06VenomZ

iTrader: (7)

I recently received a promise to appear in court ticket for reckless driving. The cop heard me from a street over ( agency power exhaust is to blame ) turned around and caught me rolling through a stop sign. I wasn't driving slow so by the time the cop caught up I was actually pulling in my driveway. My violations were reckless driving, prob b/c my wife was in the car, failing to stop at stop sign and loud muffler. My question is what type of penalty should I expect? I wasn't clocked so technically I wasn't speeding...any chance this could get brought down to a lesser charge? Court date is the 30th, I'd appreciate any ideas on how to beat this.

Thanks


To make things worse the cop owns a 280z

350ZTheStandard

iTrader: (4)

Where I live reckelss driving is 8 points towards suspending your license. Good luck, i would talk to your friends locally or post this in the regional NE forums. Maybe you can tell the judge the wifey was trying to have her way, wif u. Always blame the wife, man rule.

Sotomatic

The points aren't the big problem its how its going to affect your insurance! Reckless tickets stay on your record for 7 years and will cause a HUGE spike in your costs... expect to get raped up the ***. I would lawer up and see if he/she can't plea it down. I spent $500 on a lawyer when I got my careless ticket 3 years ago and managed to get it reduced to a city citation of exhibition driving so my insurance never had to see it. I payed the city a fine of $185 that was it.

Forged_G

iTrader: (10)

Sorry to hear that bro.. i know how it feels.

First i would talk to Joe at our meets.. hes a new haven cop. Second i would highly recommend getting a lawyer that is local to that courthouse and these types of cases.

Chances are you'll pay a fee for the attorney, a penalty fee and they'll drop it down to a lesser charge. in the end youll be out about $1000 but you wont lose your license.

trodis

+1 - I just hit max points on my insurance and oh boy am I going to be paying for it.

BoomerZ33

iTrader: (23)

damn that's alot of tickets dude. i would suggest an attorney as well to try and drop some of those points. hopefully the judge will be lenient if this is your first time with these violations

FiReEyE690

iTrader: (1)

kk well i saw a police question and figured i'd chime in lol.... there are a lot of factors on what your punishment will be... previous tickets as well as which court you go to plays a big part ~

what i've seen in the past is the judge/prosecutor will look at your record and see how many tickets you've recieved in the past. that puts some weight on their judgement. the stop sign violation is just an infraction and costs $124 in CT. the loud exhaust i believe just got bumped up to like $92. the reason for the promise to appear is for reckless driving.

Again, if the court sees this charge a lot, or you have no serious stuff on your record, you could very well just end up making a "donation" to charity (AKA pay a fine). the charge could get dropped to "unsafe movement" depending on how the cop writes his report.

If you have a lot of tickets or the judge feels like being a D^*K then it could do some damage to your license points. maybe a temporary suspension (like 30-60 days).

I would speak to a few lawyers and see what your options are.
~good luck and let us know the outcome!

knils

iTrader: (2)

Yo man long time no see! Sorry to hear about this, but from your story I think you are golden even without a lawyer... I wouldn't shell that dough unless you have to. I just had my trial finally a couple weeks ago for an Unsafe Movement charge, no lawyer and the cop said he saw me plain as day, testified to me revving my engine and burning out as I took off, NONE of which happened by the way... I might have chirped off the line and definitely into second but nothing intentional. Anyways I didn't even have to speak before it was dismissed by the judge on some technicality and trust me it REALLY enlightened me as to how difficult it is for the cops to prove **** in court. I've fought plenty of tickets before but this was my first actual trial in front of the judge, I was innocent and I wanted to take it all the way. They grilled the officer with so many questions and details he couldn't even remember nor provide documentation. It was so amazing it was like the prosecutor was on my side with all of the questions they have to ask, even though he was a complete dick to me and acted like he had me nailed before the trial. He kept pressuring me to plead to a lesser fine even after I had refused TWICE to two different offers in previous dates where I had to show up for the same exact charge. They keep giving you the run around offering you deals and **** with lesser fees hoping you pay up so they stick the charge to you.

The fact is I'm guessing from the "street over" business he had NO visual that will ever hold up in court coupled with the fact that he has nothing on you for speed because he couldn't verify anything via radar/lidar either. I'm guessing since he took that long to catch you he broke visual a BUNCH of times also. So he has absolutely no basis for the reckless driving charge except that he heard loud exhaust tones and took awhile to catch up to you. For example, unless he heard abundant tire screeching and has pictures and proof of measured marks, along with pictures of your tires matching up the tread, not that you mentioned doing this by the way. That is how documented this stuff has to be or you're good my friend. They are just hoping you will get scared into paying or there were more events you aren't telling us lol. As for the stop sign and muffler, they will probably stick but are small potatoes compared to the RD, and hey maybe if you swap out to your stock and get it checked at a shop, bring that paper in they will give you a break or at least fix-it ticket it, no charge.

Good luck man, I hope it works out for you, fight it out hard and don't let them scare you! Admit to nothing make him fight to prove everything and he will have a very difficult time.

keithman5000

iTrader: (4)

im with knils on this. that cop is straight up praying you dont challenge it. he "heard" you from a street over. whats to say he didnt hear another car.

fight it. maybe just an exhaust ticket will come of it.

Z_HighSpeed

iTrader: (5)

lets put some things to rest.

if he saw you in the vehicle (driving it) and saw you run through a stop sign, it does not matter what the reason for him turning around was - he was legally allowed to turn around and follow you or catch up to you - there is no traffic law saying he was not.

reckless is usually 6-8 points along with a license suspension for 6 months. Muffler ticket is a fix it ticket. The stop sign ticket should be considered as a unnecessary add-on since he gave you reckless and its sorta like giving two tickets for the same thing but calling it something different. You can beat that one in court. I say get yourself a good lawyer and fight the ticket as long as you can, appeal appeal appeal.

06VenomZ

iTrader: (7)

first off let me thank all of you guys for the advice an opinons i really appreciate it, this has really been stressing me since i cant really afford a huge inflation in my insurance nor to lose my license. I have racked up a few speeding tickets in the past couple of years but never a RD. Since the cop has NO evidence of me speeding i was planning to say i was not speeding just simply accelerating w/ a loud muffler. If i can rule out speeding then hopefully there will be no proof of RD. The cop did say he was going to put i was very cooperative in the report so i am hoping that will also help. I am def goin to seek advice from a few lawyers and officers, if anyone knows either please let me know. Thanks again guys, advice an opinions are still more than welcome...

knils

iTrader: (2)

Not really sure what you are getting at in the first half can you clarify? I didn't really see any question about him turning around and why and the legality... cops can do as they please... maybe I am misunderstanding your point.

My point was that he didn't see anything that defines reckless driving nor any evidence of speeding, NOR did he have a solid visual if any at all, he's got nothing but a loud exhaust and a rolled/blown stop sign

Z_HighSpeed

iTrader: (5)

To accurately interpret what actually happened we would need to see the narrative in the tickets. I do not like to speculate, but in this instance I am guessing that from the officers point of view the fact that it took him a bit to catch up to him and that when he did he ran a stop sign in front of him would, in totality of the circumstances, mean he was attempting to speed away. Depending on the judge and the MVC in the state/area that may be enough.

I believe there was a court which upheld an officers visual estimation of speed without the use of any timing or measuring devices - this may similar. Of course do not take my word for this, I do not reside in that state, nor do I practice law enforcement in that state, but I am pretty sure their laws are no different from the ones I enforce here.

Furthermore, don't go to in-depth attempting to prove he did not have enough to stop him or give him a ticket - writing a ticket is easy, proving YOU were not at fault or the officer was incorrect is EXTREMELY difficult in court. You talk about tire patterns and losing sight, etc...do you really think the judge is going to care about any of that? Also reckless/careless driving does not need to have "speeding" as one of the characteristics of the ticket. It could be reckless if you roll through a stop sign and did not have your seat belt on - depending on the situation, the operator of the vehicle and the officer.

=Cerberus=

iTrader: (1)

Like everyone else has said. Get a lawyer. Lawyers know the system, know how to work it and get you the best outcome.

I do not know about there, but in traffic court in my area (Maine) the DA only has to prove it was more likely then not that you DID whatever it is that you were there for.

Forged_G

iTrader: (10)

Angel.. This is a RD charge.. whether you think it RD or not that is the big issue.

Get an attorney and be safe.


BTW: we made these Thursday meets so you can attend.. you gonna come to one or what? LOL

knils

iTrader: (2)

I absolutely think the judge is going to care about that! He has to it's his job! You are 100% innocent until proven guilty just like Cerberus said and this is required information to obtain an accurate conviction! You don't get some arbitrary free pass with the court to have all of your claims immediately upheld and backed just because you have a badge, you have to prove these things. And I'm not coming out of left field here, I did not even have to SPEAK at my trial and the judge dismissed my case for exactly those aforementioned reasons you don't think he would care about: I hadn't done it, there was no tire marks whether observed, measured or documented, despite the officers testimony. No proof! I am not sure what state you enforce in, things may be different, and I am not sure how many times you have had to testify against someone you ticketed, but at least in CT when you do you better have your evidence against the defendant documented and proven or they're gonna walk.

I'm 100% with you up until this point, I know in CT they use various methods of speed estimation and they will hold up in court, provided they have an absolutely clear view and from a certain viewpoint. Even simple trig will show you that not only a visual estimation but for radar/lidar equipment as well angles and distance have everything to do with a correct reading. If the officer was too far to one side coupled with a drastic angle, his angle of reference will cause him to estimate a different speed than the actual one traveled because the actual distance to the target vehicle is longer than it would be if he was in a correct position to measure his speed (one that is directly along the line of travel).

I'm not trying to be difficult or argumentative, I just completely disagree with the fact that you don't believe evidence is required. Verbal testimony is nothing without a witness or proof, my testimony could be exactly opposite and that officer's word is no better than mine.

keithman5000

iTrader: (4)

Z_HighSpeed

iTrader: (5)

@knils - don't get the wrong idea here, I am simply stating what I know to be 100% truth from my literally countless court appearances on these types of matters. Officers testimony is proof all in itself, unless you can prove that officer wrong. You can put all the math and whatnot into your rebuttal but if the judge doesn't care, then he does not care and you end up guilty of the violation. From what you posted any court would have no reason at all to find any officer's testimony credible (unless they have proof other than their testimony) in anything regarding their observations - and I don't need to explain to you how erroneous that is.

Entaille

iTrader: (16)

didnt read the entire thread but it really comes down to what you said to the cop, and how good your lawyer is. chances are you can get it reduced.

still gonna cost ya.

=Cerberus=

iTrader: (1)

I am just repeating verbatim what the DA told the courtroom attendees a month ago when I went to fight a ticket. Traffic court is totally different then criminal court.

Cops are more honest then us civilians didn't you know that /sarcasm