subject: Avoiding Common Mistakes When Contesting Speeding Tickets [print this page] Getting a speeding ticket is a very unpleasant, stressful event, especially if you feel your actions did not merit one. If this is the case, you are given the right and opportunity to appear in court to contest it, and attempt to have a judge throw it out.
While this process may sound intimidating, if you are prepared and follow certain procedures, there is no reason to fear. There are certain mistakes that are common to those who are not so successful in their attempts.
By learning them, you can know exactly what to avoid to ensure that you will not be embarrassed. To begin with, do not delay your court date.
Simply delaying your court trial will not increase your chances at beating your ticket. Besides, what if you do postpone your court date and the officer still shows up?
Police officers get paid overtime to show up to court. If they can, they will.
Between 20-40% of the time, the officer will fail to show up to court (for a variety of reasons). If he does fail to show, you should get an easy dismissal-either way, delaying your trial will not help at all.
Do not request the prosecution's evidence before your trial date. By law, you do have a legal right to see everything the prosecution plans to convict you with.
This process is called 'discovery,' and can be useful in a murder trial. However, this is not a murder trial and doing so can actually hurt your case.
When you make a motion for discovery and request evidence before your trial, this sends red flags to the prosecution that you are planning a good defense. He will take it as a challenge and will prepare his case so efficiently that it becomes almost impossible to win.
Do not request anything or even contact the courthouse at any time prior to your trial. Be secretive with your intentions.
Do not let them know you are familiar with the court process. The prosecutor will not come prepared.
Next, do not do too much research, as it is often unnecessary. How many of you like to spend your free time at your local courthouse researching piles upon piles of law books?
There is absolutely no need to do this research. It is time consuming, and not to mention, boring.
Although in some cases it may be wise to look up a certain law and see how it is worded, there really is no need to do it with all speeding trials. Next, do not attack the officer's credibility, who ticketed you.
Going to court with the sole purpose of making the police officer look like an idiot will backfire on you. Claiming things like the radar gun was faulty or that the officer clocked the wrong vehicle is not going to work.
Never go into a courtroom with the intent to challenge the officer's training of the radar/laser gun. This type of defense is always attacked by the judge.
He will accept the officer's testimony as to his training and will tell you to ask your next question. The officer will not have to prove his training qualifications in the courtroom.
The officer has been properly trained, and knows how to work the radar/laser gun. If you try to go this route, you will be disappointed when the judge asks you to provide evidence supporting your claim.
Last but not least, never go to court unprepared. This is by far the biggest mistake people will make when fighting a speeding ticket.
They go to court, thinking they have done their homework, when in reality, everything they did leading up to the trial was in vain. Their research was done the wrong way, and as a result, they lose their case before they even had a chance to defend themselves.
Those who did no research go to court with the notion that they can just tell their side of the story and the judge will see things their way and dismiss their ticket. Traffic court is set up to be extremely 'user friendly,' due to the large amounts of people who go there every day.
If you are prepared and calm, you should succeed. Now, get to work!
