As the officer politely explained to you, you have two options: pay the ticket, or take it to court. It turns out, you've got a few more options than that:
1. Pay the fine and the points will be assessed (your least favorite option)
2. Hire a traffic attorney and hope for the best (this is probably what most people end up doing, and if you don't have time, it's not a bad idea)
3. Ask for a court date, and litigate the ticket yourself (this is where the fun is)
4. Don't do anything and get your license suspended (ok, they don't really give you this option, but that's what will happen if you don't act).
The clock is ticking
You've got 30 or 60 days to take option 1 or 2 depending on the county you got your citation in. You'll probably get a little pamphlet that will tell you how long you have, but the point is, act quickly. It might take some old fashion courthouses a few days (even weeks) to get the hand-written citation entered into the computer system, so sometimes you'll have to wait several days before you can do anything about your citation. If unsure, simply call the courthouse and find out.
Option 1 - Plead guilty, pay the fine, take the points
I would even go so far as to say that you should never just pay the ticket and take the points. Regardless of your driving record, what kind of citation this is, and weather you got a ticket in some other state or rural county, this is almost never an option. At least not until you've exhausted all your other options.
Option 2 - Get representation, make it someone else's problem
If you're in a major city or metropolitan area, within a week or so, your mailbox should be flooded by traffic attorneys wanting to represent you. This, combined with the internet and yellow pages, will serve as your starting point to hire an attorney to represent you. Most attorneys will offer you a full refund if they are not successful in keeping the points off of your license. Remember, that's not to say that you won't have to pay court costs, or a reduced fine, or both. What they actually do is try to get the case dismissed, which you could do yourself, but more on that later.
Grab your phone and call at several attorneys and get the following information:
- How much they charge (reasonable rates for Florida are about $60 - $100 if you're near the big cities). Rural locations have fewer lawyers who like to charge more.
- How long they have been in the business.
- If they will represent you themselves, or if they will have someone else do the legwork. Why do yo care? Because if the hire someone else, you're not getting the most bang for you buck. I don't like middle men, neither should you.
- If they offer a full refund in the event they are unable to keep the points off your license. Remember, you might still have to pay a fine and possible court costs.
James H Babkes, AttorneyOption 3 - innocent until proven guilty
300 South Pine Island Road Suite 249
Plantation, Florida, 33324
Phone: (954)452-8630
This isn't criminal court, it's traffic court, which is a whole different ball game. It's all about technicalities. I'm going to show you how you can do exactly what any good attorney would do, all by yourself.
Let's break it down:
Ask for a court date. Sometimes this is as easy as calling the courthouse that is listed either on the lower portion on the front of your ticket, or somewhere on the back. Other times the courthouse requests that you mail (or fax) them a written plea of "Not Guilty" in order to request a court date. If you are unsure, look to see what county is listed on your citation and then do a search for that county's courthouse on google. For example: "Alachua county courthouse" (which happens to be in gainesville). You may have to send in either a copy of your citation or the original. In either case, make sure you scan in, or make a photocopy of your citation for yourself in case the ink fades on the original.
Wait for the notice. Depending on how backed up the courts are, it may take several months for you to receive a blue piece of paper in the mail that tells you when and where to appear in court. If you hire an attorney, this paper will be sent to both you and the attorney representing you, and both of your names and addresses will appear on the notice. The first notice you should get will likely be for a "Pre-Trial conference". This is not the one with the actual trial with the judge. Moreover, the officer who pulled you over will not have to appear.
Examine your ticket for errors. Look at your citation carefully. Specifically, look in three places for mistakes, either of which will result in an immediate dismissal of your ticket.
- Location #1: Make sure the direction that you were traveling at
the time you were pulled over is checked off. If nothing is checked here, when you go to court, all you have to say is "Move to dismiss, no direction of travel listed. The case will be dismissed, and you will pay absolutely nothing. - Location #2: Check to see that the type of radar or equipment that was used to determine your speed is shown. If this section is blank, at your pre-trial conference, just say "Move to dismiss, no equipment listed", and you're off the hook.
- Location #3: Look for the Florida statute that you allegedly violated. If there is none listed, show up to court, and say "Move to dismiss, no statute shown". If there is a statute, then look it up and make sure that the infraction you are being charged for is consistent with the statute. For example, if you allegedly ran a red light, make sure the statute says something about how you shouldn't run traffic lights. Often, the officer will forget the statute or write the wrong one in. This has even happened to me on a computer printed ticket! In my example photo, the statue listed is 316.189(1), which happens to be correct.
Show up to Court. By this time, you should already have a strategy of what you're going to do when you go to court. Remember to come early (I'll tell you why in a bit). If you're late, or you don't show - the court will immediately suspend your license.
When you arrive, sit up front. Look for the lawyer(s) seated or standing up near the front of the courtroom. These well dressed people get to go first. Sit near them so that you can hear what goes on and learn the tricks of the trade. You've got nowhere to go, so you might as well use your time wisely.
At the pre-trial conference. The first notice you receive in the mail will be for a pre-trial conference where there will be a magistrate (no judge), and the officer will not be present. Here you can bring about any motions for dismissal, or enter a change of plea. That's it, two options.
My advice is to first bring about any motions to dismiss if you have them. If that fails, or if you don't have any reasons to dismiss, then do the following: Ask the magistrate if you could "hear the offer for a change of plea to no-contest" (it's important to be polite here). This basically tells him or her that you don't want to change your plea just yet, but that you'd like to hear what the magistrate would do if you did. If he or she is nice, then they'll usually give you this information. If the magistrate says something like "I'll withhold adjudication and reduce your fine to X dollars", then my recommendation is for you to go ahead and enter a change of plea by proclaiming "Change of plea, your honor". If the magistrate is not in a good mood, and doesn't want to tell you what you would get ahead of time, or says that they will assess points and/or charge court costs, you should then ask for a trial by saying "request Trial, your honor".
The Trial. If you've gotten this far, that means you weren't too successful in getting your ticket dismissed and/or you didn't like the plea for "no contest". Long after your pre-trial, you will get another notice in the mail notifying you of your trial date. The officer who pulled you over, any witnesses, and any other plaintiff's (if any) must show. If the officer (or plaintiff in the case of an accident) does not show, your case will be immediately dismissed.
If the officer appears in court, you should do the following: Try to bring any motions to dismiss if you have any. You may try to bring the same motion that was previously denied for whatever reason. You never know, it may get accepted this time around.
If you have no grounds for dismissal, and the officer appears, first look towards the officer and say "Are you prepared to proceed?". It's amazing, but sometimes officers will show up to court without proper documentation, or forget their logbook and say "no". At this point, you simply "move to dismiss" and you're done. If the officer comes prepared to proceed, you should "change of plea to no contest" and take what the court gives you. It is almost never a good idea to actually try to litigate the citation if the officer is present and has all their paperwork. Your chances of success are minuscule, and you risk aggravating the judge and being charged court costs.
Best of luck!
* Although my example is for Florida, these tips are valid for any state, your citation might look a little different. Check with your courthouse for any changes in exact courthouse procedure.
