WHERE'S THE FIRE:
Plain Talk About Speeding Tickets And Little Courts
A speeding ticket is the most common, minor legal problem. Although it is the "common cold" of legal problems, it's one that is seldom understood by drivers. A speeding ticket is strange because unlike most legal disputes, you can't win at trial, and trying to win only makes the situation much, much worse.
There are two ways effectively to handle a speeding ticket. There is nothing innovative about either of these. Both approaches are simply good, traditional legal practice.
First, you can mail the ticket in with a guilty plea to the charge. That will result in a fine and points on your driver's license and, perhaps, an increase in your insurance premium and, if the speed was more than 20 miles over the limit, a Mandatory Driver Assessment from DMV (these begin at $300). It will also begin a process that may culminate in license suspension or revocation if you get other tickets in the future or had others in the past. Mailing in a guilty plea will end the case immediately, but it probably won't get you the most favorable disposition.
The only other way to handle the ticket is to plead not guilty by mail. This means that you want the state to prove that you are guilty of speeding. The "not guilty" plea on the back of a New York State Uniform Traffic Ticket (called a "U.T.T.") also asks if you want a "supporting deposition." A supporting deposition is a long form, sworn description of the violation charged in the ticket. It is NOT recommended that you request this. Although dismissal of the charges may result if the deposition is not furnished on time, dismissal on this ground is a very long shot. Instead, the request for a deposition serves primarily to anger the officer by requiring paperwork and to make the officer's negotiating position less flexible.
Do NOT personally appear in court on the date on your traffic ticket. This will be a complete waste of time for you. If you appear on that date the Court will arraign you on the ticket, accept your not guilty plea, and then send you home to await a notice of when to appear for a conference or for a trial. Also, if you don't manage to mail in your not guilty plea within 48 hours of receiving your ticket, don't worry about this. Just send in the not guilty plea as soon as you can. The Court cannot take action against you until more than 30 days has expired.
After pleading not guilty by mail, you are notified of either a conference date or a trial date. At a conference date, the officer is not required to appear, but you can negotiate with the prosecutor about a disposition of the ticket. At a trial date, the officer is required to appear, and you, or your attorney, may be able to appear and negotiate a reduction in the speed or to some other charge that, hopefully, will not effect your insurance, or result in too many points or too big a fine. This negotiation will in all likelihood most often get you an acceptable disposition of the ticket. There are exceptions though: drivers who verbally upbraid the officer, drivers who flaunt radar detectors, drivers who argue their innocence at the roadside, drivers who are discourteous all receive harsher treatment. An exception to this: driver’s who are given trial notices for tickets written by Troopers in a court that does not have a prosecutor face a serious problem and may not be able to plea bargain. Drivers in this predicament should consult a lawyer.
Notice that one of your options is NOT going to trial. Going to trial is almost sure to garner you a conviction on the charged violation and subject you to the largest possible fine with the full compliment of points. Why? Because the trial is going ultimately to come down to whether the justice of the peace believes you or a trooper or deputy who has testified in hundreds of similar routine cases, who the justice realizes is a major source of revenue for the Town, and who appears constantly before this very judge. The trooper is never going to testify that your ticket was given in error. If the trooper were going to testify to that, you would be told that the ticket would be dismissed BEFORE the trial starts. To be blunt, you cannot win this case at trial, regardless of your version of events, and it's a tactical mistake to think you can.
Well, if you're not going to trial, do you need to be represented by a lawyer on your speeding ticket? The decision here is entirely economic. If your speed was a 4-pointer or less, if you live near the Court, and if have an evening to spend waiting, you can probably negotiate a reasonably acceptable plea bargain that will not effect your insurance or give you too many points. If you were charged with driving faster than a 4-point speeding ticket, if you also got some other kind of ticket, or if you live further away and don't have the time to drive to court, wait for your case to be called by the trooper, wait for the court to call the case, and then drive home, a lawyer can appear INSTEAD OF YOU, negotiate the best deal, and arrange for you to pay the fine by mail. This is not cheap, but it is probably the best, most reliable solution to your speeding ticket.
Note : In September, 2006, New York State Troopers were forbidden from negotiating plea bargains on their speeding tickets. This policy has resulted in many towns using Town Prosecutors or Assistant District Attorneys to make plea bargains. However, some towns have refused these options. If you received a Dutchess County trooper ticket, you will want to discuss the status of plea bargaining with your lawyer.