Five Mistakes You Don't Want To Make Before Battling A Traffic Ticket

Five Mistakes You Don't Want To Make Before Battling A Traffic Ticket

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Over the years I have heard of some pretty awful defense strategies people use to try and get out of a traffic ticket. You cant blame them though. A lot of these individuals were simply relying on so called insider information they heard from a friend.

In this article we will go over the 5 most common mistakes used by people when trying to fight their traffic ticket. Use these as a guide of what not to do.

Mistake #1- Delaying the traffic court date

The rationale for this, some say, is that the longer you can delay traffic court for your traffic ticket, the likelier the chance the police officer won't show up at your court date.

Do not try to delay your date with the traffic court. You will not increase the likelihood the officer wont be there and thus having your traffic ticket thrown out.

My question is what if you do postpone your traffic court date and the officer still shows up?

Traffic officers get paid overtime to be in traffic court. They don't bring them off their patrols to be there.

Mistake #2- Requesting evidence before traffic court.

By law you do have a legal right to see everything the prosecution plans to convict you with. This process is called 'discovery' and can be useful in a murder trial. But this isn't a murder trial and doing so can actually hurt your case.

If you file a motion for discovery this tells the prosecution that you intend to plan a defense. In almost every case the prosecutor will make sure his case is airtight so you have virtually no chance of winning.

Don't request anything or even contact the courthouse at any time prior to your trial about your traffic ticket. DO NOT let them know you are familiar with the traffic court process.

Mistake #3- Doing a lot of needless research

How many of you like to spend your free time at your local courthouse researching piles upon piles of law books? There's absolutely no need to do this research. It's time consuming and not to mention boring.

Only rarely would it be prudent to look up a law so you know how it may be worded, other than that it is needless to do this with most traffic tickets.

Mistake #4- Attacking the officer's credibility

If you go to traffic court with the idea you are going to attack the officers credibility, don't waste your time. You can forget getting your traffic ticket dismissed. Saying the officer didn't use the equipment properly, or that he singled you out or any number of other excuses are useless.

Never go into a courtroom with the intent to challenge the officer's training of the radar/laser gun. This type of defense is always attacked by the judge. He will accept the officer's testimony as to his training and will tell you to ask your next question.

Its just understood that the officer has the proper training on the speed detecting equipment he or she used to give you a traffic ticket. There's no question about it. Say you do try this defense, where are you going to get the evidence the judge will ask for to support your claim?

Mistake #5- Showing up to traffic court unprepared.

Probably the mistake most people make is thinking they did a good job doing their homework prior to their day in traffic court, and actually didn't have a clue as to what they were doing to get prepared. So they lose their case and end up being convicted of the traffic ticket.

Those who did no research go to traffic court with the notion that they can just tell their side of the story and the judge will see things their way and dismiss their traffic ticket. Yeah right!

Its understandable that it can be nerve wracking showing up to traffic court. Just remember you aren't on trial for your life, its just a traffic ticket. Traffic court is designed to be user friendly because of the volume of people going through there daily.

If you avoid these 5 mistakes you will have a better chance of winning your case in traffic court, and hopefully getting that traffic ticket thrown out.

About the Author:
Learn more about traffic tickets and hoe to fight them. Stop by Steven Swihart's site where you can find out all about traffic violations and how to protect yourself against them.



Article Originally Published On: http://www.articlesnatch.com


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