My 10-year ticketless streak is over...
03-14-2001, 09:46 PM
#1
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Thread Starter
Join Date: Oct 2000
Posts: 384
My 10 year 12-warning streak ended today when I was given a ticket for supposedly speeding 42 in a 25. Honestly, I wasn't paying attention but I don't think I was doing this because:
1) I had just started from a 4-way stop
2) I had my kids in the car, and I'm **** as you can be when they are with me.
3) I was behind a bus...so I don't know how he could have got a visual on me within the half block I traveled from the stop with that bus in front of me.
So the officer (Laurel, MD or PG county...I can't tell from the ticket) said that he was going to "give me a break"
and just write me for a 31 in a 25, but firmly warned me that if I tried to contest it, he would appear in court and testify that I was acutally going 42. (!?!) He said to just pay the $60 fine and be done with it. But do I get points on my license if I do this?? If so my insurance will have a fit. I don't mind paying as long as there is no record.
Now what I want to know is: Do I have a chance of fighting this? And how? I've never done this before.
-The ticket states 31 in a 25...with a "42" circled in a margin area (Im assuming to jog his memory later)...
-He signed the section that states "under penalty of purgury, I certify that all afforementioned information is correct to the best of my knowledge and ability"...so can he change his story to say I was doing 42 if I fight it in court without purguring himself?
-He also didn't fill in the section where it said to "print radar operator's name and badge #", and I don't even know if he used a radar to gun me, it does not say. There was a second squad car there after I pulled over, but there was no other name listed, and I don't even know if it was a "team" effort on their parts.
-I had just driven around a mass transit bus that had just stopped to discherge passengers, and the officer was there on the other side in his squad car coming out of an apartment parking lot (lights on) waving me to pull over.
I want to keep my clean record...what's the best way to do so?
Thanks in advance for the advice.
1) I had just started from a 4-way stop
2) I had my kids in the car, and I'm **** as you can be when they are with me.
3) I was behind a bus...so I don't know how he could have got a visual on me within the half block I traveled from the stop with that bus in front of me.
So the officer (Laurel, MD or PG county...I can't tell from the ticket) said that he was going to "give me a break"
and just write me for a 31 in a 25, but firmly warned me that if I tried to contest it, he would appear in court and testify that I was acutally going 42. (!?!) He said to just pay the $60 fine and be done with it. But do I get points on my license if I do this?? If so my insurance will have a fit. I don't mind paying as long as there is no record.
Now what I want to know is: Do I have a chance of fighting this? And how? I've never done this before.
-The ticket states 31 in a 25...with a "42" circled in a margin area (Im assuming to jog his memory later)...
-He signed the section that states "under penalty of purgury, I certify that all afforementioned information is correct to the best of my knowledge and ability"...so can he change his story to say I was doing 42 if I fight it in court without purguring himself?
-He also didn't fill in the section where it said to "print radar operator's name and badge #", and I don't even know if he used a radar to gun me, it does not say. There was a second squad car there after I pulled over, but there was no other name listed, and I don't even know if it was a "team" effort on their parts.
-I had just driven around a mass transit bus that had just stopped to discherge passengers, and the officer was there on the other side in his squad car coming out of an apartment parking lot (lights on) waving me to pull over.
I want to keep my clean record...what's the best way to do so?
Thanks in advance for the advice.
03-14-2001, 10:21 PM
#2
Dude that sucks man, I can totally feel u man. Personally I hate howard county cops. I just got a ticket this past weekend goin to my gurlfriends house on route 29 going towards columbia. They're must be absolutely NO CRIME goin on in howard county cause all i see are like 10 cops every night with nothing better to do, just waiting to bust people on that road. Anyways, to make a long story short i got busted for doing 71 on a 55. Ended up being 70 bucks 2 pts. Thus i'm assuming 6 over the speed limit equals one point. So i think ur better off going to court. That whole testifying thing is BS. cause most likely what you'll do is go to court and when the judge asks you right off the bat, you plead guilty with a explanation. Upon doin so u can say how u haven't had a ticket in 10 years, and how ur driving record is great, and how ur kids were goofin off and u were somewhat distracted, blah blah, and most likely the judge will let you off either completely or he'll give you PBJ (probation before judgement) which means you won't get any points or pay the fine unless u get caught again within 6 months or a year, and lastly if you don't get any of those, the judge will lighten ur sentence and drop the speed down even more, but since ur speed was only 6 over i don't see why the judge wouldn't just give u a warning this time and let you off completely. And in most cases the judges are pretty fair. But my point is... once u plead guilty u waive the right to a trial, thus the cops testimony is not heard and becomes a non factor. It's only when u contest it, is when they talk to the cop and hear his side of the story. So basically the cop is just tryin to get u to pay the 60 bucks cause he knows u'll prolly get off free if you go to court. What a lil bastard. Anyways, i hope this gave you a lil more insight on the whole ticket thing.
10 years without a ticket though ... that's impressive.
goodluck.
al.
10 years without a ticket though ... that's impressive.
goodluck.
al.
03-15-2001, 12:45 PM
#3
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Oct 2000
Posts: 384
Hey 29 is nasty...
Originally posted by NISMO808
Dude that sucks man, I can totally feel u man. Personally I hate howard county cops. I just got a ticket this past weekend goin to my gurlfriends house on route 29 going towards columbia. They're must be absolutely NO CRIME goin on in howard county cause all i see are like 10 cops every night with nothing better to do, just waiting to bust people on that road. Anyways, to make a long story short i got busted for doing 71 on a 55. Ended up being 70 bucks 2 pts. Thus i'm assuming 6 over the speed limit equals one point. So i think ur better off going to court. That whole testifying thing is BS. cause most likely what you'll do is go to court and when the judge asks you right off the bat, you plead guilty with a explanation. Upon doin so u can say how u haven't had a ticket in 10 years, and how ur driving record is great, and how ur kids were goofin off and u were somewhat distracted, blah blah, and most likely the judge will let you off either completely or he'll give you PBJ (probation before judgement) which means you won't get any points or pay the fine unless u get caught again within 6 months or a year, and lastly if you don't get any of those, the judge will lighten ur sentence and drop the speed down even more, but since ur speed was only 6 over i don't see why the judge wouldn't just give u a warning this time and let you off completely. And in most cases the judges are pretty fair. But my point is... once u plead guilty u waive the right to a trial, thus the cops testimony is not heard and becomes a non factor. It's only when u contest it, is when they talk to the cop and hear his side of the story. So basically the cop is just tryin to get u to pay the 60 bucks cause he knows u'll prolly get off free if you go to court. What a lil bastard. Anyways, i hope this gave you a lil more insight on the whole ticket thing.
10 years without a ticket though ... that's impressive.
goodluck.
al.
Dude that sucks man, I can totally feel u man. Personally I hate howard county cops. I just got a ticket this past weekend goin to my gurlfriends house on route 29 going towards columbia. They're must be absolutely NO CRIME goin on in howard county cause all i see are like 10 cops every night with nothing better to do, just waiting to bust people on that road. Anyways, to make a long story short i got busted for doing 71 on a 55. Ended up being 70 bucks 2 pts. Thus i'm assuming 6 over the speed limit equals one point. So i think ur better off going to court. That whole testifying thing is BS. cause most likely what you'll do is go to court and when the judge asks you right off the bat, you plead guilty with a explanation. Upon doin so u can say how u haven't had a ticket in 10 years, and how ur driving record is great, and how ur kids were goofin off and u were somewhat distracted, blah blah, and most likely the judge will let you off either completely or he'll give you PBJ (probation before judgement) which means you won't get any points or pay the fine unless u get caught again within 6 months or a year, and lastly if you don't get any of those, the judge will lighten ur sentence and drop the speed down even more, but since ur speed was only 6 over i don't see why the judge wouldn't just give u a warning this time and let you off completely. And in most cases the judges are pretty fair. But my point is... once u plead guilty u waive the right to a trial, thus the cops testimony is not heard and becomes a non factor. It's only when u contest it, is when they talk to the cop and hear his side of the story. So basically the cop is just tryin to get u to pay the 60 bucks cause he knows u'll prolly get off free if you go to court. What a lil bastard. Anyways, i hope this gave you a lil more insight on the whole ticket thing.
10 years without a ticket though ... that's impressive.
goodluck.
al.
You're right about 29, especially between 32 and 40, seems like there's always a trap somwehere along that stretch.
I guess I'll contest the ticket. I'll just goi in there as if it was a 31 in a 25 (as indicated on the ticket) and just play dumb I guess. But do I go in and say "I don't think I did this, here's why...clean record...behind a bus...blah, blah, blah, and besides, getting pulled over for 6 over is absurd?" I'm thinking if I want to say I'm innocent, I've got to have a good reason for it. Or is doing a guilty w/ cause going to be better? Ugh.
03-15-2001, 01:43 PM
#4
Plead guilty. If you plead innocent then they will use the testimony of the cop and he will blow ur cover. He'll say that you were going faster and that he lightened the sentence already. The judge might look down on this and look at it unfavorably and end up making you pay the fine and recieve the points. However if you plead guilty and ask for leniancy the judge will not even call up the cop to the stand and will only be lookin at the ticket as his only source of information. Upon lookin at it he will see that you were only going six over the speed limit and how ridiculous that looks. Not only that the judge will then proceed to ask you if your driving record is clean and thats when you will tell him about ur driving record and so forth. That'll prolly be the icing on the cake and he'll prolly dismiss the charge. Meanwhile the cop will prolly be pissed caused u won and he didn't get a chance to tell it like it really was. So in short... plead guilty.
03-15-2001, 02:05 PM
#5
I'd plead guilty..
Then pay the ticket,
then what you should do is go take that defensive driving course, it takes off like 2 or 3 points off your record... it doesn't cost much either.
I don't know how many points you get for speeding so little over the limit.. But you get points for pretty much all moving violations , if I am not mistaking...
good luck dude.
then what you should do is go take that defensive driving course, it takes off like 2 or 3 points off your record... it doesn't cost much either.
I don't know how many points you get for speeding so little over the limit.. But you get points for pretty much all moving violations , if I am not mistaking...
good luck dude.
03-15-2001, 02:30 PM
#6
Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Posts: 410
If it says 31 on the ticket, that's all the cop should be able to testify to. Anything else is won't stand up in court if it wasn't documented properly. And 31 in a 25 is little enough you should be able to talk them down to paying more fines instead of taking any points. If there's any doubt, run the situation by a lawyer and get a more informed opinion.
And don't plead guilty- if they're going to take your money, make them work for it!
And don't plead guilty- if they're going to take your money, make them work for it!
03-15-2001, 03:22 PM
#7
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Thread Starter
Join Date: Oct 2000
Posts: 384
Originally posted by NISMO808
Plead guilty. If you plead innocent then they will use the testimony of the cop and he will blow ur cover. He'll say that you were going faster and that he lightened the sentence already. The judge might look down on this and look at it unfavorably and end up making you pay the fine and recieve the points. However if you plead guilty and ask for leniancy the judge will not even call up the cop to the stand and will only be lookin at the ticket as his only source of information. Upon lookin at it he will see that you were only going six over the speed limit and how ridiculous that looks. Not only that the judge will then proceed to ask you if your driving record is clean and thats when you will tell him about ur driving record and so forth. That'll prolly be the icing on the cake and he'll prolly dismiss the charge. Meanwhile the cop will prolly be pissed caused u won and he didn't get a chance to tell it like it really was. So in short... plead guilty.
Plead guilty. If you plead innocent then they will use the testimony of the cop and he will blow ur cover. He'll say that you were going faster and that he lightened the sentence already. The judge might look down on this and look at it unfavorably and end up making you pay the fine and recieve the points. However if you plead guilty and ask for leniancy the judge will not even call up the cop to the stand and will only be lookin at the ticket as his only source of information. Upon lookin at it he will see that you were only going six over the speed limit and how ridiculous that looks. Not only that the judge will then proceed to ask you if your driving record is clean and thats when you will tell him about ur driving record and so forth. That'll prolly be the icing on the cake and he'll prolly dismiss the charge. Meanwhile the cop will prolly be pissed caused u won and he didn't get a chance to tell it like it really was. So in short... plead guilty.
03-15-2001, 08:12 PM
#10
I think you guys are giving him misinformation. If you plead not guilty or no contest, then the judge will ask for your side of the story, then he will call the cop up to testify upon which case the cop will say how ur a dope for coming to court when he had already knocked the ticket down to 31 when u were really going 42. In most cases you will lose. I've never ever seen someone win a case when they plead no contest.(and i've been to court a lot) The judge usually always sides with the cops testimony. And i see this case as being no different. Worst case scenerio is that the judge after hearing the cops testimony will then increase the fines of the ticket plus charge you the points and on top of that you have court costs.
Trust me. maryland judges are fair. Just say yeah i was guilty of speeding, which you were, and say my driving record is clean, please let me off, which in most cases, NOT ALL CASES, is enough for you to get off with just paying court costs which is like 30 bucks.
If by chance the judge does know what the lil 42 circled in the margin means and asks you why u came to court when you were really doing 42 in a 25, you can say, "well your honor, i know i was guilty of speeding however I came to plead leniancy since this was my first offense in ten years and I rather not have any points on my record because I will never hear the end of it from my wife." That's how I would play it off. Ofcourse this statement wouldn't work if you pleaded not guilty.
But if you don't believe me then plead no contest or not guilty and see what happens. And then post back here to let us know how it went.
Trust me. maryland judges are fair. Just say yeah i was guilty of speeding, which you were, and say my driving record is clean, please let me off, which in most cases, NOT ALL CASES, is enough for you to get off with just paying court costs which is like 30 bucks.
If by chance the judge does know what the lil 42 circled in the margin means and asks you why u came to court when you were really doing 42 in a 25, you can say, "well your honor, i know i was guilty of speeding however I came to plead leniancy since this was my first offense in ten years and I rather not have any points on my record because I will never hear the end of it from my wife." That's how I would play it off. Ofcourse this statement wouldn't work if you pleaded not guilty.
But if you don't believe me then plead no contest or not guilty and see what happens. And then post back here to let us know how it went.
03-15-2001, 09:19 PM
#11
Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2000
Posts: 1,148
Talk to a lawyer!
Call up a lawyer and talk to them, they'll be able to tell you if there is anything you can do about this.
Often times you can pay double the fine on the ticket and don't get any points added to your license, but you need a lawyer!
Often times you can pay double the fine on the ticket and don't get any points added to your license, but you need a lawyer!
03-15-2001, 09:32 PM
#12
Guest
Posts: n/a
I lived in Baltimore City for 18 years and know the area pretty well. Go to W. Fayette Street, or North Ave. and MLK Blvd. and pay some crackhead 15 bucks to knee-cap the cop a day before the trial. Then when he doesn't show up, (b/c he can hardly walk), you go free, no points!...
j/k
I would go with NISMO808 on this one. Tell him that you were speeding and throw yourself to the mercy of the court, so to speak. Tell him that you've have a 10 year ticketless record and make him think that this is the biggest deal in the world to you and how sorry you are. Judges that do traffic court think that these type of tickets are the most meaningless pieces of waste of time. Make him think this issue is more important to you than having your kids graduate high school and he'll let you off.
j/k
I would go with NISMO808 on this one. Tell him that you were speeding and throw yourself to the mercy of the court, so to speak. Tell him that you've have a 10 year ticketless record and make him think that this is the biggest deal in the world to you and how sorry you are. Judges that do traffic court think that these type of tickets are the most meaningless pieces of waste of time. Make him think this issue is more important to you than having your kids graduate high school and he'll let you off.
03-15-2001, 10:23 PM
#13
Yeah I like that blowin out the cops kneecaps idea. I should do that for this upcoming courtcase that I have. But anyways I digress, just one last bit of advice... You really don't need to hire the services of a lawyer on this one. Listen to Marylanders on this forum who have been through it already. Bottom line, Save your money and buy some nice stuff for the wife and kids, or maybe even a radar detector.
Goodluck,
al.
Goodluck,
al.
03-16-2001, 04:59 AM
#14
To me, paying the ticket/summons makes NO sense. He stated to you that he caught you at 42 in a 25, but then wrote 31 in a 25 and then SIGNED a legal statement that what he stated was true. That means if he says that he REALLY caught you at 42, he has now perjured himself, throwing his reputation and creditabiliy in the drain and opening himself up to new legal problems. Secondly, he didn't tell you how he 'caught' you. Ask for a supporting deposition and investigate your states V&T laws. I'm betting that he has to put something in the box in order for it to be valid. At the absolute worst, the judge can ONLY charge you with the 31 in a 25 violation, which is probably less points and less of a fine. Good luck.
03-16-2001, 07:10 AM
#15
Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2000
Posts: 2,530
Sounds like you got a Maryland ticket. I've gotten plenty of those... so I know what to do. Do not waste your money on a lawyer. He will just say the same thing that you can say yourself. What you should do in this case, is mail back the card that says pleads guilty with explanation. 9 times out of 10 the cop DOES NOT SHOW UP for this because you have already plead guilty, but you are asking for lenience because of some circumstance. When you go to court, tell the judge what you just told all of us, and he will ask how your driving record is. Mention 10 years, no tickets. I am almost willing to bet money he will let you off with probation before judgement as someone already mentioned.
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