Speeding: Reckless driving charged in VA = misdemeanor (HELP PLEASE)

[nsxexotic]

I went in front of the judge last month... and he said the officer was injured on duty and I had to come back April 22nd. My lawyer said theres nothing he could do. Total BS...

Any ideas?

 

[G-man]

so, the cop says to call the number on the ticket to discuss further options or i can decide not to and i will automatically be pleading guilty and i'll just get a ticket in the mail. this doesn't seem to jive with what everyone else is dealing with. he did write 'reckless driving' on the ticket.

??

Dude, take my advice, NEVER plead GUITY. People think I am insane for taking a day off work to go fight a ticket in the next state, but the last time I did that was in West Virginia and the cop didn't even show up for court. He just assumed that out of state would pay. I showed up in court and demanded that the judge produce the officer for questioning or release me. he allowed the officer 30 minutes to get to court, but he couldn't since the officer was helping a neighbor with a barn rasing or bringing some crops in or some other such Andy Taylor, Mayberry Town junk. So, I demanded that the court let me off, so they did. Cops tend to look for out of state plates and they stop you thinking you will pay. Don't do it! And NEVER plead guilty. I showed up one time for court when the cop was there and plead guilty with an explaination and after telling the judge, he said "Heck, sounds good to me. I would have let you off, but you plead guilty, so here goes..." I got my but kicked.

So, take a day off from work, drive slow, leave plenty of time and fight it.

One more problem with that area is that there is a little town up that way in VA where they get so many folks off I-95 that you could actually plead Guitly, Not-Guilty or Traffic School. I never saw a place that did 100 tickets in a 2 hour period and 90% plead "Traffic School". Go figure.

G-man

 

[comquat1]

I went in front of the judge last month... and he said the officer was injured on duty and I had to come back April 22nd. My lawyer said theres nothing he could do. Total BS...

Any ideas?

If he didn't show up, regardless of reason, shouldn't you technically have gotten off? I could understand if the officer was injured that morning and couldn't come in, but if he was injured a few days prior, isn't that sufficient time to alert the court to tell you that there needs to be a rescheduling??? Very rude on their part to have you come in and say, see you in a few weeks, bastards....

 

[G-man]

I went in front of the judge last month... and he said the officer was injured on duty and I had to come back April 22nd. My lawyer said theres nothing he could do. Total BS...

Any ideas?

There is nothing that you can do. If the officer chose not to show up, then he is failure to appear and since I wasn't local on my WV deal, then they could not cause undue harm to me by making me come back. But if the officer was shot or hurt chasing a perp, then the judge is right, it does get rescheduled.

G-man

 

[Jett]

I used to live in Maryland, and now I live in Virginia. I have been ticketed for speeding, and been to court, in both states. I have been to court once in Fairfax county more than ten years ago. Although I have never been ticketed for reckless, I have a coupla tickets on my VA license now, and one of those is from Maryland. Virginia, at least, is very efficient in picking up a violation from Maryland. The reverse is probably also true. An experienced traffic attorney told me recently that 47 (?) states cooperate on exchanging info now. Computers make this process much easier for them than it once was.

Fairfax County is a very law and order jurisdiction, as is most of Virginia compared to Maryland. (Compare some of the penalties for the same serious, non-traffic offense in the two states to get an illustration of this.) Having consulted twice with attorneys at least ten years apart for a Fairfax County speeding ticket, the Virginia attorneys in both cases pretty much told me to pay the fine and slow down. I used to always go to court in Maryland, under the theory of "they can't find me MORE guilty in court". I figured I could either mail in the fine and court costs, or appear, possibly be found guilty, and receive the same punishment. Most of the time in Maryland I would receive a "probation before judgement" or a reduction of the infraction. In Virginia now, for a speeding ticket I don't even bother. It isn't productive.

The distinction between Maryland and Virginia is this: Maryland cares more about the money. They will give you a "probation before judgement" with a smile, but you pay the full fine plus court costs. Virginia, on the other hand, cares more about the offense. So they will find you guilty with a frown, then punish you accordingly (fine and/or suspension) And in Virginia I have been told that there is no "probation before judgement". You are either guilty, or not, although if I recall correctly from my first Fairfax County ticket more than ten years ago there is a "guilty with an explanation" plea, which would appear worthless in your case. (I was trying to make my flight, your honor!)

For my most recent speeding ticket, this past fall, I consulted with a Fairfax county attorney again. What his veteran secretary told me was more illuminating than what he ended up telling me. ("Pay the fine and slow down!") According to her, for a more serious traffic offense, the judge and the attorney supposedly discuss the particulars informally, in advance of your actual appearance. This is suppposedly very informal, outside in the hallway, so to speak, and very off the record. So supposedly they have already decided between themselves what the outcome will be, before you stand before the judge. And she indicated that it was very much of an "old boys network" with the judge and attorneys all having a chummy relationship. I point out here that I am not alleging any sort of corruption. More of a situation where they all work in the same place, and they all have to see each other almost daily, so of course it is beneficial to get along. Peers and all that.

Accordingly, my recommendation is this: Hire a local attorney! Definitely, absolutely, no question about it. A Fairfax County attorney who handles a lot of traffic cases in the same courthouse. Someone who knows the ropes and the judges. Unfortunately, I can't remember now who I consulted, but you can get a referral off Martindale.com Then show up for your court date in a nice suit, well-groomed, looking like a citizen. You don't know how many DWI cases I have watched where the defendant is scruffy and looks like hell. If you wouldn't show up for a job interview looking like an idiot, you definitely shouln't show up for court looking like one. In one case a guy was actually wearing a Budweiser t-shirt. I don't remember if his was for a DWI...but I digress. Anyway, if the officer fails to appear, the case is dismissed. I have never been so fortunate, but it happens quite often, as there are scheduling conflicts, etc, which arise for the officers. I don't see any point in trying to speak with the officer prior to the court date. Once the citation is written, it is written, and can't be unwritten. So I can't imagine that the officer could be convinced to show up and say "never mind" on the basis of you really being a nice guy and all that. I disagree with the one poster who says always plead not guilty. I just don't see much gray area in your particular case. And I can't see the judge being amused by a novel legal defense on your part. (I thought those were kilometers per hour, your honor!) Weak explanations work better in Maryland. I would surmise that it would be better to plead guilty and hope for mercy. If you only have one small speeding ticket, I think you would make a sympathetic defendant. Ultimately, you should follow your attorney's advice, of course. (You did hire a local attorney, didn't you?) Finally, I don't think you are this stupid, but sometimes desperate people do desperate things...don't try and bribe anybody. Virginia would probably send you up the river for a coupla years for that.

Just a note on Northern Virginia driving in general. You should always drive in Northern Virginia like there IS an officer watching, because there pretty much always is one, somewhere, either with a radar/laser gun, or just following you, either in a marked or an unmarked car with a "certified calibration" speedometer. I have seen VA state troopers in makes of unmarked cars (with people pulled over) that I would have never suspected were police cars. I have learned to stay near the speed limit, and use the cruise control. I paid the fines and have slowed down. Also a comment on traffic tickets: traffic tickets are about money, not safety. If safety were paramount, we could cut the speed limit in half, put speeding cameras all over the place, make the fine say a thousand bucks for one mile over, then everybody would slow down. The number of lives that would be saved annually would be tremendous. (Ever have a look at the statistics for annual traffic deaths in the United States? People are afraid of flying, but driving is by far the most dangerous thing you do on a regular basis. The number of air fatalties is a small fraction of the number of traffic fatalities.) But the states wouldn't make any money off this arrangement. So don't expect change anytime soon. And speaking of speeding ticket cameras, it looks like the District has finally found that commuter tax they have so desperately wanted all these years. Too bad they are going to be "commuter taxing" their own residents in the process. I was encouraged to see that Virginia has rejected speeding ticket cameras. Apparently there are still a few libertarians left in the legislature.

 

[kgb_agent]

Dude, take my advice, NEVER plead GUITY. People think I am insane for taking a day off work to go fight a ticket in the next state, but the last time I did that was in West Virginia and the cop didn't even show up for court.

Amen G-Man. I am batting 1.000 for my last two court appearances over the past 4 months (although I have never experienced a no-show cop :frown: ). Research the law, use the Internet and practice your defense. Often you will find an angle that will help your case. Judges get off on watching someone plead their own case in an educated manner; it's a nice diversion from the dirtballs they normally deal with.

 

[G-man]

Jett, I think this is the longest post I have ever seen on Prime. If you have that much input, you should write a book... too bad it would be FICTION!

Virginia, at least, is very efficient in picking up a violation from Maryland. The reverse is probably also true. An experienced traffic attorney told me recently that 47 (?) states cooperate on exchanging info now.

Well, Virginia and Maryland were original members of what used to be called the South-East Interstate Drivers Compact. This agreement linked over a dozen state from Florida to Maryland and some northern states. Now, you are correct, nearly every state is a member of the superceding group that covers the lower 48 states, but in many states, like NY where I got my last ticket at NSXPO 2004, reporting is NOT mandatory. So, it is up to the state as to whether they report or not in some cases.

And in Virginia I have been told that there is no "probation before judgement". You are either guilty, or not, although if I recall correctly from my first Fairfax County ticket more than ten years ago there is a "guilty with an explanation" plea, which would appear worthless in your case.

You are correct, the operative word in that plea is GUILTY. Never plead guilty.

For my most recent speeding ticket, this past fall, I consulted with a Fairfax county attorney again. What his veteran secretary told me was more illuminating than what he ended up telling me. ("Pay the fine and slow down!") According to her, for a more serious traffic offense, the judge and the attorney supposedly discuss the particulars informally, in advance of your actual appearance. This is suppposedly very informal, outside in the hallway, so to speak, and very off the record. So supposedly they have already decided between themselves what the outcome will be, before you stand before the judge. And she indicated that it was very much of an "old boys network" with the judge and attorneys all having a chummy relationship. I point out here that I am not alleging any sort of corruption.

The secretary is hardly qualified to render a legal opinion. If you have anybody tell you to pay the fine and slow down, then you need another attorney.

Accordingly, my recommendation is this: Hire a local attorney! Definitely, absolutely, no question about it. A Fairfax County attorney who handles a lot of traffic cases in the same courthouse. Someone who knows the ropes and the judges.

Now, this is the best piece of advice in this entire post. I have to say that the attorney in NY that is handing our case from NSXPO is doing a great job looking out for our collective interest. ONLY a local attorney knows the ins and outs of doing business in that area and you always hire a local attorney. I have even arranged to not have to travel back to appear in court myself, but have prevailed in certain cases.

I disagree with the one poster who says always plead not guilty. I just don't see much gray area in your particular case. And I can't see the judge being amused by a novel legal defense on your part. (I thought those were kilometers per hour, your honor!) Weak explanations work better in Maryland.

You are wrong again. Ask your local attorney. YOU NEVER WANT TO PLEAD GUILTY IN A TRAFFIC CASE. My father had 57 points on his license at one point (mostly from speeding - 167 in a 35! - 1968 Lamborghini Miura P400S). He must have been to court 30 or more times in the last 20 years. Believe me, your attorney will tell you, NOT GUILTY is the plea. Dad's speeding was so bad that the State Police used to show up at the house with a search warrant to search the garage to see if the Lambo was in there. ... but I digress.

I would surmise that it would be better to plead guilty and hope for mercy. If you only have one small speeding ticket, I think you would make a sympathetic defendant. Ultimately, you should follow your attorney's advice, of course. (You did hire a local attorney, didn't you?)

There is no such thing as "mercy" in VA. There are minimum sentancing guidelines. If you plead guilty then the judge MUST follow the minimum sentancing guidelines. If you plead not guilty, then the judge may dismiss it. Don't limit the judges options... and don't be an idiot. ALWAYS PLEAD NOT GUILTY.

Finally, I don't think you are this stupid, but sometimes desperate people do desperate things...don't try and bribe anybody. Virginia would probably send you up the river for a coupla years for that.

What are you, 12! You watch way too much TV. I didn't happen to see a coin slot anywhere in the courtroom I went into. You have to be kidding me. See, work of fiction... like I said.

traffic tickets are about money, not safety. If safety were paramount, we could cut the speed limit in half, put speeding cameras all over the place, make the fine say a thousand bucks for one mile over, then everybody would slow down. The number of lives that would be saved annually would be tremendous.

I always love this 3rd Grade argument. It always overlooks the greater economic issues like our delicate economic balance. Why do you think they raised the national speed limit back up to 65 from 55. This raise costs more in fuel and lives, but the trucks that keep your grocery store and Wal-mart full of stuff you want to buy could not survive without rapid ground truck transport. Only a fraction of merchandise travels by air or rail, so trucks deliver 80%+ of all good and services. The cost of cutting the speed limit to 35 would be BILLIONS of lost dollars in sales, jobs, etc. While it is true that many local economies survive on traffic tickets, there other reasons that the speed limit is going UP in places and not down.

I was encouraged to see that Virginia has rejected speeding ticket cameras. Apparently there are still a few libertarians left in the legislature.

Well, now we know why Jett devotes his life to fiction... he is a libertarian.

 

[queenlives]

dood,

somebody needs to ask their doc to adjust their meds.

 

[nsxtasy]

G-man, I'm surprised you're taking issue with Jett's post. It pretty much agrees with your philosophy (and mine) of fighting every ticket in court, preferably with an attorney.

My father had 57 points on his license at one point (mostly from speeding - 167 in a 35!

Too bad you can't plead heredity as a reason to get a charge acquitted...

 

[RPM217]

G-man, I'm surprised you're taking issue with Jett's post. It pretty much agrees with your philosophy (and mine) of fighting every ticket in court, preferably with an attorney.

Too bad you can't plead heredity as a reason to get a charge acquitted...

Ken, now that's a novel defense, surprised that G-man's attorney didn't come up with that instead of him selling his NSX!!!!! LOL :biggrin:

 

[Gerard van Santen]

That may depend on whether or not you use the same lovely choice of words in court as you have done here. I think you should try it, and see what happens.

I hope the judge isn't a regular NSX Primer. If he is, he will remember the choice of words.

 

[G-man]

Too bad you can't plead heredity as a reason to get a charge acquitted...

Haha! That is actually a pending defense. It seems that there is some sort of electro-chemical or genetic component to impulse control issues. They have traced it back to the same "disease" that is the cause of ADD and ADHD problems. This impule control problem causes people to do things like buy 32 cars in 15 years and also randomly speed to triple digit levels... my God! That sounds like me. NO! Ok, time to take my meds.

G-man

 

[G-man]

G-man, I'm surprised you're taking issue with Jett's post. It pretty much agrees with your philosophy (and mine) of fighting every ticket in court, preferably with an attorney

My point is that in that long post of his, the only thing that I do agree with is the one lucid point of hiring a local attorney and fight it within the good old boy network. That is for sure... but no attorney would ever tell anyone to plead guilty unless it was already part of a plea bargin agreement worked out ahead of time with the District Attorney. The rest of his book length reply was flawed both factually conceptually. See post above...

G-man

 

[queenlives]

This impule control problem causes people to do things like buy 32 cars in 15 years
***
yikes!

and also randomly speed to triple digit levels... my God! That sounds like me.
***
and, likely, many prime members

NO! Ok, time to take my meds.
***
get in line....

 

[dsf3g]

anyway, we were just driving along telling stories and the next thing you know i spot the trooper in the bushes directly in front of me. just driving along and none of us even knew we speeding. i guess the new odyssey is a pretty smooth ride.
??

Cruise control is your friend.

 

[dsf3g]

I went in front of the judge last month... and he said the officer was injured on duty ...
Any ideas?

You should have been like: "Gee, I hope its not serious..." With a big sarcastic smirk on your face.

 

[G-man]

Cruise control is your friend.

Hahaha! Yep and cruise control works great even as high as 150mph on the NSX.

That is why I had to get rid of my Mitsubishi Evolution VIII, it didn't have any cruise control. Who makes a car these days with no cruise control?!

G-man

 

[Jett]

G-man, are you on anti-psychotic meds? You should be. Triple digits in a 35? Triple digits are only "prudent" for high-speed, limited-access roads. Ask your doc for a Lithium prescription. The right mix of meds could work wonders. I agree with NSXtasy; a heredity defense is needed in your particular case.

You assert that I my post is a work of fiction, then you proceed to agree with me or misread the details of the post. #1 That WAS what a Fairfax County attorney told me recently on the subject of interstate cooperation. You can attempt to nitpick the details (47 or 48 or the southeast whatever), but my assertion is that this was what the attorney told me. So that he told me that is a FACT, not fiction. Call him up and argue over the details. #2 You agree with me. #3 The secretary never GAVE me a legal opinion, nor do I say anywhere that she did. Her position as a well-qualified observer of how the system actually works makes her more qualified than you or me to render an opinion. And the details she related were revealing. #4 You agree with me. #5 Ask my local attorney? That was what I DID, twice, as I relate in the post. Then I relay what the attorneys said. I went to court the first time. So I have ACTUAL EXPERIENCE with the court in question. #6 I am open-minded here. So what defense would you suggest? That he go into court and say he thought those were kilometers per hour? Something about the way a radar signal behaves relative to the earth's curvature? I am all for a spirited defense, but my ACTUAL EXPERIENCE in the Fairfax County Court tells me that the judge will not be amused by a novel defense. Accordingly, I recommend going in with a local attorney and behaving like a contrite citizen. Based on the fact that he apparently has a good driving record, I think it will turn out well for him. If he discusses his wishes plainly with his attorney ("I really would like to avoid a misdemeanor on my record.") I think he has an excellent chance of achieving some level of satisfaction. I also think that if he goes into court with a smartass novel defense that he will go down in flames. (Ultimately, an attorney is speaking for his client. So say, in your particular case, that you don't like what the attorney advises. So you go find another attorney. When you find one who will represent you, you are within your legal rights to insist that he go into court and say "My client pleads not guilty your honor. He had been abducted by aliens on the particular night in question." The attorney has to abide by your wishes whether he likes it or not. My point here is, you can march into court and assert whatever novel defense you want. It really isn't that tough to find an attorney somewhere to go into court and say whatever you want him/her to say. He/she is going to get paid either way. Bad clients or bad legal representation bill at the same rate. Both just usually take longer and generate more billable hours. What is tough is finding a judge in Fairfax County who will buy your lame defense.) #7 Stipulating for a moment that your assertion here is correct for traffic court, I would define "mercy" as something at the "minimum" in "minimum sentencing guidelines". Duh. #8 I take pains to point out that this is probably not likely, but anybody who is thinking about contacting the officer is probably a little desperate. #9 ???? I never say I am in favor of this (I am a speeder, remember?). I merely say that if it were really solely about safety, and not about money, then there are methods to make driving more safe. Japan, for example, is a developed nation with low speed limits. #10 You apparently agree with me. I am against speeding ticket cameras. Are you for them?

Dude, you are just mad because I disagreed with you. You say "Never plead guilty." That sounds great in theory. But we are discussing an ACTUAL case here. What defense would you recommend for our friend here for this particular case? Let's hear it! Enlighten us with your wisdom! I can't wait to hear this!

Finally, a word about length. Mine is just bigger than yours.

 

[pixelhaus]

Cruise control is your friend.

best friend now.

i'm usually very keen to my speed. i'm still questioning the feasibility of going 85. my wife would have strangled me if it were the case. she was sitting in the backseat in clear view of the speedometer and usually can "feel" if i'm going 5 over.

the van is a bit smoother than the old van. i do admit i was speeding, but not 85.

it's one thing when you get tagged when you 'realize' you were speeding and taking a chance, but it really stinks when you're just not paying attention. stupid, stupid, stupid.

and, in a VAN?!

 

[G-man]

Dude, you are just mad because I disagreed with you. You say "Never plead guilty." That sounds great in theory. But we are discussing an ACTUAL case here. What defense would you recommend for our friend here for this particular case? Let's hear it! Enlighten us with your wisdom! I can't wait to hear this!

Finally, a word about length. Mine is just bigger than yours.

Well, it is hard to argue with logic that is mixed with homosexual inuendo, so I won't bother. This reply merely confirms my previous claim of a 16 year old mentality.

For the record, on point, I am not "mad" at you for anything, I just don't want to see a fellow NSX owner suffer the penalty for taking your stupid and wrong advice. Judging from your attitude, I was likely beating speeding tickets while you were still in elementary school, so pardon me if I have a little more experience to base my comments on. If anyone else out there has beaten a ticket for 127 in a 35 and walked away, then let them step forward.

I will recommend the same thing in this post that I did in the previous one...

Hire a local CRIMINAL DEFENSE attorney (just not Jett's) and take their advice (as long as it agrees with mine) I think that you will find that the only plea that a competant attorney will ever tell you is to plead NOT GUILTY unless the guilty plea is already part of a prearranged plea bargin negotiated ahead of time. Of course, I am not a lawyer and I do not even play one or TV. These opinions are not meant as a substitute for real legal adivice (even the misguided advice of Jett's attorney). Please consult an attorney. Just just like a Doctor that says you are going to die in 6 months, there is no harm in a second opinion. If you don't get the answer you think is right, then get a second opinion. It is your money, your driving record and your freedom.

Oh, and Jett, as far as your Pen1s Envy goes, please consult your doctor.

G-man

 

[G-man]

and, in a VAN?!

I love it. The best part of this is that you didn't even get the ticket in the NSX, but in the Honda Minivan. Are you sure you just aren't mad it wasn't in the NSX?

G-man

 

[dsf3g]

the van is a bit smoother than the old van. i do admit i was speeding, but not 85.

it's one thing when you get tagged when you 'realize' you were speeding and taking a chance, but it really stinks when you're just not paying attention. stupid, stupid, stupid.

and, in a VAN?!

Here's my advice: sell the mini-van. When you report to court, act very apologetic and tell the judge that you realized after getting the ticket that you just aren't mature enough for a minivan and if you held on to it it was just going to bring you trouble, and so after a little soul-searching you sold it. And when the judge asks you what you're driving now, look him straight in the eye and say: "an NSX, your honor." :tongue:

 

[NSX-Tuner]

Good luck on fighting your ticket... I hope it works out in your favor...

 

[Knukle Head]

I hate fairfax county I live in woodbridge VA (by potomac mills mall) and I commute to Sterling VA. I just got my nsx (30 days) and have been pulled over twice for DWB.... oh what fun .. not speeding, the car was looked over, he even went and got his damn tint gauge (I have no fu$king tint)
get a LAWYER .... for every one who gets a ticket in fairfax county please ..get a lawyer....

 

[GOTTSPD]

What is DWB?