Any lawyers in here? Tailgating-

You are gonna be out of money anyway you go. Do NOT take a public defender. They are the lawyers that couldn't chase an ambulance for a living. If you want to beat it, get an attorney. If you are not eligible to lose your liscence, just pay the fine. It's cheaper until your insurance company jacks your rates.
 
racerx19775 said:
You are gonna be out of money anyway you go. Do NOT take a public defender.

This is a summary offense (punishable by a maximum of 30 days in jail and/or a $300 fine). Their is no right to have an attorney or a public defender appointed for representation. In Pa, the only right to a public defender comes when their is an offense that is punishable by 1 or more years in jail.

Additionally, it is much cheaper to get an attorney on the front end than pay for it in the years to come with the insurance and potential for future tickets that accumulate greater points.
 
tunedin302 said:
This is a summary offense (punishable by a maximum of 30 days in jail and/or a $300 fine). Their is no right to have an attorney or a public defender appointed for representation. In Pa, the only right to a public defender comes when their is an offense that is punishable by 1 or more years in jail.

Additionally, it is much cheaper to get an attorney on the front end than pay for it in the years to come with the insurance and potential for future tickets that accumulate greater points.
I am glad I don't live in PA. That legal sounds like the russian gulag. Rothlesburger didn't get in either, But that is the state of Penn.
 
Judges have heard every BS story in the book. Be honest and tell the story as it was. Maybe the judge will have a kind heart.
 
go to court les than 1% of people fight traffic tickets! i have a friend whos mother was pulle dover by a city cop where we live he gave her a ticket for going 62 in a 45! and she is a probation officer shes in a big court case over this he climed she tried to use her badge to get out of the ticket! and climed she turned him into internal affairs! and she was suspended from work without pay pending an investigation! well they handed down the verdict to her she didnt try in anyway to use her badge to get out of the ticket! now shes gonna sue the cop for a bunch of stuff including lost pay etc! and gonna go to court and i beileve hes gonna be in some deep !@#$ caus ehe pulled over the wrong black woman and harassed her! he didnt even have his radar on when he stopped her. im really wanting to go to law school i like to argue! i jsut gotta save up for school and im gonna start here at the local community college to try and get my core classes out of the way. ive been going to school for auto mechanics and auto body but i think it would be alot more fun for me to be able to do that as a hobby?
 
I've been through it... either listen to someone who has been through it or someone who is DeVus or a lawyer.

You have to give them something to hold on to cause like what was said before, they've heard everything... good luck :)
 
I've been through this before. If you're the type of person that can't keep a straight face in court, has trouble speaking in a clear, concise manner using proper english, or has a rap sheet/driving record that's a mile long (ie has no credibility), then I would suggest seeking legal counsel. Otherwise this is an offence that can be fought, and with a little luck, even won. First off, was your friend charged in the incident? Was his car inspected for safety violations? Find out what exactly the officer knows about the entire incident. You can get a copy of his notes. You are not trying to discredit the officer here as far as the tailgaiting is concerned. I doubt the judge would buy that. You may be able to convice the judge that you weren't doing the speed the officer claims. What speed is that by the way? He wasn't using a radar gun right? Was he following? Stopped? How could he accurately judge your speed? Could he be wrong? You have to raise this doubt to the court. In addition, the tailgaiting claim. I would concede to this, however you must provide a perfectly valid reason for why you were following so closely. Only then might the points be dropped. Maybe your friend's brake lights weren't working at the time? (Again, get the officer's notes). Maybe there was an animal or debris on the road which caused him to brake so suddenly, and since his brake lights were out you got closer then you ever intended to? There's definitely room to work here. I think this case has a chance.
 
90blacknight said:
I've been through this before. If you're the type of person that can't keep a straight face in court, has trouble speaking in a clear, concise manner using proper english, or has a rap sheet/driving record that's a mile long (ie has no credibility), then I would suggest seeking legal counsel. Otherwise this is an offence that can be fought, and with a little luck, even won. First off, was your friend charged in the incident?

Nope, didn't even know I was following my friend.

Was his car inspected for safety violations? Find out what exactly the officer knows about the entire incident. You can get a copy of his notes. You are not trying to discredit the officer here as far as the tailgaiting is concerned. I doubt the judge would buy that. You may be able to convice the judge that you weren't doing the speed the officer claims. What speed is that by the way?

Just says traveling at fast speeds

He wasn't using a radar gun right? Was he following? Stopped?

Stopped in a parking lot

How could he accurately judge your speed? Could he be wrong? You have to raise this doubt to the court. In addition, the tailgaiting claim. I would concede to this, however you must provide a perfectly valid reason for why you were following so closely. Only then might the points be dropped. Maybe your friend's brake lights weren't working at the time? (Again, get the officer's notes). Maybe there was an animal or debris on the road which caused him to brake so suddenly, and since his brake lights were out you got closer then you ever intended to? There's definitely room to work here. I think this case has a chance.
 
RMODEL65 said:
go to court les than 1% of people fight traffic tickets! i have a friend whos mother was pulle dover by a city cop where we live he gave her a ticket for going 62 in a 45! and she is a probation officer shes in a big court case over this he climed she tried to use her badge to get out of the ticket! and climed she turned him into internal affairs! and she was suspended from work without pay pending an investigation! well they handed down the verdict to her she didnt try in anyway to use her badge to get out of the ticket! now shes gonna sue the cop for a bunch of stuff including lost pay etc! and gonna go to court and i beileve hes gonna be in some deep !@#$ caus ehe pulled over the wrong black woman and harassed her! he didnt even have his radar on when he stopped her. im really wanting to go to law school i like to argue! i jsut gotta save up for school and im gonna start here at the local community college to try and get my core classes out of the way. ive been going to school for auto mechanics and auto body but i think it would be alot more fun for me to be able to do that as a hobby?

Yikes! Nice paragraph (and so on-topic too)!

You might want to take some remedial English classes before filling out those law school applications.

You did leave out one important bit of information, counselor -- was she really speeding? I'm guessing, "Yes." Your friend's mother sounds like one of those losers, who are always breaking the law, then claiming they're being "harassed" because of their race whenever they get caught.

Do the American justice system a favor, and stick to auto mechanics.
 
Taking legal advice off the interweb is likely to turn out as well as a self performed labotomy....but I will throw in my .02 anyway. My legal experience comes mostly from all the tickets I got back in my stupid younger days and to a lesser extent that my father is a lawyer. I don't know about your state but the way it works around here is that they will generally let you plead no contest to a non moving equipment charge, double the fine and you save the points on your record. Lawyers would like ou to believe that only a lawyer can pull this off but in fact anybody can do it. You just show up at court early and they will generally give you a chance to speak with the prosicutor before hand or in some cases you can call the prosacutor before your court date and do it all over the phone and as long as you send in the fine + court costs before your court date, its all good. You can allways hire a lawyer but then you have to pay his fee as well. Contrary to popular belief, in most cases lawyers don't perform any kind of majic and convince the judge that your innocent. Its just a legel bribe basically.

....but thats just me.
 
TRWXXA said:
Yikes! Nice paragraph (and so on-topic too)!

You might want to take some remedial English classes before filling out those law school applications.

You did leave out one important bit of information, counselor -- was she really speeding? I'm guessing, "Yes." Your friend's mother sounds like one of those losers, who are always breaking the law, then claiming they're being "harassed" because of their race whenever they get caught.

Do the American justice system a favor, and stick to auto mechanics.


well this is the internet and im not being graded i dont care about puncuation or run ons etc im scored in the upper 1400s on my sats so im think im pretty bright and test like than get on my last nerve so i dont really concentrate and try and do all that i can but thank u for ur opinion
 
where in bucks county are u located in live in morrisville close to yardley and levittown. but im pretty sure u have it wrong about the radar guns because i got a ticket last year for 90 in a 35n needless to say i was on radar, and this want a statey either. it was a lower makefield cop and he had all his certificates for using the radar gun and showed me the inspection sheet on the radar gun to check the calibration. now i was like 19 at time and i took my mom and the judge was gonna drop it to 4 points and sum rediculus fine, but it was better than loosing my liscence. so he asked me if i was cool with that and im like yeah , then he asked the cop and he said no. i was pissed, then the cop walks up to the judge and says he doesnt think that will be necessary , so the cop offers a plea of carelesss driving an 3 points:hail2: i couldnt believe it. he talked to me after wards and said the only reason he did that was becsause i seemed like a good kid and my mom came, he liked the whole family support thing. HE said u dont know how many times i have kids come to court alone and he said when he saw my mom with me, it showed that my family supported me and was there for me , i dunno whatever but it worked for me.:shrug: good luck, just be respectful, show up dressed nice, not like some hoodlum n i g g e r and u should be good.