first time appearing in court

[M@nJo 10+ year member]

i have a court date comming up for a traffic violation few months ago. this will be my very first court trial ever in my life...im wanting to hear some suggestions/advice/ideas/just whatever to help me prepare and whatnot.

and a little background, i did a "trial by written declaration (TBD)" but still lost. so this will be my 2nd trial technically, but first in-person trial. so how do the court rooms work? do i just report to the courthouse and dont need to talk to the counter clerk to sign in? can i talk to the officer/judge in advance to request traffic school before my trial begins? how long do these things usually take? etc. im a complete noob so maybe some of you with exp. can lead me in the right direction and make me feel more comfortable. im gonna be nervous

someone told me to talk with the DA (district attorney?) office and make a deal with the before the trial date. no idea how that works. also claims the fine will increase if i lose due to court fees/costs

Click to read more...

 

[bimma85 5,000+ posts]

What hell did you do, you pay court fees no matter what... another way for the man to stick it to ya. Might as well go, if the cop doesnt show you automatically win. I've only been to court for a felony count(criminal mischief, was with a bunch a kids that foked up a car cuz this dude foked them over... I was not involved, which they testified) So I pretty much just showed up for that said and I didnt do it and they gave me a delayed sentence BS cuz I was still there. I stayed out of trouble 6 months and nothing happened. Also for a BS fishing ticket, went there said I have my fishing license now and had to pay the court cost.

You'll prolly just go into whatever room you are assigned, sit with a bunch of crackheads, prolly hear a funny story or two as well //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif.

What did you do though, you make it sound like you hit a pedestrian or something lol.

 

[ruckus]

What I did back when i got tickets was fill the paper to go to trial, go to the first date myself, If the cop shows I plead no contest and go to traffic school, if he doesnt show, I claim I wasnt speeding, noone to contest it I win. did that like 4 times in my teens and early 20s

 

[Patrick Simmons 10+ year member]

What I did back when i got tickets was fill the paper to go to trial, go to the first date myself, If the cop shows I plead no contest and go to traffic school, if he doesnt show, I claim I wasnt speeding, noone to contest it I win. did that like 4 times in my teens and early 20s

That's good advice, that's the same thing I did when I was younger and it works. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

 

[brad 10+ year member]

yeah..definatly take it to court because either way you will pay the court costs.

 

[kickinaudio 10+ year member]

You can go in on an earlier date and sit in and watch to see how everything works. Worked for me. lots of people there didn't know what to do

 

[mustangowner 10+ year member]

i have been to court one time for two tickets. i got a 90 in a 55 and racing on the highway. i was racing a friend of mine and a county cop pulled us over. we went to court to fight it cause we heard the cop quit. he did and we had all tickets dropped from our record and only had to pay court costs.

a word of advice...dress nice. dress pants and shirt WITH A TIE. this will impress the judge and the result will be rewarding. trust me. oh and say yes sir and no sir. do this and you will be fine. dont be nervous, pretend its just u and him in the court room.

 

[squeak9798 5,000+ posts]

oh and say yes sir and no sir.

Better yet; yes your honor, no your honor.

That way you cover all the bases, as some have this superiority complex in the courtroom that they are better than every other soul walking the face of the earth, and that you must address them honorably.

 

[ramos 5,000+ posts]

Yep act like you got some manners and common sense. Be respectfull no matter what. Some judges have an arrogance to them ( i can't stand this) but you still have to be respectfull. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[ruckus]

no you got it all wrong just walk in and say "Wuzzup Nigga" like the old lady in dont be a menace in south central .......

 

[Dozy_production 10+ year member]

well thats all gay about if the cop doesnt show up you win. I had a speeding ticket and i went to court. It was either guilty or not guilty. Now the thing was if you pleaded not guilty there was another court date set up with you where the cop actually shows up (because he wont to your first hearing). Now once your in this mess you have to get your stuff together or else youll be charged more for court fees and more because you just wasted the judge's time. well thats how it is in san diego.

 

[M@nJo 10+ year member]

thanks for the replies guys. ill def dress nice with tie and keep in mind with "your honor". the traffic violation was for a red light in CA for those who are curious.

one of my friends told me that i could call the DA's office and make a deal with them before the cout date? such as requesting traffic school? would i still have to pay for court fees? and how much are the court fees usually?

 

[dbhittin 5,000+ posts]

well thats all gay about if the cop doesnt show up you win. I had a speeding ticket and i went to court. It was either guilty or not guilty. Now the thing was if you pleaded not guilty there was another court date set up with you where the cop actually shows up (because he wont to your first hearing). Now once your in this mess you have to get your stuff together or else youll be charged more for court fees and more because you just wasted the judge's time. well thats how it is in san diego.

thats how it is here... i tried that, and they find a day when the cop can come in and it doesn't work lol..

 

[dakotus 10+ year member]

that works in cleveland too. little while back, they laid off a LOT of cops. So they barely patrol the streets, let alone have time to sit in court. You can get off with some stuff i hear.

 

[M@nJo 10+ year member]

What I did back when i got tickets was fill the paper to go to trial, go to the first date myself, If the cop shows I plead no contest and go to traffic school, if he doesnt show, I claim I wasnt speeding, noone to contest it I win. did that like 4 times in my teens and early 20s

i never knew officers bother showing up to the first in-trial. i thought they didnt have to since its only an arraignment