This discussion has come up too many times to count at dinner parties amongst friends. "I got a speeding ticket. What should I do?" "I got a cell phone ticket. What should I do?" While it's not exactly the type of case I handle, it's usually only a matter of minutes before I find myself saying, "no problem, I'll handle it!"
Whether it's the wine talking or just my desire to help out a friend in a bind, I do it. What goes around comes around, right? The reality is that you would never hire a lawyer to handle your traffic infractions. Thus, the other reality is that most people simply end up paying the ticket. In some cases, these tickets can be hundreds of dollars. Some may even result in the DMV placing a point on your driving record, thus effecting your insurance.
Well, it doesn't have to be this way! Often times these cases can be dismissed with very little effort. I have yet to EVER pay a traffic ticket that I have received. Here is my step-by-step guide to GETTING YOUR TICKET DISMISSED!
(1) Very important...DELAY, DELAY, DELAY!!!!!! Keep putting off that court date. You want to make it so the cop thinks the case is so far in the past he'll never remember anything. Not thinking the cop will show up is a common misconception. If he doesn't show up for your trial date, your ticket will be dismissed. However, LAPD and CHP have recently cracked down on the attendance policies of their officers. Now, officers can be formally disciplined for blowing off a court date.
Thus, the purpose of delay is to have the officer be unable to remember your particular case. Remember, they hand out hundreds of tickets per month!
Delaying a court date is as easy as picking up a phone or logging onto the court's website. Look on your ticket to see when and where you are ordered to appear or pay. Depending on the court you can usually call in and request an extention. Some courts allow you to request an extention online. Whatever the case, you are requesting a TRIAL date. Those are the key words you must use.
Some not so nice court clerks may request what's called "bail." This means they want you to essentially pay your ticket during the pendancy of your trial. The bail amount will be whatever the ticket penalty is. This is BS and I have never paid this. The purpose of bail is to ensure your appearance in court. Thus, if a clerk tries to make you pay a bail amount before setting your case for trial, ask for OR. This is essentially a promise to appear at the next court date. They will see that you know what you are talking about and you will be on your way.
(2) Delay more. About a month before your scheduled trial date get another extention.
(3) Trial date. Hopefully at least 6 months have passed since you received your ticket. Now is the day for your trial. One of three things will happen: One, your cop doesn't show up in which case the judge will dismiss your case. Or two, the officer showed up but cannot remember your case. In this instance the officer will request the judge to dismiss your case, which the judge will always honor. The third possible scenerio is that your cop has shown up, however, he refuses to dismiss your case.
Not to worry! Stay the course. You have gone this far. You are about to conduct your first TRIAL!!! Tell the judge that you wish to contest the citation and that you are ready for trial.
(4) Here is the order of how things will go:
-The officer will testify first
-You then question the officer
-You then call any witnesses you have
-The officer can make a closing statement
-You can make a closing statement
-The judge decides
BE confident that you will win the case! Check the actual wording of the code you violated. If the officer fails to prove guilt in any part of the code then your ticket MUST be dismissed.
BEFORE an officer can use the radar/laser reading as evidence, he has to establish that: the machine has a Jurisdiction Certification, the machine is up to date and accurate, the radar/laser is properly calibrated, the machine has an FCC license, and the radar/laser unit appears on that FCC license. If the officer attempts to use the radar reading before establishing these things, politely interrupt and say "objection your honor, inadmissible evidence."
Then tell the judge that there is no "foundation" for what the cop is trying to introduce as evidence. If the officer fails to prove your guilt at the end of his testimony don't question him, move to have the case dismissed. And explain what he failed to prove.
If the officer was moving when he estimated your speed, this is called a bumper pace. Ask when his speedometer was last calibrated? Ask him to show you and the judge the records to see if he contradicts himself. If he doesn't have the records you can ask then how does he know when the last calibration was? Is he guessing? Or is he making things up as he goes?
If the officer guesses your speed, ask the judge for permission to throw something. Then ask the officer to estimate the speed of the object thrown. Tell the judge it is important to do so in order to gauge the officer's credibility relating to estimations of speed. Most cops will be unable to do this which will enable you to argue in your closing arguement that the cop is inaccurate in his observations, thus his "guess" cannot be trusted. If the judge is an idiot, throw something at him/her.
Ask questions like: What color clothes was I wearing? Did I have any passengers? What was the weather like? This will gauge if the officer truly remembers you and your case.
If your ticket is a red light photo ticket, ask to see the photo. The officer must establish that it's YOU in the photo. If the photo is blurry or of low quality ask the judge to dismiss the case on the basis that there is a reasonable doubt as to whether it's YOU depicted in the photo. If this is your issue, consider bringing in a photo of you alongside other family members that may resemble you. Show the judge the photo.
However, if you know it's you in the photo, DON'T tell the judge that it's not you...that is perjury! Simply argue that the officer has failed to prove that it's you.
Follow these instructions and hopefully you will never have to pay a traffic ticket again.
Good luck!
