Fighting a traffic ticket in court

[GabeS14]

Well today I went to court to fight a Red Light Traffic ticket, the ticket was not issued by a camera, it was by a beverly hills police officer. and I was sure I didn't run the light.

I showed up to court with a few google earth pictures of the intersection with some diagrams showing the officers location and POV and my location etc.. and some other print outs of pictures of the intersection close up, i also had subpeoned the DVD of the incident that the officer had from his on board cam.

It was going to be a tight case, when the light switched to red i had barely made it over the first line(limit line)
and I still wasn't sure if the judge would allow to view the DVD in the court.

anyways, When the judge told me that my citing officer was there also I almost gave up, but decided to continue on and go to court, as soon as I said that then tyhe officer stood up and said"your honor I would like to dismiss the case in the name of justice" or at least thats what I understood...

I guess he knew it was a tough case and he didn't want to sit and answer all my questions and argue about it.

So my main point is, if you think you didn't deserve a ticket, (FUCKING FIGHT IT)
there is the chance of the cop not showing up, the chance of you being able to put togetehr some good evidence and the chance of the cop being there but not wishing to go through the entire tiral to prove his case because it is gojng to be a tough win for him.
and even if the cop does show up you can still decide to take traffic school at that point instead of going through with the trial.
Out of the first 8 people there the first 2 were dropped because the cop didn't show up, the 3rd and 5th got dropped like mine so basically 5 out of eight people that showed up won their cases!
thats it, hope the info was usefull, I am getting my $380 bucks back, in the mail in 4-6 weeks.

[s13silady]

good shit.. i wanted to fight the last speeding ticket i got in lamont county. but im from northern Cali... and i didnt want to make the trip down.

[repda916]

how would i fight a stop sign ticket? haha

[THE PROPHET]

nice, good job!

[svensko]

Originally Posted by repda916

how would i fight a stop sign ticket? haha

Stop running stop signs? haha

[GabeS14]

Originally Posted by repda916

how would i fight a stop sign ticket? haha

I did a lot of google searchign for stuff like:
how to fight a red light ticket

and got a few good answers on questions to ask the cop, what to bring to court and how to request a subpeona

basically when you request a trial, you have to pay the fine then go to trial then if you win you get your money back, so when you go make the payment, tell the clerk you need(x amount) of subpeonas,

1 so you can take one to the police station (requesting the officers notes, and video i wrote on mine"requesting any and all documents and evidence referring to the case"
2 one to your girlfriends work or friend whatever any witness(by law they are required to appear and excused from work with pay I beleive)

make sure to do this asap because it may take more than a a week for the police station to send you the documents.

from there you can start building your case

[ANVIL]

lucky for you. i was trying to fight a street racing ticket and lost. i was speeding with a group of friends. i guess it could have looked like racing. what sucks is it was basically me vs him kinda thing, and the judge always takes the officers side. also the officer fucking lied and it really made it seem like i was lying. a few things off the top of my mind that he lied about which DIDNT happen:

he said i admitted to street racing as i got pulled over, which i didnt. i didnt even know i was getting pulled over i was just pulling over because i figured my friend got pulled over for speeding and i was going to wait for him. (hes from out of town in town on military leave, using my other car)

he said that he was directly behind me, at a light at which i proceded to do a burnout, and launch the vehicle while wildly peeling out. #1 NOONE in their right mind would do that with a cop directly behind them. i was heading north bound at a light, and he actually came from the east intersection. #2 i dont do burnouts, not even at the track. dont have lsd yet.

he also lied about me "bad driving due to conditions", he said it was raining. i dont even drive my 240 in the rain, let alone be cruising while it was raining.

he said he had the whole thing on video, yet forgot to bring it. yeah right...

basically it just caught me so off gaurd (1st time in court too)... i could have been more prepared and should have had a traffic court lawyer. sucks. dickhole officer and a shitty situation to me. 10pt ticket and $260 fine.

[GabeS14]

Originally Posted by ANVIL

lucky for you. i was trying to fight a street racing ticket and lost. i he said he had the whole thing on video, yet forgot to bring it. yeah right...

basically it just caught me so off gaurd (1st time in court too)... i could have been more prepared and should have had a traffic court lawyer. sucks. dickhole officer and a shitty situation to me. 10pt ticket and $260 fine.

yes you could have prepared more, you always want to ask where he was in relation to your vehicle.
if there was anything that could block his view like other cars, objects etc, if he said it was bad driving conditions then maybe it was hard for him to see you and know exactly what you were doing.
could have gotten a statement from your friend and have it notarized or subpeoned him to appear in court, i am sure he would have liked to do a road trip while getting paid by the military to go to court as a witness..any time off a military guy can get is awesome(trust me I know) haha

just things to keep in mind for next time.. do a lot of research you will find others that went through the same thing. and be able to copy their ideas.

[ANVIL]

i basically drive like a grandma (which is unbearably hard) now. i even took a drivers class to drop 2 of the pts. i need my license for my job and cant afford to even risk that. so when we go for cruises or whatever either im riding with someone or someone else will drive my car. definately a learning experience for me though.

[DCP94]

lucky ass i get tickets for stupid sh*t like going 5 miles over or swerving(to avoid potholes) or something dumb and i never get let off for some reason..and im a nice guy

[karl wasabi]

Inspirational story Gabe. So what happens if you fight the ticket and lose? You get a point on your license and won't be able to take traffic school?

[vr4gasmtt]

Originally Posted by DCP94

lucky ass i get tickets for stupid sh*t like going 5 miles over or swerving(to avoid potholes) or something dumb and i never get let off for some reason..and im a nice guy

word on man, I've gotten a speeding ticket for going 33 in a 25... FML

I even went to fight it to, which was a stupid mistake because the judge ended up giving me the ticket anyways while at the same time increasing how much I owed on the ticket. ($145 to $185..)

I was stuttering so much in front of the judge. Sucks balls cause everyone else that fought their ticket that day all got the judge to agree with them. but not me. My excuse to the judge, was that all speedomters are off by a little and that +- 5 mph should not be the determining factor for speeding...

I also got a ticket for doing a U-turn in a residential area with no one around for miles... bad timing cop comes out of nowhere... FML

I've simply just stop fighting and just pay the damn tickets, I make more money going to work than missing a day of work to just be humilated in court. Needless to say I have many speeding tickets but none of them are major speeding tickets, 5mph over the speed limit...

My excuse to the judge, was that all speedomters are off by a little and that +- 5 mph should not be the determining factor for speeding...

[aoiken3]

my roommate was given a retarded ticket too. he went to court both times and the cop didnt show. it was nice but when he came out feeling great, he had a parking ticket. $36>$400 tho so its all good. definitely fight your tickets if you think they were given falsely!!

[GabeS14]

Originally Posted by karl wasabi

Inspirational story Gabe. So what happens if you fight the ticket and lose? You get a point on your license and won't be able to take traffic school?

Yes you get the point and no traffic school, so the idea is to:

1-If you realy beleive you didnt commit the infraction do your homework, get as much info as you can on the laws, and get evidence such as officers notes take pictures his video etc.. and go through trial. you have more than a 50% chance of winning.

2- If you know you commited the infraction you should still fight it, because in case the cop does show up and you feel like you will loose you can just plea guilty or no contest and request traffic school!

[repda916]

Originally Posted by svensko

Stop running stop signs? haha

i stopped but for only like a second. i told the cop my fuel pump was making weird noises and i needed to hurry and get home before the shit blew up. haha im going to reschedule the date to sometime in the first of the month.
Also here is a tip i got from a retired CHP.
to not get a point on your record simply pay the court like $10 above the fine they give you. they will send a check back of the difference, DONT cash it and just rip it up. as long as you dont cash that check the case stays open and nothing is sent to your insurance or anything.