Speeding tickets are expensive
So you are driving down Hwy 99 through Central California. The trip has been fairly smooth so far but the last stop for food took longer than you expected. Your going to have to make up the time by going a little faster.
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| Speeding Ticket |
That works fine for a few miles but as you come into the city of Madera a California Highway Patrol officer pulls in behind you. You feel it in the pit of your stomach when you see the red light on the passenger side dashboard of the cruiser.
You pull over to the side of the road. Your mind starts racing, how fast were you going? How much is this going to cost? Is my registration in the glove box, is the insurance in there too? You might be thinking that you can talk your way out of this.
Traffic tickets can be fixed
Traffic tickets can be expensive because not only do you have to pay the fine for speeding but your insurance rates will go up for a few years. By the time your insurance rates return to normal you could spend thousands of dollars.
Additionally in the case described above there is travel expenses and time off work to go to court. Of course it can all be avoided by driving within the speed limit in most cases.
The other thing you can do is be nice to the officer. This is so important that I am going to say it again. Attitude is important if you are rude and disrespectful it will come back to haunt you.
Officers write notes about the specifics of each case so they can remember later. If you yell at them or argue with the officer he will make a note about it.
Your word against the officers
Most of the time traffic cases are a matter of your word against the officer's word. Usually there will be no uninterested witnesses. You may have passengers in the car that can testify on your behalf but the judge who hears the evidence is going to consider the relationship between you and your witnesses.
This puts you at a disadvantage and it means that it is much better to negotiate a resolution than it is to have a hearing. I will describe the process of negotiating a speeding ticket however it is best to hire a Madera criminal defense lawyer to handle the case for you.
Offer to plea to a charge that does not affect your license
When I handle a speeding ticket for a client the first thing I do is send a discovery request. A discovery request allows me to request the RADAR calibration records, a highway speed study, and the bi-yearly RADAR certification records.
When I show up to the court I will get there early and find the officer who wrote the ticket. If the officer does not show up the ticket will be dismissed in most cases.
If the officer does show up I ask him or her to step outside the courtroom so we can discuss the case. Once outside I will ask the officer if we can settle the case for a single count of coasting. (Vehicle Code 21710) There is little motivation for the officer to agree to a settlement.
If your case is the only case the officer has on calendar today then settling the case may mean that the officer can leave court much earlier, that is one reason for settling the case. Generally I will provide another reason for the officer to agree to settling the case. For example a recent client of mine had just graduated from nursing school and was looking for a job as a nurse.
I explained to the officer that she was struggling to find a job and could not afford to pay more for insurance and I went on to explain that she worked full time while she was in school and deserves a break.
Hire a criminal defense lawyer
There are many advantages to hiring a Madera criminal defense lawyer. First of all you do not have to travel back to Madera from wherever you live. If you live in Los Angeles or the Bay Area you can save hundreds of dollars just because you do not have to travel back to Madera to go to court.
Of course in addition to saving money on travel you will save money because you do not have to take time off work. For most people this will save a couple of hundred dollars particularly when you consider that it will be a minimum of two court appearances or two days off of work.
A defense attorney is more likely to obtain a favorable settlement because he is experienced with negotiation and the officer knows that he will face a lawyer during the hearing instead of a regular citizen.
I practice criminal defense law so most of the time I go up against a deputy district attorney who has gone to law school, passed the bar and has a lot of experience in court. When I go into traffic court I always have an unfair advantage over the officer because he does not know the laws of evidence like I do and he doesn't have the thousands of hours in the courtroom like I do.
If you do not have a criminal defense lawyer then you will be at a disadvantage. Even when you try to negotiate a settlement you are at a disadvantage because the officer knows that if he does not agree to the settlement then all he has to do is present his evidence and he is probably going to win because you will not know how to keep some stuff out or how to get some evidence in that could help your case.
Speeding tickets are perfect for hiring a lawyer
In a strange twist of reality one of the best times to hire a criminal defense attorney is when you have a speeding ticket. You would think that the most important time to hire an attorney would be when your facing a felony or a murder charge. (Murder is a type of felony but carries a potential life sentence)
The reason it makes sense to hire an attorney for a speeding ticket is because attorneys do not charge that much for handling speeding tickets. I usually charge about $1,000 to handle a speeding ticket, sometimes I charge less. It just depends on the circumstances of the ticket and how far I have to drive to get to court.
I have represented a number of people charged with murder. The lowest fee that I will accept for a murder case is $50,000 and that is rock bottom. A person charged with murder can get a public defender for free. The public defenders that are assigned to homicide cases are the most experienced and qualified attorneys in the public defender's office. (Most of my experience with homicide cases came from my years representing indigent clients just like a public defender) People charged with murder can get a free attorney that is very capable of representing them.
Speeding tickets that are charged as infractions do not qualify for a public defender so you will have to represent yourself or hire a lawyer. When you consider that every speeding ticket has the potential of costing you thousands of dollars it makes sense to hire a criminal defense lawyer.
Call around and hire a local lawyer
It is easy to hire a criminal defense attorney over the phone. All you have to do is go online and do a search for a lawyer in the city that you received the ticket in. Then call some criminal defense lawyers and discuss your case and hiring them to represent you.
In most cases the lawyer will ask you to fax a copy of the ticket and he will send you a representation contract for you to sign and fax back. Then make arrangements to pay his fee either by credit card or Paypal. He will go to court for you and let you know what happened in court. It is fairly easy to hire a lawyer over the phone, it is much easier than actually going to court yourself.
If you are going to hire a lawyer to represent you in traffic court make sure you allow the lawyer plenty of time to send the discovery request to the law enforcement agency. Usually that takes a couple of weeks.
If your case is the only case the officer has on calendar today then settling the case may mean that the officer can leave court much earlier, that is one reason for settling the case. Generally I will provide another reason for the officer to agree to settling the case. For example a recent client of mine had just graduated from nursing school and was looking for a job as a nurse.
I explained to the officer that she was struggling to find a job and could not afford to pay more for insurance and I went on to explain that she worked full time while she was in school and deserves a break.
Hire a criminal defense lawyer
There are many advantages to hiring a Madera criminal defense lawyer. First of all you do not have to travel back to Madera from wherever you live. If you live in Los Angeles or the Bay Area you can save hundreds of dollars just because you do not have to travel back to Madera to go to court.
Of course in addition to saving money on travel you will save money because you do not have to take time off work. For most people this will save a couple of hundred dollars particularly when you consider that it will be a minimum of two court appearances or two days off of work.
A defense attorney is more likely to obtain a favorable settlement because he is experienced with negotiation and the officer knows that he will face a lawyer during the hearing instead of a regular citizen.
I practice criminal defense law so most of the time I go up against a deputy district attorney who has gone to law school, passed the bar and has a lot of experience in court. When I go into traffic court I always have an unfair advantage over the officer because he does not know the laws of evidence like I do and he doesn't have the thousands of hours in the courtroom like I do.
If you do not have a criminal defense lawyer then you will be at a disadvantage. Even when you try to negotiate a settlement you are at a disadvantage because the officer knows that if he does not agree to the settlement then all he has to do is present his evidence and he is probably going to win because you will not know how to keep some stuff out or how to get some evidence in that could help your case.
Speeding tickets are perfect for hiring a lawyer
In a strange twist of reality one of the best times to hire a criminal defense attorney is when you have a speeding ticket. You would think that the most important time to hire an attorney would be when your facing a felony or a murder charge. (Murder is a type of felony but carries a potential life sentence)
The reason it makes sense to hire an attorney for a speeding ticket is because attorneys do not charge that much for handling speeding tickets. I usually charge about $1,000 to handle a speeding ticket, sometimes I charge less. It just depends on the circumstances of the ticket and how far I have to drive to get to court.
I have represented a number of people charged with murder. The lowest fee that I will accept for a murder case is $50,000 and that is rock bottom. A person charged with murder can get a public defender for free. The public defenders that are assigned to homicide cases are the most experienced and qualified attorneys in the public defender's office. (Most of my experience with homicide cases came from my years representing indigent clients just like a public defender) People charged with murder can get a free attorney that is very capable of representing them.
Speeding tickets that are charged as infractions do not qualify for a public defender so you will have to represent yourself or hire a lawyer. When you consider that every speeding ticket has the potential of costing you thousands of dollars it makes sense to hire a criminal defense lawyer.
Call around and hire a local lawyer
It is easy to hire a criminal defense attorney over the phone. All you have to do is go online and do a search for a lawyer in the city that you received the ticket in. Then call some criminal defense lawyers and discuss your case and hiring them to represent you.
In most cases the lawyer will ask you to fax a copy of the ticket and he will send you a representation contract for you to sign and fax back. Then make arrangements to pay his fee either by credit card or Paypal. He will go to court for you and let you know what happened in court. It is fairly easy to hire a lawyer over the phone, it is much easier than actually going to court yourself.
If you are going to hire a lawyer to represent you in traffic court make sure you allow the lawyer plenty of time to send the discovery request to the law enforcement agency. Usually that takes a couple of weeks.
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