speed ticket
 

"Drew" > wrote in message
...
> Hire a lawyer. You should be getting a bunch of flyers from them in the
next
> couple of days. Cost $50. Most likely it will be dismissed in court when
> the cop doesn't show up. Probably take 6 months to a year for it to go to
> court. Enough time for you to save up the money for the ticket in case it
> does not get dismissed.
>
> "Rattus the RAT" > wrote in
> message om...
> > Hey, I'm still new to the area and I got my first speed ticket today
from
> > the city of Ferris, TX. How much do you think I should expect to pay for
> > driving 81 in an 65 zone? and how much should it affect my insurance?
> >
> > RAT
>

My advice - don't take ANY advice from this group - I don't think anyone
here has gotten a ticket in the last ten years!

A lawyer is useless, or worse.
All he would do is save you a trip to the courthouse and $20 on the
Probation fee. You can handle the whole thing by US Mail, if you like. You
can get the $20 by calling or visiting the prosecutor and asking him to give
you a break on the "standard" fee.
You can take Defensive Driving, but it's not worth it unless your insurance
agent says it will save you Lots of money, and you have a Saturday to
throw-away. You can do it online - 6 hours is required. Online &
video-rental is $40, classes are usually $30.

Both the Defensive Driving and Probation are forms of Deferred-Adjudication,
the new craze sweeping the country where the government screws defendants
again and again. Go ahead and google it, I dare ya. deferredadjudication.org
wipetheslateclean.com fija.org

If you're like most, just call the court clerk and ask for the Prosecutor;
ask him for the discount fee (tell him you're broke and you're sorry); send
your "endorsed" ticket and check to them and hold your breath for 90 days.
If you get just written a citation for Anything in Texas, you're guilty of
the speeding ticket; pay the remainder of the fine, and it's on your record,
regardless. Usually doesn't affect your insurance rating until you've had 3.

If you can take a day off for court anytime, you might go to court. sign the
appropriate place and mail-in the ticket (after making legible copies).

Some of these little one-horse towns make a production of it and make you
appear for a hearing first, before a trial. They will try to get you to sign
papers waiving your Constitutional Rights to Representation, Trial by Jury,
etc. Don't sign anything, except a Not Guilty plea. Ask for a Bench Trial.

If the cop ("State's witness") doesn't show, you're dismissed. This is a
great feeling - especially if you're guilty. It should happen to everyone.
Usually the only way to find out if the cop has shown is to answer "Not
Guilty" two or three times until they begin your trial. Go ahead and let
them call him to the stand and testify. It's key that he actually, really
remember the traffic stop and you and what you did -- not just regurgitate
the citation info and his notes. The Prosecutor will ask him if he
remembers, he will say yes - or again, you will be dismissed. After the
Prosecutor is done making the State's case, the Judge will ask you for your
Defense. Just tell the Judge you would like to plead No Contest and that you
request Deferred-Adjudication.

The judge will likely happily forward you paperwork to the clerk and wrap-up
in a heartbeat. Or he might get ****ed that you wasted his time and the
cop's time-and-a-half pay just to exercise your Constitutional Rights. in
which case, the prosecutor will ask the Judge to agree and go ahead with
Probation, but without the discount.

On this scenario, it would be nice to have a lawyer appear in your place,
but you can't get one to go to traffic court and plead Not Guilty for you
for the typical $40 - $75 fee. They like to get the $40, then do the "beg
probation" by fax - no mess, no fuss.

One more thing, the Ferris Municipal judge owns your ass and can make you do
anything, up to and including $500 & 30 days, regardless of the "standard
procedure" across the state.

First, call the court clerk and ask for the "rate schedule" (how much for
the fine, for probation, for defensive-driving) and ask how long it usually
takes for a court date and if there is any pre-trial hearing, and the name a
number of the Traffic-Court / Municipal-Court Prosecutor. The Prosecutor can
be your friend, it's his job to make the Judge work as little as possible -
he will cut deals to keep you from going to trial.

I paid $50 for a lawyer, took 8 months to go to court, lawyer should up, I
was one of 5 people she was defending that day for the same problem. Waited
in court for an hour before my case came up. Cop did not show, ticket was
dismissed. Over and done with. $50 dollars verse a $180 ticket. No
probation, deferred, or fine.

"LNB4" > wrote in message
...
> "Drew" > wrote in message
> ...
> > Hire a lawyer. You should be getting a bunch of flyers from them in the
> next
> > couple of days. Cost $50. Most likely it will be dismissed in court
when
> > the cop doesn't show up. Probably take 6 months to a year for it to go
to
> > court. Enough time for you to save up the money for the ticket in case
it
> > does not get dismissed.
> >
> > "Rattus the RAT" > wrote in
> > message om...
> > > Hey, I'm still new to the area and I got my first speed ticket today
> from
> > > the city of Ferris, TX. How much do you think I should expect to pay
for
> > > driving 81 in an 65 zone? and how much should it affect my insurance?
> > >
> > > RAT
> >
>
> My advice - don't take ANY advice from this group - I don't think anyone
> here has gotten a ticket in the last ten years!
>
> A lawyer is useless, or worse.
> All he would do is save you a trip to the courthouse and $20 on the
> Probation fee. You can handle the whole thing by US Mail, if you like. You
> can get the $20 by calling or visiting the prosecutor and asking him to
give
> you a break on the "standard" fee.
> You can take Defensive Driving, but it's not worth it unless your
insurance
> agent says it will save you Lots of money, and you have a Saturday to
> throw-away. You can do it online - 6 hours is required. Online &
> video-rental is $40, classes are usually $30.
>
> Both the Defensive Driving and Probation are forms of
Deferred-Adjudication,
> the new craze sweeping the country where the government screws defendants
> again and again. Go ahead and google it, I dare ya.
deferredadjudication.org
> wipetheslateclean.com fija.org
>
> If you're like most, just call the court clerk and ask for the Prosecutor;
> ask him for the discount fee (tell him you're broke and you're sorry);
send
> your "endorsed" ticket and check to them and hold your breath for 90 days.
> If you get just written a citation for Anything in Texas, you're guilty of
> the speeding ticket; pay the remainder of the fine, and it's on your
record,
> regardless. Usually doesn't affect your insurance rating until you've had
3.
>
> If you can take a day off for court anytime, you might go to court. sign
the
> appropriate place and mail-in the ticket (after making legible copies).
>
> Some of these little one-horse towns make a production of it and make you
> appear for a hearing first, before a trial. They will try to get you to
sign
> papers waiving your Constitutional Rights to Representation, Trial by
Jury,
> etc. Don't sign anything, except a Not Guilty plea. Ask for a Bench Trial.
>
> If the cop ("State's witness") doesn't show, you're dismissed. This is a
> great feeling - especially if you're guilty. It should happen to everyone.
> Usually the only way to find out if the cop has shown is to answer "Not
> Guilty" two or three times until they begin your trial. Go ahead and let
> them call him to the stand and testify. It's key that he actually, really
> remember the traffic stop and you and what you did -- not just regurgitate
> the citation info and his notes. The Prosecutor will ask him if he
> remembers, he will say yes - or again, you will be dismissed. After the
> Prosecutor is done making the State's case, the Judge will ask you for
your
> Defense. Just tell the Judge you would like to plead No Contest and that
you
> request Deferred-Adjudication.
>
> The judge will likely happily forward you paperwork to the clerk and wrap-
up
> in a heartbeat. Or he might get ****ed that you wasted his time and the
> cop's time-and-a-half pay just to exercise your Constitutional Rights. in
> which case, the prosecutor will ask the Judge to agree and go ahead with
> Probation, but without the discount.
>
> On this scenario, it would be nice to have a lawyer appear in your place,
> but you can't get one to go to traffic court and plead Not Guilty for you
> for the typical $40 - $75 fee. They like to get the $40, then do the "beg
> probation" by fax - no mess, no fuss.
>
> One more thing, the Ferris Municipal judge owns your ass and can make you
do
> anything, up to and including $500 & 30 days, regardless of the "standard
> procedure" across the state.
>
> First, call the court clerk and ask for the "rate schedule" (how much for
> the fine, for probation, for defensive-driving) and ask how long it
usually
> takes for a court date and if there is any pre-trial hearing, and the name
a
> number of the Traffic-Court / Municipal-Court Prosecutor. The Prosecutor
can
> be your friend, it's his job to make the Judge work as little as
possible -
> he will cut deals to keep you from going to trial.
>
>
>

On Tue, 6 Jul 2004 08:54:39 -0500, "OCSDFW" > wrote:

||I paid $50 for a lawyer, took 8 months to go to court, lawyer should up, I
||was one of 5 people she was defending that day for the same problem. Waited
||in court for an hour before my case came up. Cop did not show, ticket was
||dismissed. Over and done with. $50 dollars verse a $180 ticket. No
||probation, deferred, or fine.

You were very lucky.
That has never happened to me.
It's more likely in a large city than, say....Ferris
Texas Parts Guy

"OCSDFW" > wrote in message
...
> I paid $50 for a lawyer, took 8 months to go to court, lawyer should up, I
> was one of 5 people she was defending that day for the same problem.
Waited
> in court for an hour before my case came up. Cop did not show, ticket was
> dismissed. Over and done with. $50 dollars verse a $180 ticket. No
> probation, deferred, or fine.


<snip>


But, if the officer would have showed up, what would the lawyer have done?
Chances are, he would ask for deferred adjudication. In that case, you would
had to pay the fines, PLUS the $50 or whatever the lawyer charges. It's a
gamble. I quit using lawyers and do the same thing that they do, without
paying their fees...


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My experience has been that most lawyers won't go to the municipal court.
They use some legal tactic to move it to the county court. As a result,
suburban offenses are more likely to have no shows than big cities where
they have to be downtown to go to court anyway.

FS: Treadmill, like new, $200

"Rex B" > wrote in message
...
> On Tue, 6 Jul 2004 08:54:39 -0500, "OCSDFW" > wrote:
>
> ||I paid $50 for a lawyer, took 8 months to go to court, lawyer should up,
I
> ||was one of 5 people she was defending that day for the same problem.
Waited
> ||in court for an hour before my case came up. Cop did not show, ticket
was
> ||dismissed. Over and done with. $50 dollars verse a $180 ticket. No
> ||probation, deferred, or fine.
>
> You were very lucky.
> That has never happened to me.
> It's more likely in a large city than, say....Ferris
> Texas Parts Guy

"LNB4" > wrote in message
...
> "Drew" > wrote in message
> ...
> > Hire a lawyer. You should be getting a bunch of flyers from them in the
> next
> > couple of days. Cost $50. Most likely it will be dismissed in court
when
> > the cop doesn't show up. Probably take 6 months to a year for it to go
to
> > court. Enough time for you to save up the money for the ticket in case
it
> > does not get dismissed.
> >
> > "Rattus the RAT" > wrote in
> > message om...
> > > Hey, I'm still new to the area and I got my first speed ticket today
> from
> > > the city of Ferris, TX. How much do you think I should expect to pay
for
> > > driving 81 in an 65 zone? and how much should it affect my insurance?
> > >
> > > RAT
> >
>
> My advice - don't take ANY advice from this group - I don't think anyone
> here has gotten a ticket in the last ten years!
>
> A lawyer is useless, or worse.
> All he would do is save you a trip to the courthouse and $20 on the
> Probation fee. You can handle the whole thing by US Mail, if you like. You
> can get the $20 by calling or visiting the prosecutor and asking him to
give
> you a break on the "standard" fee.
> You can take Defensive Driving, but it's not worth it unless your
insurance
> agent says it will save you Lots of money, and you have a Saturday to
> throw-away. You can do it online - 6 hours is required. Online &
> video-rental is $40, classes are usually $30.
>
> Both the Defensive Driving and Probation are forms of
Deferred-Adjudication,
> the new craze sweeping the country where the government screws defendants
> again and again. Go ahead and google it, I dare ya.
deferredadjudication.org
> wipetheslateclean.com fija.org
>
> If you're like most, just call the court clerk and ask for the Prosecutor;
> ask him for the discount fee (tell him you're broke and you're sorry);
send
> your "endorsed" ticket and check to them and hold your breath for 90 days.
> If you get just written a citation for Anything in Texas, you're guilty of
> the speeding ticket; pay the remainder of the fine, and it's on your
record,
> regardless. Usually doesn't affect your insurance rating until you've had
3.
>
> If you can take a day off for court anytime, you might go to court. sign
the
> appropriate place and mail-in the ticket (after making legible copies).
>
> Some of these little one-horse towns make a production of it and make you
> appear for a hearing first, before a trial. They will try to get you to
sign
> papers waiving your Constitutional Rights to Representation, Trial by
Jury,
> etc. Don't sign anything, except a Not Guilty plea. Ask for a Bench Trial.
>
> If the cop ("State's witness") doesn't show, you're dismissed. This is a
> great feeling - especially if you're guilty. It should happen to everyone.
> Usually the only way to find out if the cop has shown is to answer "Not
> Guilty" two or three times until they begin your trial. Go ahead and let
> them call him to the stand and testify. It's key that he actually, really
> remember the traffic stop and you and what you did -- not just regurgitate
> the citation info and his notes. The Prosecutor will ask him if he
> remembers, he will say yes - or again, you will be dismissed. After the
> Prosecutor is done making the State's case, the Judge will ask you for
your
> Defense. Just tell the Judge you would like to plead No Contest and that
you
> request Deferred-Adjudication.
>
> The judge will likely happily forward you paperwork to the clerk and
wrap-up
> in a heartbeat. Or he might get ****ed that you wasted his time and the
> cop's time-and-a-half pay just to exercise your Constitutional Rights. in
> which case, the prosecutor will ask the Judge to agree and go ahead with
> Probation, but without the discount.
>
> On this scenario, it would be nice to have a lawyer appear in your place,
> but you can't get one to go to traffic court and plead Not Guilty for you
> for the typical $40 - $75 fee. They like to get the $40, then do the "beg
> probation" by fax - no mess, no fuss.
>
> One more thing, the Ferris Municipal judge owns your ass and can make you
do
> anything, up to and including $500 & 30 days, regardless of the "standard
> procedure" across the state.
>
> First, call the court clerk and ask for the "rate schedule" (how much for
> the fine, for probation, for defensive-driving) and ask how long it
usually
> takes for a court date and if there is any pre-trial hearing, and the name
a
> number of the Traffic-Court / Municipal-Court Prosecutor. The Prosecutor
can
> be your friend, it's his job to make the Judge work as little as
possible -
> he will cut deals to keep you from going to trial.

Hi!

Well I called this morning (before reading this). Basically I requested
deferred adjudication. First they asked me what speed I was going, and they
told me the fine was $205. And they told me to send a money order for that
amount, a letter requesting d.a., copies of my licence & insurance and self
addressed & stamped enveloppe. I dont have to show up but they didn't lower
the fine it seems...

* Chuck wrote in dfw.forsale:

> "OCSDFW" > wrote in message
> ...
>> I paid $50 for a lawyer, took 8 months to go to court, lawyer should up, I
>> was one of 5 people she was defending that day for the same problem.
> Waited
>> in court for an hour before my case came up. Cop did not show, ticket was
>> dismissed. Over and done with. $50 dollars verse a $180 ticket. No
>> probation, deferred, or fine.

><snip>

> But, if the officer would have showed up, what would the lawyer have done?
> Chances are, he would ask for deferred adjudication. In that case, you would
> had to pay the fines, PLUS the $50 or whatever the lawyer charges. It's a
> gamble. I quit using lawyers and do the same thing that they do, without
> paying their fees...


I just quit speeding, its cheeper ;)
--
David | AGM Favorites - http://tinyurl.com/loec
The world is full of people who have never, since childhood, met an
open doorway with an open mind.
-- E.B. White

"SINNER" > wrote in message
...
> * Chuck wrote in dfw.forsale:
>
> > "OCSDFW" > wrote in message
> > ...
> >> I paid $50 for a lawyer, took 8 months to go to court, lawyer should
up, I
> >> was one of 5 people she was defending that day for the same problem.
> > Waited
> >> in court for an hour before my case came up. Cop did not show, ticket
was
> >> dismissed. Over and done with. $50 dollars verse a $180 ticket. No
> >> probation, deferred, or fine.
>
> ><snip>
>
> > But, if the officer would have showed up, what would the lawyer have
done?
> > Chances are, he would ask for deferred adjudication. In that case, you
would
> > had to pay the fines, PLUS the $50 or whatever the lawyer charges. It's
a
> > gamble. I quit using lawyers and do the same thing that they do, without
> > paying their fees...
>
>
> I just quit speeding, its cheeper ;)


But it would take an extra 45 seconds to get home from work if I didn't
speed!


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"Rattus the RAT" > wrote in
message .. .

> > > "Rattus the RAT" > wrote in
> > > message om...
> > > > Hey, I'm still new to the area and I got my first speed ticket today
> > from
> > > > the city of Ferris, TX. How much do you think I should expect to pay
> for
> > > > driving 81 in an 65 zone? and how much should it affect my
insurance?
> > > >
> > > > RAT
> > >
> >

> Hi!
>
> Well I called this morning (before reading this). Basically I requested
> deferred adjudication. First they asked me what speed I was going, and
they
> told me the fine was $205. And they told me to send a money order for that
> amount, a letter requesting d.a., copies of my licence & insurance and
self
> addressed & stamped enveloppe. I dont have to show up but they didn't
lower
> the fine it seems...
>

You did good - you minimized the BS and just got-it-over-with. Don't worry
about if you could have saved $30 or $50 -- it's not worth the worry. It's
bad enough you had to chat with a cop, but this way you never let a schyster
look down their nose at you. 90 days from now you can forget it ever
happened -- in the meantime, watch your 6.