[Amonra08]

Originally Posted by hz_diesel

Has anyone requested the officers training records before and calibration records? I was direct to a Lt. Bedard who says he doesn't believe I have the right to this information but suggested that I call MSP Legal Section for more information.

I will make the call but my question is what process did you go through to get such records?

Every time I get a ticket, I have my civil defense attorney handle it after I request a motion to appeal the magistrate's decision (because the magistrate always reduces it, never throws it out, but my record is shit lol).

I never requested the calibration records, but I have asked for a "request for discovery" which gets you the police report citing the incident. This is awesome because you can analyze it & pick up any flawed logic in their statement. If they ignore you & you asked for it well in advance, you can ask for the case to be dismissed since they failed to provide you this info.


Sorry not really answering your question, but if you want to save yourself time & a headache, just get an attorney. I always rather give them my money than the state lol, but your record is spotless so you do have a card I dont haha.

(REF: http://www.nolo.com/legal-encycloped...hapter9-3.html)

[Jairomvp]

i dont think you will need that much for your meeting, now if you appealed the magistrate decision and go for the judge then yes, you more likely come clean on this on, and it will take less time than what you think, 2 or 3 minutes ei the magistrate, watch lol


Relax remember there is a judge after the first decision, no bad record not big deal..

[Jairomvp]

when is your court date? dont have to be exact details but we all want to know the outcome

[hz_diesel]

Originally Posted by Jairomvp

i dont think you will need that much for your meeting, now if you appealed the magistrate decision and go for the judge then yes, you more likely come clean on this on, and it will take less time than what you think, 2 or 3 minutes ei the magistrate, watch lol


Relax remember there is a judge after the first decision, no bad record not big deal..

Originally Posted by Jairomvp

when is your court date? dont have to be exact details but we all want to know the outcome

Right, I am trying to relax. I am probably over doing it. I will definitely provide feed back after the trial but I am currently still waiting for a date.

Originally Posted by Amonra08

Every time I get a ticket, I have my civil defense attorney handle it after I request a motion to appeal the magistrate's decision (because the magistrate always reduces it, never throws it out, but my record is shit lol).

I never requested the calibration records, but I have asked for a "request for discovery" which gets you the police report citing the incident. This is awesome because you can analyze it & pick up any flawed logic in their statement. If they ignore you & you asked for it well in advance, you can ask for the case to be dismissed since they failed to provide you this info.


Sorry not really answering your question, but if you want to save yourself time & a headache, just get an attorney. I always rather give them my money than the state lol, but your record is spotless so you do have a card I dont haha.

(REF: http://www.nolo.com/legal-encycloped...hapter9-3.html)

All good. Who is your civil attorney? what does the cost look like? I hopefully won't need but would like to know. Also what is the process for the request of discovery? I would like to do that now actually if possible. Like who do I contact specifically? and is there a form I need? How do you prove that the request for denied? email I am assuming.

[Amonra08]

Originally Posted by hz_diesel

All good. Who is your civil attorney? what does the cost look like? I hopefully won't need but would like to know. Also what is the process for the request of discovery? I would like to do that now actually if possible. Like who do I contact specifically? and is there a form I need? How do you prove that the request for denied? email I am assuming.

PM'ed you. For the request for discovery, you mail it certified so you can show that they did receive it. This would be mailed to the department where the officer is from. If you review the link, it shows a great format & everything else required: http://www.nolo.com/legal-encycloped...hapter9-3.html

[hz_diesel]

Originally Posted by Amonra08

PM'ed you. For the request for discovery, you mail it certified so you can show that they did receive it. This would be mailed to the department where the officer is from. If you review the link, it shows a great format & everything else required: http://www.nolo.com/legal-encycloped...hapter9-3.html

I'll hold on to the PM. Thanks for the advice! Made a letter, will send out and hold a record of it.

[M_Dennis87]

How To Fight A Traffic Ticket Without An Attorney

Steve Lehto of Jalopnik:

Many people who get traffic tickets will simply pay them. They get points on their licenses and move on with their lives. If you don’t want to do that, you could hire an attorney to fight the ticket for you, but you may also be able to successfully fight the ticket without hiring counsel. There are no guarantees here, but this is how it could work.

Ground rules: I am talking about basic civil infraction tickets. Say, speeding 10 over or things like running a stop sign or making an illegal turn. If you ran over a group of school children or smashed your car in anger through the front window of the DMV, you should probably hire an attorney.

What I am describing here is most specific to Michigan but many states have similar systems. First, read the ticket (front and back). You are doing this so you know what you are charged with and what the process asks you to do. The ticket will usually say how many days you have to respond. Do not put this off. If you do not respond in time you can be held responsible for the ticket, more fines and costs will be added to what you would have had to pay, and a warrant may even be issued for your arrest.

Some states ask you to enter a plea of some sort when you respond to the court. Do not plead responsible or guilty or whatever your state calls the bad thing. Not guilty or Not responsible is how this process starts. The court will then give you a date.

Some states have two kinds of hearings you can ask for: an informal and a formal. Sometimes, if you do not like the outcome of the informal, you can then take your case to the formal. The ticket will explain if this is the case. If so, ask for an informal hearing. Why not? You get two bites at the apple, as they say.

You then go to court. Dress nice. I cannot stress this enough. I have seen people in court wearing flip flops, biker tights, and even a “I’m Bart Simpson, Who the Hell are you?” t-shirt. You cannot be taking the system seriously if you dress like that.

Get there early. Ideally, you will be in the line of people who are lined up at the courthouse doors when they open. And guys, seriously: Take off your hat when you are indoors. Especially if you are prone to wearing a baseball hat backwards.

Go inside and check in. That is, let the court clerk know you are there. They will tell you that a prosecutor (or whoever handles these in your jurisdiction) is in a conference room or some such. You will then probably stand in line. The prosecutor will have your file. Your file contains your ticket and your driving record. The officer may or may not be there. They may even be on call (meaning they can be there if they need to be).

I am not going to give you any magic incantations to get the ticket thrown out. Your best bet is to see if you can get the charges reduced. This will hinge on several factors. How clean is your driving record? (This is huge.) How old are you? (A young person with a clean driving record is not as impressive as an older person with one.) What are you accused of? (10 over is not as bad as 20 over.) Did you give the cop a hard time? (I kid you not.)

When called, walk into the office and shake hands with the prosecutor. Introduce yourself. Very politely say, “I got a ticket for [insert offense here]. I was hoping we might be able to reduce that to [something lesser] because of my good driving record [or other mitigating factors].” Do not be confrontational. You are not here to argue that you will go to court and kick the officer’s lying ass, or that everyone was speeding that day.

In every jurisdiction there are lesser offenses prosecutors can substitute in for whatever you are charged with. Ones with fines but fewer (or no) points. You want one of these. Speeding becomes blockading traffic and so on. Or, if you are charged with a four point offense, they might be willing to drop it to a two point offense. Keep in mind that while the points can usually be reduced, the fines rarely disappear. Does this surprise you? The points don’t help them - but the money does.

If the prosecutor won’t cut a deal, ask him/her to speak to the police officer. Sometimes, if you were nice during the traffic stop, the officer will go to bat for you. If the two of them won’t budge, have the hearing. You’re there anyway.

And, if you see the officer in the hall before you speak to the prosecutor you may be able to make some headway by speaking to him or her first. Politely approach, shake hands and introduce yourself. You say roughly the same thing but it would be more like, “You gave me a ticket for []. I was hoping we might be able to reduce that to something lesser so I could keep the points off my record.” If the officer is inclined, he/she may go in and ask the prosecutor to cut you a deal.

The bulk of the run-of-the-mill tickets get reduced in bargains like this. Why? Prosecutors often have 100 files to dispose of and time to only try 10 of them. The other 90 have to go away somehow. The lesser ones usually get the deals.. But there is a lot of wiggle room in there. Every case the prosecutor can resolve by way of agreement is one less that has to be dealt with later.

Some states also offer diversion programs where those with clean driving records can attend classes or simply stay out of trouble for a while. That will cost you money but the points and the ticket will disappear if you successfully complete whatever it is they tell you to do.

Many people hire attorneys for tickets because good attorneys know the courts, the prosecutors and the judges and know what kinds of outcomes you can expect from each. On your own, you take your chances and see what happens.

I have written about traffic tickets now several times and invariably, after I do, readers comment about how they have successfully dealt with tickets - and these comments come from all over the U.S. And, I have handled hundreds of tickets. I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe. A guy with 14 points on his license getting 6 points’ worth of tickets reduced to two. A drunk driving charge reduced to careless driving. And reckless driving jury trials.

Of course, if you really are guilty and feel like ‘fessing up and paying your debt to society, by all means skip this and plead responsible and pay the ticket. Just do it in a timely manner.

[Torgus]

I'm going to need to remember this thread when I get a ticket.

[jor2cool4u]

Originally Posted by Torgus

I'm going to need to remember this thread when I get a ticket.

"When"?

From personal experience I really think OP is fine by just saying it is his first and he has a clean record, from personal experience they just dismissed it just with that explanation...no need to go thru this extra work...however seems like you only get 1 "get out of jail free" card and I used it already...they even mentioned it when we were done

[hz_diesel]

Originally Posted by Torgus

I'm going to need to remember this thread when I get a ticket.

First sticky? Haha it'll make it easier.

[jor2cool4u]

just got back from my hearing for my 2nd speeding offense ever (51 in 30 at allston/brighton tolls) and magistrate and cop didn't budge at all on this one even after all my attempts to convey to them that I was not speeding. I think their minds were made up from the get-go and nothing I said was going to help. It was at the end of the month so the officer was definitely getting his quota in (he stopped about 10 people back-to-back at the bottom of this hill)...anyway got it reduced to $100 but it's the 2 pts I really care about ...I guess it was about time after 12 clean years

[hz_diesel]

Originally Posted by jor2cool4u

just got back from my hearing for my 2nd speeding offense ever (51 in 30 at allston/brighton tolls) and magistrate and cop didn't budge at all on this one even after all my attempts to convey to them that I was not speeding. I think their minds were made up from the get-go and nothing I said was going to help. It was at the end of the month so the officer was definitely getting his quota in (he stopped about 10 people back-to-back at the bottom of this hill)...anyway got it reduced to $100 but it's the 2 pts I really care about ...I guess it was about time after 12 clean years

Sorry to hear! not going to escalate it? I probably would go to a judge if something similar happens to mine.

What insurance do you have? Some will let the first time slide.

[jor2cool4u]

Originally Posted by hz_diesel

Sorry to hear! not going to escalate it? I probably would go to a judge if something similar happens to mine.

What insurance do you have? Some will let the first time slide.

honestly not worth it... it's $50 to go to the judge and to hire a lawyer or something and get off work again no thanks

[SLOWER]

Ugh that sucks. At least they reduced it.

[jor2cool4u]

Originally Posted by SLOWER

Ugh that sucks. At least they reduced it.

yeah although I'd gladly pay the $210 for 0 pts on my record...now to see what GEICO says in 6 months lol

[Torgus]

I read this great thing by a cop who explained how to get rid of BS tickets all together. Basically post pone it for as long as possible which apparently is over a year. Call in the day of and make up an excuse you are sick, family emergency what have you. The cop has to show up each time and it's a huge waste on paperwork and the courts time. If everyone did this he claimed the system would come to a screeching halt if everyone did this vs paying the ticket. The courts would literally be so back up the system would fall apart as it is not made to handle so many appeals as he argued only like 10% or less appeal vs paying. It would just over load it and all they would be doing is processing new court dates and taking up hundreds and thousands of hours of the police who they would literally have to hire more cops and staff just because so many had to be in court weekly if not all week. Give out 5 tickets in a day that could end up being a mom the worth of time not working showing up for nothing. It's a novel idea. Break the BS traffic violation system. Do real police work keeping us safe not tickets for 10 over the speed limit or turning on a red light.

[Jairomvp]

knowing how this country runs, courts will say don't show up you pay .
they all want you money more budget better pay, better equipment for themselves, i work with a police officer and also i was an IT intern for a town in mass so i was working with the PD and learned a lot of things, local police do not have quotas since its not a federal institution, their budget system is different, state troopers in the other had do have quotas, things i learned from officers, when being pulled over, shut your vehicle down, do not take your seat belt out to reach for your stuff, do not reach for your stuff, wait until he arrive and ask you for the stuff(safety), you show the man respect, if you have been giving warning they are logged in their system just to let you know, in my case is a little more strict since i have license to carry i definitely don't want to be moving inside my car or arguing with the guy, another one remember they are human just like us and that means they are not perfect so some are decent some are dicks overall so why argue, make you point as a calm person, i always wonder if i never tried argue with them back when i had my civic if i would of not go to so many courts/tickets.

[SLOWER]

I would say the courts are backed up just fine. I got the ticket on March 5th. Court date Sept 29.

[hz_diesel]

Originally Posted by SLOWER

I would say the courts are backed up just fine. I got the ticket on March 5th. Court date Sept 29.

I would disagree. I got my ticket two weeks ago? Court date 9/24

[jor2cool4u]

Guess it depends where you get the ticket? my court date was exactly 2 months after the incident

[hz_diesel]

Going crazy my hearing is tomorrow at 9am and I have no idea what to expect... feeling really depressed when I know its a whatever happens happens kinda deal

[Torgus]

Originally Posted by hz_diesel

Going crazy my hearing is tomorrow at 9am and I have no idea what to expect... feeling really depressed when I know its a whatever happens happens kinda deal

good luck.