Re: A "Moving Violation" question (or two)...
You may want to keep in mind that in reality, courts vary.<br /><br />DD, sounds like your courts act like they're supposed to (burden is on state to prove guilt). <br /><br />In reality, this dosen't play out in all courts. Friend got a speeding ticket near our rural NC town. It was in an area a little bit past where the speed limit had increased from 45 to 55. Officer cited him for doing 55 in a 45, in spite of the fact that friend pointed out to officer that limit had changed.<br /><br />He swears he didn't increase to 55 until after the change and was so upset by the injustice of the ticket he went to court to fight it. Although his wife was with him at the time he was ticketed, instead of bringing her to court he videotaped the drive including the sign where the limit changed and where he was stopped after the increase.<br /><br />In court, Judge asked him if he had any witnesses. Friend said not with him, but he did have evidence to prove his case. Judge wouldn't even let him show it, ruled in favor of the state. If friend had known & brought wife to court with him, he probably would have won just based on her testimony.<br /><br />Alot of you are probably thinking this lack of due process can't happen, but it did. I guess he could have gotten a lawyer & appealed, but now you're talking real lawyer money instead of just minor traffic case lawyer money. So he accepted the verdict and paid the ticket, but the injustice of the ordeal really bugged him for over a year. <br /><br />Point is, DDs advice about challenging the case yourself may not be the best in certain jurisdictions. If my friend had a lawyer with him I have no doubt he would have been given the opportunity to at least present his evidence.<br /><br />12: After thinking about it some more, I'd advize one of the following.<br /><br />1) Call an attorney specializing in traffic cases, tell him the story, and ask what he can do for you and what it would cost. Most won't charge you for a consultation of that nature. If he can get the charges reduced to something thats not a moving violation, pay him the extra $100 or $150 bucks to keep the points off your record. You probably won't have to go to court with him and will save a half day of your time as well as the points.<br /><br />2) If you don't want to spend the money on a lawyer, go to court yourself. At the start, very politely mention your spotless record, state that you don't think you were following too closely, but ask the DA if instead of challenging the tailgating charge whether it would be possible to plead to a lesser charge that doesn't have points attached to it so as not to affect your insurance. I bet you have a good chance of getting something like improper equipment (but end up paying the same amount as the ticket/ court costs would have been if you just paid the ticket).<br /><br />DD, in spite of how it should be, experience with my local court would make me very hesitant to plead for dismissal by arguing the officer didn't have sufficient evidence without an attorney by my side.
