Quote:
Originally Posted by Spartan01
ALWAYS FIGHT THE TICKET.
As a former LEO, the best advice I can give you is:
Hire a traffic lawyer.
The ticket is$95 so most traffic lawyers will charge you around 15% more than the price of the ticket.
If the cop doesnt show up, you win,
if the cop made the slightest mistake on the ticket, the lawyer can get it dismissed, often, if you try to pull this yourself, the judge will not dismiss the ticket- Remember, the courts are designed to make money for the state and for lawyers, not to provide you with justice.
Consider pleading guilty with an explanation- Judges like this way more than pleading not guilty.
Remember, it is not your word vs. the cop's word, it is your word vs. the state, for which the cop is acting as an agent.
|
I hear you. In RI though, the first court date is an arraignment only and this is where they will dismiss it if you have a clean 3 year record. If not, you can plead not guilty and arrange a second court appearance. This is where you get the lawyer and actually fight the ticket and the cop (or a representative for the cop) would need to appear. For $95 it's not worth it for me to take time off for two court dates, unless the ticket was much higher.
Thanks for the input though!