I need some minor help with the law.

GnarBurger

GnarBurger

Active member
Ok so the other day i got pulled over for doing 12 over. the officer was a state trooper (i live in NY). he was pretty cool and didnt write me a ticket for the speeding but he did give me a ticket for a "disobeyed traffic control device" which is still like 2 points on my liscense. unfortunatly for me i really cant get any more points on my liscense so idk what to do. should i send the ticket in as guilty and take it? or should i plead not guilty and see whats up.

as of 2006 NYS Troopers cannot plea bargin but this is technically a violation of the 14th amendment

ex. http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data/constitution/amendment14/

which would then declare the whole thing unconstitutional?

im not really positive but im just trying to figure somethign out. so if you know anythign about the topic i woulld reappy appreciate any input. pluss ill throw down some +++k for legit help. Gracias!
 
First off, the fact that he gave you a ticket for something other than speeding might mean he screwed up, and doesn't actually have to proof that you were speeding, so if you wanted to fight it, that could work in your favour.

On the other hand, if you try to fight the ticket you'll probably want a lawyer rather than to do it yourself, which will likely cost you more than the ticket would on its own. SO, if you're worried about points but don't care about spending the money, hire a specialized traffic-ticket lawyer. If money's more the issue, just take the cost of the ticket without adding all sorts of money and time onto it.

Dunno if you'll find these links helpful, but they're about other people fighting traffic tickets:

http://www.wisebread.com/fight-your-speeding-ticket-save-yourself-some-dough

http://autos.aol.com/article/general/v2/_a/how-to-fight-a-speeding-ticket/20080414154509990001

 
I would fight it because
1. theres a small chance the trooper wont show up to court and you win
2. apologize your ass off and sometimes the judges will take sympathy to that
Number 2 worked for me
 
It was a woman judge, asshole.
And I went in for an underage drinking ticket and the judge's wife was left by her alcoholic husband.... no mercy there.

 
Okay you're in luck! I actually know about due process of law, which is what the 5th and 14th amendments address. If you are interested in something similar, you should look up Goss vs. Lopez.

First is first: In order for there to be a due process issue you must be deprived by a state or federal action of life, liberty, or property. Since you would be deprived of your property via your license and it is a state action since the officer acts on behalf of the state government, those elements are satisfied.

The second part of due process is a little more subjective, which is why Matthews vs. Eldridge is often used to interpret whether or not due process has been violated. In order for there to be a violation, you must be denied the opportunity to be heard and reasonable notification of this hearing. The state government also weighs out your private interest (which is very high since you would lose your license), the risk of erroneous deprivation (also high since he apparently gave you the wrong ticket), and the government interest in pressing due process (very low since they will not want to pay for further expensive and time consuming proceedings).

That being said, in practice I don't know how much of a chance you stand pleading due process for a ticket since a lot of tickets are legally given on the spot. However, if he gave you the wrong ticket you could have something there. I don't think you would have much luck since you were speeding though and the cop should have given you a worse ticket than that. He let you off the hook with something less strict basically and did you a favor.

If you have to go to traffic court, he probably gave you one of those tickets that they wipe the points away and just charge you the small court fee.

Good luck man.
 
thanks^

im prolly just gonna plead not guilty and go in and see whats up. maybe theyll drop it maybe he wont show up. other than that all i can do is hope ha
 
If it's just standard traffic court he probably won't be there. A lot of times, the state hires lawyers who will meet with you right before the hearing and tell you what they can get you if you plead guilty.
 
Are you people serious with the "get a lawyer" and the "due process" bullshit? It's a fucking traffic violation! He shows up to court, the judge is either not interested in it and tosses it out or isn't interested in cutting him any slack (and why should he, if you actually did what's laid out in the traffic regs), and upholds the ticket and you wasted your day and got humiliated. If the officer shows up he doesn't need proof, he can just say what happened and the judge will believe him because police officers tend to be credible in court. He doesn't need fucking forensic evidence for 2 points on your license, it's not like they're jailing you for it.
 
Ya pretty sure that you should just re-read and pay attention this time. You didn't catch anything at all.

I just explained what due process was, and then offered more reasonable advice. Pretty sure we didn't suggest hiring a lawyer, just explained what that would entail. I even mentioned that most traffic courts provide civil lawyers, and that police officers usually don't go to traffic court.

If I had such a know-it-all attitude I would make sure I knew what I was talking about first.
 
nope. ive been ticketed for "disobeying a traffic control device" in NYS a couple times, and that traffic control device is...a speed limit sign. kinda lame, but the ticket doesnt count against you when they look at taking your license for too much speeding. the officer both times told me that he doesnt give speeding tickets to college students, so wrote me one of these, less points, usually less $$, and overlooked when they start taking your license. however, they do note on the report that the traffic control device was a speed limit sign and they do note your speed.

your best bet is to fight it and hope the cop doesnt show, it will be thrown out. had that happen a couple times for me. THIS DOESNT WORK IN VT THOUGH. they schedule all of a cops tickets in the same day, so ob-v they show up. havent tried it in NY. its worked for me in NH, MA and OR. if you try to claim that this is unconstitutional and all, the judge will prolly just be pissed that you are wasting his time and fuck you over. he doesnt really have to council with anyone else on that.
 
you DID have that attitude and you DIDNT know entirely what you were talking about....the offender was not given the wrong ticket. in the state of new york, speeding is a form of disobeying a traffic control device.
 
Don't think I was being a know it all....I just wrote down everything I know about due process (since that's what the question was about), then I offered advice on what I would do.
 
DO NOT fight the ticket. If you do fight, and lose, I believe you cannot do traffic school. Although I might be wrong on that but I'm pretty sure I'm not.

Easiest thing to do is pay it online, do online traffic school, and have them mail the certificate to your court. That way no point on your license and you don't have to go to court twice at 8 in the morning.
 
Nine times out of ten the judge will slap you with the maximum fine if you fight a ticket that a cop already dropped for you if they talk (which they do.) Fighting this ticket is not advisable.
 
my friend has gotten 7 speeding tickets and went to court for all of them. hasn't paid a dime.

i'd just go to court and pretty much tell them how dumb you are and whatever. maybe they'll knock it down a few bucks or toss it. if not, you just do what the ticket says so i'd just go to court.

everytime i've gotten a ticket, i haven't been to court (however, they've all been in states hours away so it was just useless to drive a few hours for a few bucks.)
 
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