times
Reputation: 1089
Quote:
Similar thing happened in NYC, I threw the ticket out and finally showed up 4 years later
Except with today's computerized databases, the summons will have gone to a warrant status and your license would have been suspended. the costs just to have your license reinstated will overshadow any fines involved. Not to mention some judges will assess court costs for the late appearances.
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Old 09-04-2009, 05:58 AM
 
Location: NJ & NV
5,767 posts, read 16,504,255 times
Reputation: 2470
Quote:
Originally Posted by rscalzo View Post
Except with today's computerized databases, the summons will have gone to a warrant status and your license would have been suspended. the costs just to have your license reinstated will overshadow any fines involved. Not to mention some judges will assess court costs for the late appearances.
Well back then they said since I never had any NY license they couldn't do anything about that. They could only revoke your privilege to drive in NY state. Also in NY City they don't have real judges fr traffic cases but some sort of "rent-a-judge" administrative type system that is basically a cash register. (They get the black robes from the local Halloween store.)

May be different now, but back then I even got hauled in to follow a cop back to a station out in LI and he called his superiors who advised him if I never had a NY license, he could only give me a, get this, lol, $10 ticket, and send me off on my way.
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Old 09-04-2009, 02:41 PM
 
54 posts, read 265,053 times
Reputation: 27
For those who are just wondering

I called a lawyer, and they do charge a flat fee of $450, no guarantees whatsoever. They will just represent you.
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Old 09-04-2009, 03:12 PM
 
1,542 posts, read 6,018,454 times
Reputation: 1705
Quote:
Originally Posted by petecheng View Post
For those who are just wondering

I called a lawyer, and they do charge a flat fee of $450, no guarantees whatsoever. They will just represent you.
that's true, but as i stated earlier, the local traffic lawyers and municipal courts have each others' best interests in mind. if you were to hire a lawyer, you'd at least be able to plea bargain your offense down to a non-moving violation that doesn't carry DMV/insurance points.

but in your situation, i wouldn't get a lawyer. traffic lawyers are only useful if you'd committed a really serious offense, like a DUI or a major accident in which the other party was injured or killed.

for something relatively minor like your offense, having a lawyer won't do anything for you that you couldn't do yourself. he'd simply speak to the prosector on your behalf and ask for your offense to be plea bargained down - and that's something you can easily do on your own. you probably wouldn't have any greater chance of getting the ticket dismissed outright.

in other words, you're going to have to pay up one way or another. better to save the lawyer fees and just represent yourself when asking the prosecutor for the non-moving violation plea bargain.
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Old 09-04-2009, 05:11 PM
 
593 posts, read 1,655,582 times
Reputation: 329
Quote:
Originally Posted by HeatherLynn822 View Post
If I were you, I would just forget what the cop said, and go talk to the prosecutor the day of court. I don't have much court experience myself, but whenever I hear stories from people, I always hear the line "the prosecutor was able to get it lowered to...." So this prosecutor person sounds like someone with the most amout of knowledge who could help you get your best case scenario. Good luck!

Prosecutor? They have prosecutors handling traffic offenses?
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