- Jurisdiction
- New York
Hello all,
I received a speeding ticket for going 53 in a 40mph speed trap (must have missed the first 40mph sign after a long stretch in which the speed limit was 55mph). This was my first ever speeding violation. My initial charge would have put 4 points on my license, so I hired an attorney.
The attorney only succeeded in getting my points reduced from 4 to 2, per a letter from the town prosecutor. I'm not quite happy with this, given that most people I've spoken with tell me that in their experience, simply showing up in court is enough to have the charge reduced to a few parking tickets with the points completely dismissed. I figured that hiring an attorney would be playing it extra safe, and really ensure that the points were dismissed, especially given my hitherto clean record...I guess I was wrong.
So now I'm wondering whether it would be in my best interest to plead guilty to the new plea offer and accept the 2 points, or to plead not guilty and show up in court, in hopes that the points will be completely dismissed. My attorney's services, per the Off The Record deal, are complete now that the points have been reduced. He tells me that this is a tough jurisdiction, and that if I were to go to court, I'd most likely lose the case and be slapped with all 4 points. This seems to conflict with the advice given to me by most of the people I talk to, who have all had cases like this dismissed by going to court.
If I were to show up in court, what do you think my chances would be of having the points dismissed? Are my chances decreased since I've already received a plea offer, which I'll be rejecting by going to court? It's a tricky situation...I'm mostly trying to avoid increased insurance premiums.
Thanks in advance for any insight, wisdom, or advice you can provide!![Smile :) :)](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
I received a speeding ticket for going 53 in a 40mph speed trap (must have missed the first 40mph sign after a long stretch in which the speed limit was 55mph). This was my first ever speeding violation. My initial charge would have put 4 points on my license, so I hired an attorney.
The attorney only succeeded in getting my points reduced from 4 to 2, per a letter from the town prosecutor. I'm not quite happy with this, given that most people I've spoken with tell me that in their experience, simply showing up in court is enough to have the charge reduced to a few parking tickets with the points completely dismissed. I figured that hiring an attorney would be playing it extra safe, and really ensure that the points were dismissed, especially given my hitherto clean record...I guess I was wrong.
So now I'm wondering whether it would be in my best interest to plead guilty to the new plea offer and accept the 2 points, or to plead not guilty and show up in court, in hopes that the points will be completely dismissed. My attorney's services, per the Off The Record deal, are complete now that the points have been reduced. He tells me that this is a tough jurisdiction, and that if I were to go to court, I'd most likely lose the case and be slapped with all 4 points. This seems to conflict with the advice given to me by most of the people I talk to, who have all had cases like this dismissed by going to court.
If I were to show up in court, what do you think my chances would be of having the points dismissed? Are my chances decreased since I've already received a plea offer, which I'll be rejecting by going to court? It's a tricky situation...I'm mostly trying to avoid increased insurance premiums.
Thanks in advance for any insight, wisdom, or advice you can provide!