First Ticket EVER 1 Question for LEO or lawyer

[jmoney]

Ask for deferred, tell them it is your first ticket. You pay the fees, plus 20 a month for probation costs. If you stay out of trouble for the period then it goes away. If i remember right your first few tickets under 10mph don't go o your record anyway

 

[Fyrtwuck]

The only time I ever got a speeding ticket... it was dismissed in the District Court. I was driving through a little town here in Okla that was known for running a speed trap. I knew I hadn't been speeding and the guy had pulled me over 1/4 mile outside the city limits. The cop claimed he'd been chasing me for over 1/2 mile before I had stopped. I appealed to the district court. Turns out that I was the only person to ever have done so who had gotten a ticket in this town.

Several of the city officials, the city attorney and a dozen citizens showed up for the case over at the county seat. It was a circus.. as they all thought I was gonna get the electric chair or something close to it. Court costs were gonna be about $60 back then if I had lost.. but I was willing to risk it if that was all the extra it could cost me.

I was representing myself without a lawyer....and put the officer on the stand. I asked about his radar having been calibrated that day / shift. Turned out it hadn't been. He wasn't certified to calibrate a radar unit of any kind..... and no one from his department was there to say they had done so for him that day. So the judge dismissed the charge. Boy, did it tick the local officials off.... and got a cheer in open court from the citizens. Judge did say that if even one officer had been there to say that they had calibrated the radar unit for the officer that day, I would have had to pay the ticket.

I don't know if the new radars that departments use today have to be calibrated or not. With new technology, it may not be necessary. But back then, it had to be done at least once in a 24 hour period with a tuning fork... and some departments policy was to do it each shift. Now days, the calibration certification of a unit may only be required on a yearly basis.



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On a different note... One of my uncles was a oil Driller working out of Odessa, TX back during its boom days. He drove over 120 miles one way to & from work picking-up / dropping off members of his crew every night. He was a big ole boy with a loud John Wayne cowboy attitude.

A Texas Trooper pulled him over one night while he was on the way to work and cited him for doing 80 MPH in a 70 MPH zone. My uncle took it to court.. told the judge that the trooper was a D^$m liar and couldn't possibly have gotten him on radar because he hadn't been driving under 95 MPH since he left Odessa's city limits. That if he was gonna be fined for something then let it be for the speed he had been doing... not based upon some speed being made up by the trooper. The judge and everyone in the court had a good belly laugh.. then the judge fined him for doing 80 in a 70 zone.

The judge couldn't fine him for the 95 MPH he was admitting too because then he [the judge] would have been admiting on record that he didn't believe the Trooper's testimony. That might have then given my uncle grounds for a appeal.. It didn't work... but he thought it was worth the try.

Officers can not calibrate the Radar units. They are not Radar technicians. The units are supposed to be "checked for calibration" with tuning forks at the beginning and ending of each shift.

Radar units (before I retired) were required to be certified by a licensed technician and a certificate provided on a yearly basis.

 

[PUMPKIN]

I would get a good lawyer and sue! You shouldn't have to pay that ticket, the address is wrong... Not to mention your above the law!! Kaaa koooooo!

 

[penismightier]

I would get a good lawyer and sue! You shouldn't have to pay that ticket, the address is wrong... Not to mention your above the law!! Kaaa koooooo!

You listen to a little too much BMMS!! hahaahah

 

[Firemedic183]

For those of you curious or find yourselves getting a ticket anywhere in the near future, the following information was provided to me by someone at the municipal court. The ticket is not turned in from the officer for a time period of 10-14 days. After the ticket is received by the municipal court, it takes an additional 24 hours to enter it into the system so that it can be paid online. IF you are not wanting to wait that long to get the ticket paid, then you have the option of taking your copy of the ticket to the court where they will enter the information and then you can pay them at that time. This will be the option that I will be taking tomorrow. Oklahoma City does not offer a deferment program. There will be no points assessed against my license, however it will stay on the database that police officers use when conducting a traffic stop for 3 years. It says on record at the court house for 5 years. I DO have the option of attending an 8 hour driving class and that would get my ticket removed out of the database immediately. However if I have another traffic violation in the next 3 years I can't use that driving class to reduce the fine, or points against me. So I will NOT be doing the drivers course unless I receive another ticket that has a higher penalty. (Hopefully I won't.) For those of you that are curious, NO I DID NOT bring up or say anything about the address being written incorrectly. I am just going to get the ticket paid and move on with my life. I hope that someone out there besides myself at least learned something from this thread. Thank you to all of you who had constructive input.

 

[penismightier]

For those of you curious or find yourselves getting a ticket anywhere in the near future, the following information was provided to me by someone at the municipal court. The ticket is not turned in from the officer for a time period of 10-14 days. After the ticket is received by the municipal court, it takes an additional 24 hours to enter it into the system so that it can be paid online. IF you are not wanting to wait that long to get the ticket paid, then you have the option of taking your copy of the ticket to the court where they will enter the information and then you can pay them at that time. This will be the option that I will be taking tomorrow. Oklahoma City does not offer a deferment program. There will be no points assessed against my license, however it will stay on the database that police officers use when conducting a traffic stop for 3 years. It says on record at the court house for 5 years. I DO have the option of attending an 8 hour driving class and that would get my ticket removed out of the database immediately. However if I have another traffic violation in the next 3 years I can't use that driving class to reduce the fine, or points against me. So I will NOT be doing the drivers course unless I receive another ticket that has a higher penalty. (Hopefully I won't.) For those of you that are curious, NO I DID NOT bring up or say anything about the address being written incorrectly. I am just going to get the ticket paid and move on with my life. I hope that someone out there besides myself at least learned something from this thread. Thank you to all of you who had constructive input.

I learned that paying attention and driving the speed limit is a simple way to avoid getting a ticket completely!!!

 

[PUMPKIN]

We are all glad to hear you are moving on with your life....

 

[Firemedic183]

I learned that paying attention and driving the speed limit is a simple way to avoid getting a ticket completely!!!

I looked and looked, but I am fresh out of hero buttons AND gold stars...Sorry.

 

[BadgeBunny]

I learned that paying attention and driving the speed limit is a simple way to avoid getting a ticket completely!!!

Hey, Handsome!! How you doing?? (Yes, I know, complete and total hijack ...)

 

[Firemedic183]

PAID in full!!!