Handheld Device Ticket

Hey everyone,

I got a ticket for picking up my phone while driving when it was on speaker phone. I'm trying to decide if I should bother fighting it. I've never had a ticket of any sort although I doubt that matters in this case. I wasn't looking at the phone or pressing buttons, but again, I don't think that will matter.

Not sure if it's worth paying someone $300 to try and fight it or just suck it up and pay? They say about a 70% chance it can get reduced. I'm mostly worried about the points but obviously the $ hurts too.

Thanks in advance

If all you're looking to do is get the ticket reduced then I wouldn't bother hiring anyone as you can plea bargain with the prosecutor yourself. If I were in your position I would plead not guilty and request a trial with the officer present. Then when your notice of trial arrives in the mail I would request disclosure to see what evidence they have against you. If the evidence looks solid then you can meet with the prosecutor on the day of your trial and work out a deal for a reduction.

Thanks very much for the reply

I guess if the evidence isn't great I can always hire someone to get it thrown out on some technicality.

I'm mostly concerned about the points for my insurance.

What you're going to want to look for in the disclosure is whether the officer has described your phone. If not, you could consider rolling the dice at trial to see if he's able to describe it without having made notes.

According to some posts here, the officer has to be able to describe the phone to obtain a conviction. There are many devices (such as iPods and other MP3 players) that look like cellphones, but are not capable of transmitting or receiving data. If the officer is unable to say, for example, "The phone appeared to be a Samsung Galaxy S8 and had screen icons comparable to what I have seen on similar phones," you may be able to raise doubt as to whether what you were holding was, in fact, a cellphone.

If the officer does have a description in his notes, you can try to negotiate with the prosecutor before your trial.

Is it better to choose option 2 or 3? I was told if you pick option 2 you can still go to trial but at that point you've already pled guilty so I'm not sure how that works...

Thanks in advance

Go with option 3 it gives you the most flexibility and keeps all your options open. That way you can negotiate with the prosecutor, or go to trial and try to beat the ticket, or if you change your mind and just want to pay you can do that too right up until your trial actually starts.