Ticketed! What are my chances?

[LandShark]

What are my chances of beating this rap? About 6 Austin police cars had an intersection staked out today (Ben White Blvd. & I-35), giving tickets right and left. I got pulled over about a mile from the intersection and was given a ticket for running a red light. I told the cop that the light was green and asked if he saw me run the red light. He said no, but that another officer was watching the intersection and saw me.



BTW: This is my first ticket in 30 years!



My choices are: Driving school for 6 hours for $30 plus a $65 fee to the city (this gets the ticket dismissed), paying the ticket for $171, or going to court where it will be my word against the @#$% cops.



Any chance in he!! I can beat this?

 

[Todd T]

I say fight it!!



the officer admitted he didnt see you. dont let them know you are going to fight, just show up on you date and find a DA. explain to them the scenario and chances are they will reduce it to a non moving violation or better yet the officer wont show up that day and it will be dropped.



however, if they were running a trap he probably will show up. they schedule everyones date the same while writing the tickets. so if you want to play that angle you will have to ask for another court date. if you call in twice a day for a week and ask for the officer you can easily figure out his schedule. once you've done that reschedule for a day you know he's off (isn't justice bittersweet)



you might waste a few days of your time, but you'll waste theirs too

 

[Todd T]

i beat a wrap on time because the cop was parked blocking someones driveway.



I contacted the land owner and asked if the officer had permission to be there that day and they said no way.



when my day in court came up, the ticket was dropped after i showed them a notorized deposition to that effect from the land owner. i didnt even have to pay the notory. when she found out what it was for, she did it for free



another note; in Illinois the police are required to have their parking lights on when in service and parked. well guess what, if they nab you at night and were off the road hiding with no lights on. they lose... .

 

[KPhillips]

Dude,



Ben White sucks, you gotta really watch that area, they milk it to its fullest extent..... if your in the right, fight it,,,,,simple as that,



its up to them to prove your guilty, now of course they can say what they want, but I say schedule your day in court for the day after the day they gave you, see if the guy wants to show up in court two days in a row, and if he does and the other officer isn't there, I say you tell them that the officer that suposedly saw you isn't present and see if they drop the case... .



kerryp

 

[Pit Bull]

Fight it and let us know how you came out. If you did not do it you did not do it. Fight:-{}

 

[KMeek]

Ask the prosecutor for a Deferred Prosecution Agreement after explaining it was your first moving ticket in 30 years. I would be shocked if they did not give it to you. A deferred Prosecution Agreement means that the Government will defer prosecuting you on the charge if you stay out of trouble for some designated period of time such as 6 months. At the end of the 6 months the charge is dismissed and it appears as if you beat the charge--will not increase insurance rates, etc.



Advice that the officer who wrote the ticket had to see you is nonsense. Many states such as Montana and Iowa have Highway Patrol Officers fly overhead in airplanes and clock people through Interstate Speed zones. Those tickets are very tough to beat even though the officer on the ground is the one that actually issues the ticket.



Similarly, advice to try and schedule a trial date on the date the officer is off is equally ridiculous. Officers are sent subpoenas by prosecutors and are therefore required to attend trials--even on their days off. In many instances the Courts know an officers schedule so they schedule trials for the dates the officers are on duty.



Scheduling your date the day after the others is also a worthless suggestion for the reasons stated above. Further, the appearance date on your ticket/citation is the date you appear to plead guilty or not guilty. The officers do not appear for that hearing. Frankly, the Courts and Prosecutors are not near as stupid as some apparently believe!

 

[NVR FNSH]

I don't think it matters that the cop that actually wrote the citation did not see you run the light. My bet is that he signed the ticket 'for' the cop that saw you. I believe that's the way it works when CHP is running an airplane. Cop in the plane is actually the issuing officer.



Brian

 

[WKener]

I dunno, they have been using that intersection for traps of all sorts lately... I am not sure you could get out of it, but you may as well try.



I have a friend that got pretty much the same ticket for running a yellow light. I know, I was in the car... It was not red, we were clear through the intersection before it turned red and he was pulled over about a half mile down the road. Sounds like they were a little short of quota for the month (APD tries to be a revenue-based operation).



Another thing to look out for:

You know how you see all those bums asking for money at that intersection? Well I hear (from an APD friend) they have been using officers posing as bums to catch people the way you were caught. Another reason they are doing that, is people offer those guys whatever they have in their car, and sometimes that happens to be something illegal (marijuana joints, etc). They take the 'gift' and radio ahead... Busted.



Just a heads up, be on your best behavior in that area

 

[KPhillips]

Originally posted by KMeek

. Frankly, the Courts and Prosecutors are not near as stupid as some apparently believe!

Whoa, down boy , Your right, the courts will subpoena the cop,,,,ok,,,,,and he will probably even show up... and you did give good/better advice than me... ... but the courts and the attorneys are in alot of cases as stupid as I believe,,,,,



lets see (prosecutor example here), prosecuting a guy in NJ for man slaughter in a drunk driving accident that he wasn't even at... ... . give me a break that was totally rediculous,,,,it wasn't his responsibility to watch over his buddy every second to make sure he didn't drive drunk (poor judgement on his part maybe, but thats it)... I can't think of a court example right now, so I'll let you have that one... ... give me a few minutes though..... :{



kerryp

bastrop,tx

 

[KMeek]

Attorney bashing is no help to Landshark. I seriously doubt he wants to base his defense on the hope he is prosecuted by an incompetent prosecuting attorney.

 

[JConley]

The cops at that intersection make me mad. Instead of helping out the worst intersection in the state of Texas by directing traffic, the cops sit by the side of the road writing tickets. Guess it isnt a good use of tax payer dollars to assist the public.



Before you start to slam me as anti police, I used to be a cop, and I have directed traffic.

 

[LandShark]

One thing I'm not sure about. I know that if I do the driving school and pay the $65 fee the ticket is 'removed' from my record, but if I go to court to contest the ticket and lose do I forfeit the right to do the driving school thing. I sure don't want points on my record and a big insurance increase!

 

[Bigsaint]

If you were right, then fight it. When you go to court, ask to speak with the Prosecutor. Alot of this mv crap gets downgraded and half the time the officers involved are not notified of the scheduled appearance, which could equal a win in your corner for failure to prosecute. Worse case scenario, you loss a days pay while you are there plus the fines, etc. It's worth fighting if you are SURE you were right. I don't know how it works in your state, but here you are allowed to continue through an intersection if you are already in the intersection when the light turns red.



Scott W.

 

[The patriot]

I'd fight it. If you lose, I've heard that if you over pay the ticket (yes you've read this correctly) the court will send you a refund of the overpayment. DO NOT cash the courts check.

This will show in their computer as an unresolved item, and will not issue you the points until it's been resolved.

I've never actually done this myself, but I've heard that all the computer systems are basically the same, and it should work in almost all systems.

Choice #2.

Good luck.

Eric

 

[Scot]

Originally posted by LandShark

One thing I'm not sure about. I know that if I do the driving school and pay the $65 fee the ticket is 'removed' from my record, but if I go to court to contest the ticket and lose do I forfeit the right to do the driving school thing. I sure don't want points on my record and a big insurance increase!

Do the defensive driving. We get a discount (10%?) on our insurance rates to waste a day every few years.

 

[illflem]

I'd just do the 6 hours of school and pay $95. I've never had that option but it's been 25 years since I've had a ticket...

By the time you fight the ticket you'll have at least 6 hours into it with no guarantee of winning.

 

[Whitmore]

I'm with Bill

illflem I'd just do the 6 hours of school and pay $95. I've never had that option but it's been 25 years since I've had a ticket...

I am a horrible student and would most likely disrupt the class and get early dissmissel.



and like Bill says why fight it , it will only get you keyed up over petty things ... ..... although you have ligit concerns

 

[Pit Bull]

You could look at it as Karma. I'm sure that you have broken some traffic laws through the years that you were not cited for. This way you can take the class and enjoy the experience, not get any points and stay way from that intersection. You end up with a new experience and something to talk to your friends about.

 

[NVR FNSH]

Check to see if there is an 'at home' traffic school option for your area. Last time I got a ticket I did the at home traffic school and spent a whopping 20 minutes taking the test - that included addressing the envelope.



IMO traffic school is the biggest waste of time & money ever concocted. In the 6 times I've done traffic school I haven't learned anything. All my tickets have been for <10mph over posted limit so don't go off on my driving



Brian

 

[duaneparks]

I took a "Comedy Defensive Driving" class and it wasn't too bad. Just showed up at 9:00, listened to jokes, watched a tape or two, went through group therapy (bring your issues!), did some arts & crafts, and left at 3:30... got an hour's worth of breaks in there too.



AND, I got a 10% reduction on my liability insurance.



Duane