So I was pulled over this morning and slammed with a ticket of 132 in posted 100 on hwy - which is the speed he claimed I was going (didnt drop at all)... I asked why he didnt drop it at all? The PO insisted I fight it. I replied I didnt have the time to get off work. He continued to insist I fight it.

My questions are:

Can I send someone else if I cant get time off work?

What are steps?

Do I have to speak in front of any groups of people IF I can get time off to do so?

Any recommendations?

magoo21 wrote:

Can I send someone else if I cant get time off work?

Yes. You can send either a relative who has legal training and/or experience, provided that you do not pay him/her. OR you can send a professional registered paralegal. You can get in touch with a good one via a form at the bottom of this page.

magoo21 wrote:

What are steps?

1-st you indicate that you will fight the ticket. There are 3 options on the ticket you received. You have to check "I intend to challenge the ticket" (or similar) and send it in. There is no additional fees you have to pay to the courts. You will get a court attendance date in the mail. Then you have to ask for disclosure (officer's notes about the ticket). You can get one here, on a website made by one of our frequent posters. Then you contact a representative, tell him exactly what happened, give him disclosure (if you have it already at the time) and have him come in at the date and time scheduled.

magoo21 wrote:

Do I have to speak in front of any groups of people IF I can get time off to do so?

Yes, you have to defend yourself in court. You do so by speaking out loud in front of the JP, the prosecutor, and whoever else might be in the court. Courts are open to the public, so anyone can attend a proceeding.

magoo21 wrote:

Any recommendations?

Having a paralegal might help you fight the ticket, because they are familiar with all court procedures and might be able to fight the ticket on things you might have never heard before. You do not have to show up, and taking the day off work will likely cost you as much in lost wages as the paralegal fees. Instruct the paralegal to try to fight it down to 15 over, where your fine will be small, and no points will be awarded, and your insurance premiums will not go up.

Racer, I was going to represent my wife at her upcoming trial. Is this allowed? I see that you mentioned that the relative has to be trained in law. Is this always the case for a husband representing the wife?

jimp2061 wrote:

Racer, I was going to represent my wife at her upcoming trial. Is this allowed? I see that you mentioned that the relative has to be trained in law. Is this always the case for a husband representing the wife?

Yes, you can represent a family member.

No, you do not need formal training. If you are self-educated, you can work easily. Having training, formal or not, makes it a lot easier to fight the charges.

You do need to know certain things:

How to adress the judge

What not to say

No swearing in courtroom is allowed

Remember that your job is not exactly proving your wife's complete innocence. Your job is creating reasonable doubt about officer's reading, signage, etc.

If your behaviour is inappropriate, you will be removed. If you go in and go gun-ho on the JP, you will be removed from courtroom. Some forum members have a lot more experience in representing themselves, they might be able to provide you with more input.

Also read posts in our "Courts and procedure" section, as these were aimed to help people to represent themselves. For legal defence points, read more in this particular section (I suppose your wife was charged with speeding 30-49). Some posts are very informative. Lawmen's posts have a great deal of references to cases, ticketcombat's site is also a fantastic resource, especially in proper procedures in court.

And good luck beating the charge!

I asked why he didnt drop it at all? The PO insisted I fight it. I replied I didnt have the time to get off work. He continued to insist I fight it.

The officer may have realized a mistake after he had written the ticket....The ticket is not logged into the system until the officer hands it over. The other point could be that he wanted some overtime......best of luck.