And with the screech of a tire, I'm screwed. [any traffic attorneys here?]

[Pitbull]

Post again when you get out of jail, let us know how it went. Back in the 60's when I joined the Marine Corp. the courts would often let a young man who had sinned in the eyes of the court, join the service and the court would drop the charges. Why don't you try that plea bargain. I'm sure that you will be more inclined to not show off after Marine Corp. Boot camp Plus you can go to Iraq and fight for our country.

 

[shortyb]

You unfortunately picked the parking lot where the officer was "writing reports" and woke....er... aroused his suspicion . Been there, done that, got lots of t-shirts. Most times, I usually tell the offenders the pitfalls of this kind of behavior and suggest a driving school to learn vehicle dynamics, then send them on their way. You probably have to appear in court anyway, so be polite, explain what happened and why you were goofing off, and APOLOGIZE. Most folks can identify with the ill chosen decisions of youth and punish you accordingly. Take the ding, learn from your mistake, and motor on. Unfortunately, higher insurance premium and some points will be the worst part of the deal. Good luck.

 

[Whiskey_River]

If you are interested in fighting the ticket, first thing to do is file an extension to change the court date. If you are lucky, they'll change the date to a day when the cop won't be in the courthouse. No cop, no prosecution. If you aren't so lucky, file a motion of discovery for the training and certification records of the officer. Most PDs require the officers to maintain a certain level of training. If any of these have fallen delequint then you may have the case thrown out. Also, if the circuit clerk is slow in getting you the documents then the case can be dismissed. Just a few ideas if you are wanting to beat this.

 

[kwikrnu]

quote:

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Originally posted by Whiskey_River: If you are interested in fighting the ticket, first thing to do is file an extension to change the court date. If you are lucky, they'll change the date to a day when the cop won't be in the courthouse. No cop, no prosecution.

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I got a reckless driving ticket several years ago. The cop didn't show up and the judge rescheduled the court date. The next date the cop showed up and I was found guilty. I then hired a lawyer and appealed to a higher court where for punishment I went to a 4 hour driver education class and the ticket was taken off my record. Good luck.

 

[crashz]

Live and learn. I've done many stupid things too, and paid for them. Now I wear my seatbelt, do the speed limit and follow the rules to the letter. Fighting the ticket may help, but keep in mind that the cop was fully in the right here and also had just cause to ARREST you. So if this is your home town and everybody knows everybody, you may screw yourself if you drag the cop to court. From then on you might be pulled over for light out, seatbelt fine, etc.

 

[Propflux01]

OK, here is the word, cold and ruthless. More than likely you are guilty. Persiod. Of teh infraction you were charged with. Your best bet is to call an attorney and see if he can get it reduced to an even lesser level. Yes, you will be out some cash, maybe more than the fine itself (after paying the lawyer) but I guarentee, if you fight it, and your state has a law like the one posted earlier, you will pay full fine anyway, as they figure your wasting the courts time by trying to fight a written plain law. With friends that drive a beemer, and you owning an 01 Acura, Money should not be a problem anyway. Look in the phone book under traffic sharks - er - Attorneys. You may even get lucky enough to get it reduced to a misdemeaner vandalism charge ( yes, vandalism - marking property ((with the tires)) !!) and never even have it show up on any kind of insurance. Remember, all the court really wants is the money......

 

[XS650]

quote:

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Originally posted by Tim H.: Attorneys. You may even get lucky enough to get it reduced to a misdemeaner vandalism charge ( yes, vandalism - marking property ((with the tires)) !!) and never even have it show up on any kind of insurance. Remember, all the court really wants is the money......

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Good advice, what our little miscreanty needs to do is get a lawyer and get the offence reduce to anything that won't show up on his driving record as anything of interest to his insurance company. Any fine he gets from the court for showing off/reckless driving will not be significant compared to how his insurance comp[any will stick it to him.

 

[Logik]

quote:

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Originally posted by Tim H.: ...and you owning an 01 Acura, Money should not be a problem anyway.

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I hope you're kidding me. Having a nice car obviously means I'm ROLLING in dough. I worked 64 hours a week for a while to pay for this. It's not going to be easy to pay for my representation either.

 

[Schmoe]

Just fess up and take it like a man. Get to court on time, wear some nice looking clothes, but don't over dress it up, plead guilty and stand straight and tall.

 

[Propflux01]

quote:

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Originally posted by Logik:

quote:

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Originally posted by Tim H.: ...and you owning an 01 Acura, Money should not be a problem anyway.

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I hope you're kidding me. Having a nice car obviously means I'm ROLLING in dough. I worked 64 hours a week for a while to pay for this. It's not going to be easy to pay for my representation either.

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No, not rolling, but I know insurance for an 18 year old kid is not cheap for an acura, much less the car. I will commend you, however, for the fact that you worked for the car rather than Mommy and Daddy paying for it....

 

[Dan4510]

quote:

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Originally posted by Schmoe: Just fess up and take it like a man. Get to court on time, wear some nice looking clothes, but don't over dress it up, plead guilty and stand straight and tall.

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Why should he "take it like man" when our political leaders cant even answer a yes or no question without wanting to redefine the meaning of "is." I say fight it to the bitter end. If I wasnt broke right now, I would even offer to pay for a lawyer for this young man. Dan

 

[Propflux01]

[/QUOTE]Why should he "take it like man" when our political leaders cant even answer a yes or no question without wanting to redefine the meaning of "is." Dan [/QB][/QUOTE] With that kind of attitude, You actually contribute to those same attitudes that those politicians have. One reason why they do it in the first place. Heck, I might as well start disobeying any law I feel that is not right for me, After all, maybe ther is a few cops and judges that have your 'tude and they will just overlook it too. I know, I know, people with 'tudes like yours always look to blame someone else. heck, lets just sue Acura becasue the car allowed him to spin the tires in the first place....Geez....

 

[labman]

quote:

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Originally posted by Dan4510:

quote:

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Originally posted by Schmoe: Just fess up and take it like a man. Get to court on time, wear some nice looking clothes, but don't over dress it up, plead guilty and stand straight and tall.

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Why should he "take it like man" when our political leaders cant even answer a yes or no question without wanting to redefine the meaning of "is." I say fight it to the bitter end. If I wasnt broke right now, I would even offer to pay for a lawyer for this young man. Dan

---

-- Because he has a long time to live with himself. He is not responcible for the poor choices we older people have made. In far too many cases, too many otherwise decent people have failed to vote. Yes too often I had to hold my nose until it hurt to vote for the lesser evil. Too many decent people fail to run for office. it was a good year, many of my choices won the primary.

 

[jason07-1zzfe]

That cop was a ****. I can't even count the number of donuts I have done... I'd get a lawyer. It will be worth it. You need to keep it off your record!

 

[goodvibes]

There's plenty of dickishness to go around. Of course he should try to beat it but maybe learning something from it and admitting that the problem started with him instead of copping a tude would also be good. I doubt he would have gotten this many neg. posts if he started it; I screwed up. How do i fix it?

 

[AUG]

Why was the cop a dick? Because he caught a 18 year old showing his butt? I think the cop was doing his job. Cops look for people doing stupid things and charge them accordingly. Looks to me like this cop did his job quite well. I would say in a area where a 18 year old kid drives a 2001 Integra type-R and sees his buddy driving daddy's 1998 BMW 740i is NOT a crime ridden city so the theory about low hanging fruit does not hold water. In the court room everything is about relationships. Just like in the real world. The relationship between the officer that charged you and the judge or prosecutor goes way further to help your cause than a pit bull lawyer that everyone in the court room despises. Many of the wreckless driving citations I issued (yes, i was one of those "dicks" for several years) were punished according to the attitude of the person charged. If you act and dress like a dork you will get a more severe punishment. If you look, act, and talk like a decent person you will get off light. FWIW, make sure you have a conservative haircut, be clean shaven, wear clothes that one would wear to a funeral, wear nothing with a logo of any kind, speak in proper formal english, get rid of anything that might remind the judge of a fast and furious/ghetto wannabe type of person. I'm not saying you are like that but what ever you do don't give the judge any reason to think otherwise. NO baggy pants, sideways hats, ebonic speech, no jewelry of any kind other than a watch. Don't **** off the judge in any way. The judge is the only guy that can help you. Don't **** him off. Find the officer the day of your court date and admitt your mistake and respectfully ask for HIS help with the judge. A good word from the officer will help you way more that a entire herd of pit bull lawyers. My advice is vastly different than that of a lawyer. Then again I have gotten better results in court than any lawer I have ever seen.

 

[crashz]

Couldn't have said it better myself AUG!

 

[Propflux01]

quote:

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Originally posted by Dan4510: no one was hurt even though there might have been a chance of it. He deserves a chance to defend himself to the fullest extent of the law. So again, I ask, what is wrong with him fighting the system every step of the way...Its what every unethical policitian, lawyer and, dare I say, law enforcement officer would do when caught with their hand in the cookie jar... Dan

---

That was the original purpose of the law in the first place, because there MIGHT HAVE BEEN A CHANCE of someone getting hurt. Yes, he deserves his chance. But if he is guilty of violating that law, then by proclaiming innocence is a waste of the courts time money, and MY tax dollars. Now, like earlier said, if he wants to try and 'plead down' to a lessor offence, to say, give him a break, then so be it. but guilty is guilty, if that law was broken. So why proclaim 'innocence' when in fact it is known just the opposite is true? That officer, if caught breaking the law, has that same right to proclaim innocence. Again, if he is guilty, and doing it, he is wasting MY tax dollars. Hence the reason why when you are found guilty in court, your fines and punishment are MUCH more severe than if you just plead out. In in the cops case, he should get it even worse! It was the original hope that the courts would operate as follows. if you are truly innocent, tehn you get a court date to state your case. If your guilty, you lidigate with the prosecuter to get a lessor sentence if you have no other offenses, etc. If you plead innocense, and the facts show you guilty wihout a reasonable doubt, then you usually get the more severe punishment for 'wasting the courts time'. Sadly, most people that are pleading innocent and are found beyond resonable doubt guilty, are misusing the court systems for their own gain. [ July 29, 2004, 01:49 PM: Message edited by: Tim H. ]

 

[Dan4510]

Sadly, most people that are pleading innocent and are found beyond resonable doubt guilty, are misusing the court systems for their own gain. **************************************************** I couldnt agree more with this statement, but it is the nature of humans to not take responsibility and even if you are guilty as sin, the state must prove its case or we are really in a messed up state of affirs. Dan

 

[rpn453]

quote:

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Originally posted by Tim H.: Yes, he deserves his chance. But if he is guilty of violating that law, then by proclaiming innocence is a waste of the courts time money, and MY tax dollars.

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From what I read earlier about the offence, it is not a clear cut charge though: it is based on the officer's discretion. If he was ticketed for stunting, then I'd say no argument. But I don't necessarily agree that what was done is reckless driving. Every time I drive I see people doing things on the road that are far more dangerous than this, due to the presence of other vehicles.