Hello. I got a failure to stop @ stop sign ticket last night. I was making a right turn and the officer said i did not stop completely. since i have extra time on my hand, i am thinking about defending myself and trying to beat this ticket.
here's a short description of the situation:
I was stopped at 9:36pm at night. the road has undergone recent maintenant and does not have the word "STOP" and lines on it, but there is a stop sign on the side walk. the lighting was rather poor at that location.
the officer stopped me after following me for 2 blocks. i knew he was following so i tried to drive as nice as i could be, obeying speed limit and stopped perfectly at those 2 stop signs. but nevertheless, he still gave me the ticket.
the reasons for the stop were a failure to stop and also a missing front license plate. on the ticket, he indicated that i was driving at 15mph, which is within the speed limit. he did not show me any radar reading. the comments on road, weather & traffic condition were "C-D-L".
there are several things i found interesting on the ticket:
1. the officer indicated the date of violation clearily. but when he circle the day of week, the circle was too big and covered both wednesday and thursday.
2. under the race(ethnicity) box, the officer put down "OTH" which is something i don't understand.
3. he did not specify a date for my court appearence. instead, he checked the within 30 days box.
i wonder if i have a positive shot at beating this thing. i read somewhere that i should file a motion of discovery to obtain some of the notes and comments from my accuser. what is the correct procedure to file this motion? is it better to contest the violation by court trial or by written declaration? will play the race card work for me in traffic court?(yes, i've been watching law and order way too much....) lastly, if i plead not guilty and lose, what would be the consequence(other than the original fee)?
i have 1 red light ticket on my record which is 4-5 years ago, so i am not a first timer. i paid my ticket straight up back then(without traffic school) and the negative ramification is still with me today. i guess this time i m going to take a different approach. thanks in advance for any comments and advices.
here's a short description of the situation:
I was stopped at 9:36pm at night. the road has undergone recent maintenant and does not have the word "STOP" and lines on it, but there is a stop sign on the side walk. the lighting was rather poor at that location.
the officer stopped me after following me for 2 blocks. i knew he was following so i tried to drive as nice as i could be, obeying speed limit and stopped perfectly at those 2 stop signs. but nevertheless, he still gave me the ticket.
the reasons for the stop were a failure to stop and also a missing front license plate. on the ticket, he indicated that i was driving at 15mph, which is within the speed limit. he did not show me any radar reading. the comments on road, weather & traffic condition were "C-D-L".
there are several things i found interesting on the ticket:
1. the officer indicated the date of violation clearily. but when he circle the day of week, the circle was too big and covered both wednesday and thursday.
2. under the race(ethnicity) box, the officer put down "OTH" which is something i don't understand.
3. he did not specify a date for my court appearence. instead, he checked the within 30 days box.
i wonder if i have a positive shot at beating this thing. i read somewhere that i should file a motion of discovery to obtain some of the notes and comments from my accuser. what is the correct procedure to file this motion? is it better to contest the violation by court trial or by written declaration? will play the race card work for me in traffic court?(yes, i've been watching law and order way too much....) lastly, if i plead not guilty and lose, what would be the consequence(other than the original fee)?
i have 1 red light ticket on my record which is 4-5 years ago, so i am not a first timer. i paid my ticket straight up back then(without traffic school) and the negative ramification is still with me today. i guess this time i m going to take a different approach. thanks in advance for any comments and advices.