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Court – Mistake

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If you got a ticket for speeding based on a radar gun and you decide to fight it in court, here are somethings to know:

The officer will testify that he has successfully completed a radar operator course not less than 24 hours approved and certified by the Commission of Peace Officer Standards and Training. He will testify that the device meets or exceeds the minimum operational standard of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and that it was calibrated recently by an independent certified laser/radar repair and testing/calibration facility.

He will come with and provide the court and you will all his certificates. He will provide the Court with the Engineering Traffic Survey report for the area you got caught pulled over at. The ETS tells the court the considered dangerous speed at the area you were allegedly speeding at.

Knowing all of this, what you shouldn’t do (and I have seen this happen many of times):

1. Ask the officer if his radar is working properly
2. Could other cars around you affect the radar ability to track your correct speed?
3. On a curve or turn, don’t ask him if he caught tracked your speed when your car was not at a straight away.
4. Don’t ask him set up questions that allow him to validate or substantiate that he did his job correctly.

The officer is going to answer any question that ask if he did his job correctly in the affirmative.

You are going to need to do better. Remember, you are on trial and you need to put up your defense. If you did your job right, you would have already asked for all the documents about his credentials, the radar certificates, and ETS; and obtained prior to trial – so you would already know after reviewing them if they are in good standing.

So you can assume that he will do his job and testify all the necessary points that will support your conviction. So you will need to read the vehicle code that is the basis of your ticket and see why you didn’t violate that section, or despite dangerous speed limit set in the ETS you were driving reasonably because you were going with the flow of traffic, and etc.

We will get into this more but I wanted to first point out things you should not do in court because I have seen too many people make this mistake.

Pictures & Drawing At Court

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If you plan to fight your traffic ticket and go to court, here are some things you should know.

If you are planning to use pictures, drawings, or any document, you have to show the police officer those items prior to your trial. You simply have to show him or her what you are planning to use so that they have an opportunity to look over them. The Court will not allow you to put them on the spot and ask them questions about your documents.

If you fail to show the officer your evidence, the Court will put your case on hold and tell you to go show the officer your evidence and put your case in back of everyone else. Remember, the Court is going to be more or less working with the officers. They are both government employs serving the public.

So you think that you can act like Perry Mason and catch your officers by surprise with photographs of your traffic scene. There is a good chance that the officer will have diagrams of the area of the traffic violation as well with him or her. The police officer do a pretty good serving as witnesses. They do this pretty often so after a few trials, they learn really fast and come somewhat prepared.

DUI Arrest UP

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The California Highway Patrol arrested 71 people in Los Angeles County for DUI on Christmas Eve, more than double last year’s total (of 30).

No one was killed in traffic accidents between 6 p.m. Thursday and 6 a.m. Christmas Day in L.A. County, compared with two deaths in 2008. But the CHP noted a sharp increase in arrests and traffic-related deaths across the state.

Statewide, 246 people were arrested for DUI this Christmas Eve, compared with 167 last year. In 2008, 30 people in Los Angeles County were arrested.

Red Light Camera

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The Los Angeles Police Department’s redlight camera program has seen a sharp rise in revenue, this year.

From late 2007 to late 2009, monthly revenue from cameras, now operating at 32 city intersections, has nearly doubled from about $200,000 per month to about $400,000.

Records show that the city’s income now far exceeds that of Culver City and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, both of which had often eclipsed Los Angeles in photo enforcement income.

Los Angeles officials insist the program is intended to reduce accidents and save lives, although red-light camera critics contend cities are chiefly interested in raking in money from automated systems that snag violators 24 hours a day.

The improved financial performance of Los Angeles’ program, one of the largest in the nation, appears to be the result of changes in program administration, not a sharp spike in violations processed through the courts.

Last year, the city more than doubled the amount charged for most of its red-light camera tickets.

Preparing for Court

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Are you planning to flight your traffic ticket by going to Court? Well if you have the time, one effective thing to do is to go visit the actual court room where you will have your trial, on the same day in advance of your actual date. For example, if your case is scheduled for a Tuesday hearing at 8:30 am in department 24, then go to department 24, on a Tuesday prior to your hearing date at 10 am and watch what happens in the court room.

See how the people are called to the stand. See how the Judge addresses them and what questions he asked them. See how people present their case to the judge, how they argue their case, how they cross examine the police officer, and take away what you think works and employ that to your case strategy. The process will expose weakness in your cases and give you ideas to prepare for in your case.

If you don’t have the time or luxury to do this, consider hiring an attorney or talking to someone who is familiar with the court system.

Arraignment Hearing

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After you get a ticket, the ticket will give you a hearing date. Usually this is the arraignment hearing. This is where you enter your plead. Most people to the Court’s delight, plead guilty and pay their traffic tickets online avoid having to come to court.

If you decide to come to your arraignment hearing, it works like this. A large group of people are scheduled to be there so it will pretty much take up your entire morning. Your hearing are scheduled at 8:30 am.

When you get into the courtroom, the bailiff will take roll call. He will ask you to tell him you are present when he calls your name. They also usually pass out a form for you to sign in, acknowledging your acceptances to have your traffic ticket heard before a temporary judge. A temp judge is some times used in California since most courts do not have a judge assigned to strictly handling traffic related crimes or misdemeanor matters (no insurance, speeding tickets, and etc).

If you name is not called, you are asked to talk to the clerk so that they can pull your files. Eventually, after everyone is checked in, the judge will come in. The Bailiff will call you to come up to talk to the Judge. The Judge will tell you what you have been charged with. He will ask how you plead.

If you plead guilty then he tells you your estimate fee amount. If you need more time to pay, you can ask him for an extension and/or the opportunity to do community service in lieu of having to pay. If you plead not guilty or no contest then the court will assign you a preliminary hearing date. In order to plead not guilty or no contest you have to post bail. The amount of bail impose is relatively high to encourage you to plead guilty. You also have a shorter period of time to pay your bail. I think the longest that you can ask for an extension of time to pay your bail is 30 days where as you can pay your fine over a longer period of time if requested. Its up to the judge how long you have to pay your fine.

You can also ask for traffic school when you make your plead.

After you enter your plead, you wait for the court to give you your paper work. Depending on what the Judge orders you either have to take your paper work to the clerk’s office and pay your fine and you can go home if it states otherwise.

That is basically the arraignment process in a nutshell.

Two Kinds of Traffic School

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There are two types of traffic school. There is a 8 hour class and a 12 hour class. Normally, the 8 hour class is offered to you online when you go to pay your traffic ticket. The Court will offer this option to get as many people as possible to avoid going to Court. The 12 hour class is a two day 6 hour class that you have to participate in in person. You can’t take it online.

You also have to ask the Judge to allow you to attend the 12 hour class to avoid getting one point on your DMV record. That means, you have to go to court and ask the judge.

So what you need to do is request a hearing date or attending the date set on your ticket. At the hearing, ask the Judge for the opportunity to attend the 12 hour class. It will mean that you plead guilty to the ticket and pay the fee but you get the 12 hour class to avoid the points from getting put on your DMV record. This is particularly helpful if you have recently taken the 8 hour class.

Vehicle Code 12810

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Vehicle Code 12810 is the section that gives the DMV the authority to access points on
our driving records.  As you can see if you read the statute, it sets forth how many points
are assigned for each violation.

In determining the violation point count, the following
shall apply:
   (a) A conviction of failure to stop in the event of an accident in
violation of Section 20001 or 20002 shall be given a value of two
points.
   (b) A conviction of a violation of Section 23152 or 23153 shall be
given a value of two points.
   (c) A conviction of reckless driving shall be given a value of two
points.
   (d) (1) A conviction of a violation of subdivision (b) of Section
191.5 or subdivision (c) of Section 192 of the Penal Code, or of
Section 2800.2 or 2800.3, subdivision (b) of Section 21651,
subdivision (b) of Section 22348, subdivision (a) or (c) of Section
23109, Section 23109.1, or Section 31602 of this code, shall be given
a value of two points.
   (2) A conviction of a violation of subdivision (a) or (b) of
Section 23140 shall be given a value of two points.
   (e) A conviction of a violation of Section 14601, 14601.1,
14601.2, 14601.3, or 14601.5 shall be given a value of two points.
   (f) Except as provided in subdivision (i), any other traffic
conviction involving the safe operation of a motor vehicle upon the
highway shall be given a value of one point.
   (g) A traffic accident in which the operator is deemed by the
department to be responsible shall be given a value of one point.
   (h) A conviction of a violation of Section 27360 or 27360.5 shall
be given a value of one point.
   (i) (1) A violation of paragraph (1), (2), (3), or (5) of
subdivision (b) of Section 40001 shall not result in a violation
point count being given to the driver if the driver is not the owner
of the vehicle.
   (2) A conviction of a violation of paragraph (1) or (2) of
subdivision (b) of Section 12814.6, subdivision (a) of Section 21116,
Section 21207.5, 21708, 21710, 21716, 23120, 24800, or 26707 shall
not be given a violation point count.
   (3) A violation of subdivision (d) of Section 21712 shall not
result in a violation point count.
   (4) A violation of Section 23136 shall not result in a violation
point count.
   (5) A violation of Section 38301.3 shall not result in a violation
point count.
   (j) A conviction for only one violation arising from one occasion
of arrest or citation shall be counted in determining the violation
point count for the purposes of this section.

However, Section 12810(j) gives the department of motor vehicle the right to assign
more points than you think.

For example, If you get a DUI and were involved in a car accident you can get accessed up
to 3 points.  2 points for the DUI and 1 point for the accident at fault.  Section 12810(j)
has been challenged in court and the higher courts have stated that this section
allows the court to access points for one incident from other subsection of this section.

Signing Your Ticket

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The Consequences of Signing Your Ticket

When you sign your ticket, you promise to go to court or pay your fine.  So if you don’t go to court or pay your fine, your driver license can get suspended.  And you may not be able to renew your car’s registration.

The judge can also charge you with contempt of court or the failure to pay a fine.  What this means is that the Court can charge you with a misdemeanor and issue a warrant for your arrest or add an additional fee (aka civil assessment) of up to $300.00

So you better make sure you either pay your fine or let the court know that you are going to contest it by attending the hearing date.

Interesting Question

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Someone aksed me a really good question today.  They asked, what happens if you pay for your ticket and forget to write “not guilty” on it.  Does that mean that you waive your rights to contest the ticket and to request for a trial later on?

Most of the time, you are usually asked to tell the court your intention online or at court if you are going to contest the ticket.  At which point, you are given a hearing date.  You might have to post bail when the trial or hearing date is pending.

I am going to need to look into this question and post back the answer.