Need help with a ticket

[cvpiftw]

Alright, i was helping someone and i was in a smaller town in WI and I got popped for 80/65 from a cop on a bridge radioing to another officer. She wrote the ticket without taking any explination from me and her supervisor was behind her. After all was said and done, she ended up searching my car for "untaxed ciggarettes" .

I was NOT doing that speed. I was doing 5-7 over, not 15. My bud next to me made the grave mistake of saying to her when we got pulled over "Yeah, he just wasnt paying attention"
I wanted to smack the idiot, he NEVER saw my speedo.

Im going to lose my license if this ticket goes through because of the state of ILs mandatory restricted drivers license program for under 21ers.

2 tickets in 2 year period = No dl. I got popped by a MI statie for 60/55 14 months ago that he said I was doing..... thats not true as well, but they said i could night fight it cause i was a minor and my parent needed to be present.... and apparently the court said SHE had to have a valid MI license....so I ate the 110 dollar ticket and moved on... let it go on my record.

Now.... the one ceveat........ she wrote the ticket with my address right and everything... but in the license number part... the wrong state is down (she said i had a WI license) (im from IL)...and my tag from the car she said is an WI regged car and it definitely is a IL regged car.

After all is said and done... i was sorta freaking and worred at the thought of losing my license... but I shook her hand.. said thanks, and moved on with things.

Any moving violation makes my DL go bye bye.

Any suggestions?

I have traffic court the 5th of october.

[Matt In Detroit]

Dont ever allow a car search if you have something or not. Your answer should be "I do not authorize any search of my vehicle", let them get a warrant if they want to look in the car. Most cops will try to pressure you into it, it is not legal.

As for the ticket, first punch your buddy in the mouth. Then fight it i guess.

[Zack]

You allowed them to search your car?

Call yourself a name because im not gonna do it.

[cvpiftw]

He already got burned enough.... his truck ended up throwing an idler pulley 150 miles away from home and someone stole it...so were even.

[cvpiftw]

You allowed them to search your car?

Call yourself a name because im not gonna do it.
I didnt have **** in there... although she asked me why i had a two pack of light bulbs in there and why I had so many (its my damn mother's car, she forgot to bring them in form the hardware store). I had a bloody carseat in the car ect, plus when I DO go to traffic court I know in the notes "refused search" IS not going to look good to the judge.

[MrBluGruv]

At the risk of sounding inflammatory, I will say this from experience over the past two years owning my Marauder:

Cruise control is your friend. :)

[cvpiftw]

Yes, agreed.
I had it set on cruise but i was passing some REALLY STUPID redneck (no offense) in a truck that had scrap metal that was flying off a bit behind me.

[fastblackmerc]

1. Hire a lawyer - might be expensive but he can most likely plead the ticket to less speed or improper equipment. You pay court costs and lawyers fee but no license or insurance points.

2. Search the internet on how to fight speeding tickets. Lots of good info there about radar calibration, training, etc.

3. By all means contest the ticket.

[cvpiftw]

Know how much a lawyer would cost? Know how I could get one local to that area (madison WI suburb)?

[johnnyrauder]

hear in ny it cost me $750 to get off a reckless driveing ticket. worth every dime

[Go2GuyFL]

Even though these guys specialize in Florida, give them a call to see who they know in your area ... http://www.theticketclinic.com ... worked for my wife and me.

[BlueFusion]

Cost me $7 for my lawyer through my university :D. Although I do believe I could have argued the case better than her, she was awesome at getting me through the court process and filings quickly.

I got hit with a "failure to maintain reasonable control" while pulling out of the local Chipotle back in November. It was the end of the month so it had it be a quota thing. I certainly maintained reasonable control, maintained my lane after turning into the 5-lane street, and there was no sign not permitting me to turn left. It was at like 8pm so there was very little traffic on the road, too. The cop radioed ahead to another cop who pulled me over as I pulled into my apartment complex. They discussed behind his cruiser what they could give to me, and it ended up being a $140 reasonable control ticket because they claimed I "went sideways" which certainly did not happen on completely dry pavement. Called a lawyer the next morning to fight it. Judge stuck it to me still on a technicality (I "may" have crossed a double yellow line...which is kind of necessary when turning left out of a driveway), and has been in the appeals circuit for about 7 months now still awaiting.

In your case, just fight the ticket in court. Make sure you ask for calibration of the device, to verify the distance you were away from him when he took your speed, how the officer than took your speed had identified you and your vehicle when the second officer stopped you, etc. And whatever your friend said, he wasn't driving so it matters not. Make sure that if the officer quotes what he says to point out that your passenger had said that and was not speaking on your behalf.

[Dennis Reinhart]

Alright, i was helping someone and i was in a smaller town in WI and I got popped for 80/65 from a cop on a bridge radioing to another officer. She wrote the ticket without taking any explination from me and her supervisor was behind her. After all was said and done, she ended up searching my car for "untaxed ciggarettes" .

I was NOT doing that speed. I was doing 5-7 over, not 15. My bud next to me made the grave mistake of saying to her when we got pulled over "Yeah, he just wasnt paying attention"
I wanted to smack the idiot, he NEVER saw my speedo.

Im going to lose my license if this ticket goes through because of the state of ILs mandatory restricted drivers license program for under 21ers.

2 tickets in 2 year period = No dl. I got popped by a MI statie for 60/55 14 months ago that he said I was doing..... thats not true as well, but they said i could night fight it cause i was a minor and my parent needed to be present.... and apparently the court said SHE had to have a valid MI license....so I ate the 110 dollar ticket and moved on... let it go on my record.

Now.... the one ceveat........ she wrote the ticket with my address right and everything... but in the license number part... the wrong state is down (she said i had a WI license) (im from IL)...and my tag from the car she said is an WI regged car and it definitely is a IL regged car.

After all is said and done... i was sorta freaking and worred at the thought of losing my license... but I shook her hand.. said thanks, and moved on with things.

Any moving violation makes my DL go bye bye.

Any suggestions?

I have traffic court the 5th of october.


If you can find a shop that will write a invoice stating the speedometer was off do to a tire size and they corrected it, they will reduce the tcket to equipment failure.:beer: I just saved a customer 150.00 his laser jamer did not go off do to the new double tap laser being used and he upgraded his system with me.

[Mr. Man]

If I read your post correctly the ticket you got says your licence plate is from Wisconsin but your car is really from Illinois. Seems to me if the officer can't tell the difference between the two plates you could argue the ticket is invalid because it is not filled out properly.

[Dennis Reinhart]

If I read your post correctly the ticket you got says your licence plate is from Wisconsin but your car is really from Illinois. Seems to me if the officer can't tell the difference between the two plates you could argue the ticket is invalid because it is not filled out properly.


Just my advice, I would not argue with the judge, what will help is most Police Officers do not show up at trafic court if the judge is nice he might toss it out if you present all these facts in a VERY respectfull manner.

[CBT]

I have always told the truth, throw yourself at the mercy of the court. Just be polite and explain what happened. And if you still get nailed, just think of all the times they DIDN'T catch ya and consider yourself lucky.

[Mr. Man]

Just my advice, I would not argue with the judge, what will help is most Police Officers do not show up at traffic court if the judge is nice he might toss it out if you present all these facts in a VERY respectful manner.

I wouldn't argue with the judge either but I read a post here a while back that I believe was posted by a police officer. He said it is the officers responsibility to get the correct information on the summons otherwise the ticket is invalid. Kind of like a search warrant and the warrant says 10 Main St but the house they wanted was 100 Main St. the search would be deemed invalid and anything found would be excluded from the prosecutions case. Might be worth running the question past a traffic lawyer.

[BLACKMARAUDER04]

If the tickets is filled out with the wrong liscence plate( bring your registration to prove it) before making a plea ask for a dismisall on
grounds that the ticket was filled out improperly with the wrong vehicles state. It is a technicality, and the judge should dismiss the case.

[lastdaze04]

If they can't get the licence plate right. What makes a person think that she saw the radar right??? Reasonable doubt??? Don't know if it will actually work, but just an idea.




If I read your post correctly the ticket you got says your licence plate is from Wisconsin but your car is really from Illinois. Seems to me if the officer can't tell the difference between the two plates you could argue the ticket is invalid because it is not filled out properly.

[1 Bad Merc]

If this ticket was going to cost me my license I would get a lawyer. Go on the internet and find a lawyer in the Madison area. Things seem to go alot easier and deals are made when a lawyer is involved.

[GAMike]

I wouldn't argue with the judge .........it is the officers responsibility to get the correct information on the summons otherwise the ticket is invalid.

Answer the judges questions without incriminating yourself....... If he says how fast were you going, and there was other traffic on the road, just respond "I was proceeding with traffic"............ This tells him you were no faster than anyone else on the road, but does not back you into a corner on a specific possibly illegal MPH.....

The Judge can still rule on the case, eventhough the ticket was improperly filled out. Do not volunteer any info (Let your lawyer discuss the specific details, if you hire one).

[W4LTD]

Any moving violation makes my DL go bye bye.

Any suggestions?



Pay the ticket, surrender your license.

Twice within a year isn't "excusable" and the judge is going to see the prior violation.

Can I have dibs on your floor mats?

[burtreynolds]

So I don't think anyone has asked the obvious question...

Why did you have a bloody childs seat in the car? If I was the one who pulled you over I would have been asking questions regarding this before I cared about "untaxed cigarettes" and light bulbs.

Either way, best advice here is either get a lawyer. Paying the ticket admits guilt and ends in a conviction which is proof you were committing the offense and therefor, no license.

If a laywer is not an option, the second best option is to plead not guilty. The judge is not going to yell at you or force you to plead guilty (I thought this at one point and time) and will ask you if you would like to have a pre-trial conference with the prosecutor or if you would like to go straight to trial. Ask for a pre-trial and set it as far in the future as the judge will allow. Ask for that day off, go to pre-trial and the prosecutor will offer you a plea bargain. They can be *******s but you need to make sure it is a suspended imposition of sentence (SIS). This basically means that if you complete the required work such as 6 months driving probation or traffic school, you will not have a conviction and you will not have any points or record of the conviction. This should mean you get to keep your license, but if you get driving probation, you cannot get pulled over OR get any kind of violation or you will end up with this conviction and most likely lose your license. This above is what a lawyer will do for you, but the thing about lawyers is they all run in the same circles and prosecutors know that the lawyer is there to get you a good deal for money. They want to help their colleagues out of course, so they give them the BEST deal. Now if you could get the best deal yourself, thats debatable...however the nicer you look when you go in and the more polite you are WITHOUT admitting guilt or innocence (talk business...not your guilt or innocence) the better your outcome will be. If you want a guaranteed best deal and/or you can't keep your mouth shut around authority figures, best bet is a lawyer.

If you do decide to represent yourself, again...Look your very best, talk eloquently and make sure to make the prosecutor feel like he is king/queen. However, if they ask you if you did this or to explain the situation... reiterate you would like to work a plea bargain. They have the officers report right there and that is enough.

This is my best advice regarding your situation...hope I could be of some help!

Forgot to add: When you sign the plea bargain, you will then get called back up to the judge. He will ask you how you plead, you will THEN say guilty. He might ask you a few questions about the offense and you need to answer them honestly, but don't waste his time explaining the whole story and the bloody child's seat, ect. Just answer each question with a one to two sentence statement and he will then let you go. Most likely he will NOT ask any questions for this type of offense and just accept the plea agreement and let you go on your merry way with court costs(20-30 dollars depending on the court) and you are done. I have only seen a judge ask questions on more serious driving offenses such as C&I, Engaging in a Speed Contest, Accidents, ect...with your offense its pretty cut and dry. Don't be afraid of the Judge or Prosecutor, they are just there to do the courts business and move on. The quicker and easier they can get you out of there, the better. They don't have a laser beam set on kill when you come into the court (as I once thought as well).

[Rocknthehawk]

I have always told the truth, throw yourself at the mercy of the court. Just be polite and explain what happened. And if you still get nailed, just think of all the times they DIDN'T catch ya and consider yourself lucky.

Exactly how I feel CBT. I'll be in court on monday for a 71/40 trying to chase down an R8 in my Z. I'll say yes your honor, I was speeding, and try to avoid any points on my license.

and not sure about your state, but here in Mass, it doesn't matter if the officer is present or not. In fact, one ticket I fought they had a dedicated officer there to handle EVERY case. The magistrate looks at the tickets, asks what happened, I explain, and they reduce the fine. I said, yes I was speeding, I was doing 75 in a 65 like the officer originally wrote (show copy of ticket), not 85 as he wrote after I asked why I was cited. after that, they give the chance to appeal, where you then appear before the judge. so it's bogus to think you'll get off just because the PO doesn't show up.



you admitted you were speeding. Regardless if it was 20 over or 5 over, you broke the law. Don't want to lose your license? Don't break the law. Period.

[Leadfoot281]

I lost my DL in two states before I was 18. I just kept on driving. You can definitely drive without a license...it just isn't legal. I do NOT recommend it though since it does get pretty dang expensive after a while. Trust me on that!

I do have the numbers of a couple lawyers in La Crosse Wisconsin that might help. PM me if you're interested.

[burtreynolds]

I lost my DL in two states before I was 18. I just kept on driving. You can definitely drive without a license...it just isn't legal. I do NOT recommend it though since it does get pretty dang expensive after a while. Trust me on that!

I do have the numbers of a couple lawyers in La Crosse Wisconsin that might help. PM me if you're interested.

If you drive without your license here is what will happen when you are pulled over.

Scenario A: Its a misdemeanor in your state, you get either arrested with a small bond (250-1000.00) and if you cannot pay that you see the judge, he probably lets you go on your own recognizance OR you get told to start walking and your car is impounded if on public property (road side, ect) OR your car is watched if parked in a parking lot until you get SOMEONE ELSE to drive it off...which most likely they will get pulled over and licence checked.

Scenario B: Its a felony in your state(usually only after so many DWLR/S it turns into a felony)

You get arrested...your bond is substantially higher (1000.00-5000.00) and you sit in jail with the big boys until someone can come with money to get you out. If they cant, you see a judge and they DO NOT let you out on your own recognizance. You then get done with court, the time you sat in jail is then applied to your current sentence and you are let out or sit to serve the remainder of your sentence. You then have the task of finding a job that will hire a felon and are stuck with menial jobs that have NO form of advancement the rest of your life.

Either way...driving without a license is not something you want to do. DWLR/S(driving with license revoked/suspended) is looked upon with almost the same severity as DWI/DUI by LEO, Courts AND Employers.

[Leadfoot281]

Lol, I got "scenario A" a bunch of times. Again, just to be 100% clear, I do NOT recommend doing this!

As my Drill Sgt once told me, "No one is completely useless as long as they can be used as a bad example".

[RF Overlord]

"No one is completely useless as long as they can be used as a bad example".:lol: :rofl:

The guy I sit next to at work just became more useful.

[CBT]

Or, just keep repeating "No habla Engleesh". Actually, you should have said that from the start, and pretended you didn't even have a license to show them in the first place.

[a_d_a_m]

Can I have dibs on your floor mats? He doesn't have a Marauder.

[burtreynolds]

Or, just keep repeating "No habla Engleesh". Actually, you should have said that from the start, and pretended you didn't even have a license to show them in the first place.

Not if you live in Arizona.

NECESITO TU PAPEL Y PERMISIO DE RESIDENCIA, PACO!

[LIGHTNIN1]

Might try showing up in court with dark glasses, a cane tapping the floor in front of you as you enter the room and a seeing eye dog. Make the case that it was their fault for issuing you a license in the first place. Who knows, anything is possible.

[burtreynolds]

Might try showing up in court with dark glasses, a cane tapping the floor in front of you as you enter the room and a seeing eye dog. Make the case that it was their fault for issuing you a license in the first place. Who knows, anything is possible.

You know what, Forget everything I said OP...do what this guy recommends. Please take a camera though, I want to see the Judge's reaction HAHA!

[Vortex]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRa9uhiAPBs

[Mr. Man]

"No habla Engleesh".

Most coherent thing you've said in a long time Casey:shot::rofl:

[cvpiftw]

Just hired a lawyer that one of the guys on an impala forum gave me. He is a LEO himself (guy on the forum) so it must mean something. Guy is cheaper than the rest, and was willing to work with me.

[knine]

Haven't we already had this conversation?