DECATUR - Linda Hamilton wanted to get out of a $95 speeding ticket. Instead, she ended up with a two-day jail sentence and a year of probation.
Hamilton, 38, was ticketed last July for driving 62 mph in a 45-mph zone on Georgia Highway 124 in suburban Atlanta. She did not believe she was speeding and contested the ticket, demanding a jury trial.
When the jury found Hamilton guilty after a recent two-day trial, DeKalb County State Court Judge Denise Majette sentenced the Conyers woman to two days in jail, a year on probation, 80 hours of community service and a $1,200 fine.
Hamilton said Majette also delivered a blistering reprimand during sentencing, saying the court's time had been wasted.
The judge denied giving the woman a scolding. Majette said she explained "that a great deal of time and expense was devoted by everyone involved."
Hamilton, who said this was her first speeding ticket, represented herself during the trial. "Obviously, not very well," she said.
She and the police officer who wrote the ticket were the only witnesses in the trial, and the jury deliberated for about three hours, Hamilton said.
"She was informed before she went to trial of all risks and benefits of having counsel represent her, and she made a knowing, intelligent and voluntary waiver of her right to counsel," Majette said. "The jury found her guilty, and the court imposed a sentence within the parameters of a misdemeanor case."
Atlanta attorney Ronald Arenson, who is handling Hamilton's appeal, called the sentence a "little excessive."
"I don't think she should be punished for taking her constitutional rights," Arenson said. "Usually these cases are handled by a judge, but she chose a jury trial, and that's what they are punishing her for, for taking up the jury and the court's time."
Hamilton's appeal bond was set Tuesday at $10,000, which she paid in cash.
"I always tell my 10-year-old son that you should stand up for what you believe in," Hamilton said. "And I'm afraid that this does not set a good example of justice."