[E90330iS]

Hello guys, I got a ticket a while ago in Irvine, CA and tried to fight it by submitting a Trial of Written Declaration. I checked on the court website today and it said that I was found guilty on 4/3. Now, I already paid $262 worth of bail but when I checked the "Sentence" tab, I saw that the fine was $70. So now I am perplexed. Is the fine reduced to $70? Or I now have to pay $70 more because I fought the case and may have involved more court fee? And also the "no state institution record found", does that have anything to do with the point system that reports to the insurance agencies or that is irrelevant for a traffic case? If you have some helpful knowledge to share with me please help me out. I am planning to give the court a call tomorrow but I want to know the right things to ask. Thank you for all your help guys, please see attached.

[PaulBailey@ltbmw]

I would think you owe an additional $70.
You can always try to fight it again

[longtran]

i think that is additional fees. you need to request a Trial de Novo now. let me know how it goes. i always wonder what that do. i used ticket assassin couple months ago for speeding and i won that case.

[iheartsole]

what you get a ticket for anways?

[E90330iS]

For speeding. It was a 84MPH in 65MPH zone. The Irvine Officer insured that it is required for them to show up at court so I know I have no chance to fight it. But I would like to know if I could show up at court and ask for reduction of fine and still ask for traffic school? Please chime in, thanks Paul and Long for the responses.

[solefald]

if this is your first speeding ticket they may reduce your fine, but you can take traffic school for sure, unless you already went in the past 18 month.

i actually have to do traffic school in the next couple of days. got clocked doing 83 on 65.

[CFM3]

Does the trial by written declaration work a lot?

[longtran]

Originally Posted by CFM3

Does the trial by written declaration work a lot?

it worked for me.. i was caught doing 90 mph in a 65 zone.

[LACSTER]

Originally Posted by longtran

i think that is additional fees. you need to request a Trial de Novo now. let me know how it goes. i always wonder what that do. i used ticket assassin couple months ago for speeding and i won that case.

only if i knew this sooner. Got caught doing 60 on a 45 in the MDX and my insurance went up $600 per year

[iheartsole]

Originally Posted by LACSTER

only if i knew this sooner. Got caught doing 60 on a 45 in the MDX and my insurance went up $600 per year

damnn

[PaulBailey@ltbmw]

Originally Posted by LACSTER

only if i knew this sooner. Got caught doing 60 on a 45 in the MDX and my insurance went up $600 per year

[Z22Z]

Originally Posted by solefald

if this is your first speeding ticket they may reduce your fine, but you can take traffic school for sure, unless you already went in the past 18 month.

i actually have to do traffic school in the next couple of days. got clocked doing 83 on 65.

you could actually do it again if you have not had any violations within the last twelve months but it would be up to the judge

[longtran]

Originally Posted by LACSTER

only if i knew this sooner. Got caught doing 60 on a 45 in the MDX and my insurance went up $600 per year

damn.

[E90330iS]

going to the court tomorrow, ill keep u guys updated

[rdsport323]

I'll post my experience with this for anyone else that might go through this process.

I got a ticket back in August '08 for doing 82 on the 5 freeway near the Commerce area. I went online and found my ticket, and requested an extension. I believe the initial due date was October 08, then I had it extended til Dec/Jan 09. At that point, I decided to take my chances by doing Trial by Declaration. The due date for the written letter of declaration was sometime in early February. I did some research on how to write one, but none of the examples I found on the net applied to my violation which was basically speeding in excess of 65mph on the freeway.

I knew I had a fairly slim chance of winning since I had no argument, but I wrote up a story, and at the end of the declaration, I wrote that if I was found guilty, I would like to request Traffic school... Since it's been a few years since my last ticket, I was sure they would allow me that option. So a week or two after sending in my declaration papers, I receive a verdict that said I was found guilty, with the option to request for a new trial. On the verdict, there was also something in the comments section that says the Judge granted me traffic school if I was eligible. I thought that in order for me to get traffic school, I would have to request a new Trial De Novo since there was no form for me to sign to do traffic school. So I sent in a new Trial de Novo, and within a few days I receive a new court date for March 24, 2009.

A few days after receiving my court date, I get sent something in the mail telling me that since I was eligible for traffic school, I would have to send in a check for $39.00 and bring it into the courthouse. So since i was going to be busy on the 24th of March, I decided to go to the courthouse a week before and pay the clerk the $39.00 and opt for traffic school. The clerk told me it was too late for me to change my plea since they need to give the officer at least a 10 day notice if I wasn't going to show up. So basically, I wasted a trip to the courthouse and if I didn't show up for my new trial, I would be screwed.

So when I showed up at the courthouse for my trial, my only intention was to just ask the judge for traffic school. The bailiff told all the defendants that if you were eligible for traffic school, you would need to tell them PRIOR to the judge hearing the case. Once the judge came into the courtroom, then it would be too late to ask for traffic school... once he started hearing the case, it was too late. Luckily, the bailiff also announced which officers were present for the trial... And roughly of the 25-30 defendants, about 30% of the officers did not show up... Including mine. So basically I got lucky my cop didn't show up for my trial, and all I had to do was wait for the judge to come into the court, and go up to him, tell him my name, and sign a sheet of paper. Then my case was dismissed and I was allowed to leave. They will send me my $277 refund in the mail in 6-8 weeks.

If you aren't sure if you are eligible for traffic school, the judge offered something called a 12 hour school... I have no idea what that is.. but I think it's for those that have already taken traffic school in the past 18 months, but it won't erase the point off your record.. or something.. I have no idea.

So overall, I was fairly lucky... got the ticket in August, and with all the extensions and other nonsense, 7 months passed by... and my cop doesn't show up. But, there was this one girl there that was SO LUCKY. The bailiff announced that her cop didn't show up, then the phone rings.... it was the cop, telling the bailiff that he was going to be late 5-10 minutes, and to wait for him.. So this girl is all bummed out, and she was stressing out whether or not she should take traffic school. So her cop finally shows up, and walks up to the bailiff and clerks. The cop tells them something, and then goes to sit down. Then this girl goes up to bailiff and asks for traffic school... The clerk overheard the girl requesting traffic school, and basically told her that "It's too late...just sit down..."... so now, this chick is really stressing... she was asking everyone in the court what happens next...

So the bailiff starts reading alphabetically those defendants that were going to get their case dismissed since the officer didn't show. Then they announced the girls name... And the clerk said outloud that "her case is dismissed since the officer has no recollection of it.." I was like WHAT THE FUCK... So the few of us around her were like, holy shit.. you got so lucky.. the cop was right there in the courtroom, and he just told the clerk that he has no recollection of giving her a ticket.

That was the first time I've ever heard of a cop doing that... but, I guess there are some cops that are honest..

Ha, that's my story..

[Mahhvinn]

Originally Posted by rdsport323

I'll post my experience with this for anyone else that might go through this process.

I got a ticket back in August '08 for doing 82 on the 5 freeway near the Commerce area. I went online and found my ticket, and requested an extension. I believe the initial due date was October 08, then I had it extended til Dec/Jan 09. At that point, I decided to take my chances by doing Trial by Declaration. The due date for the written letter of declaration was sometime in early February. I did some research on how to write one, but none of the examples I found on the net applied to my violation which was basically speeding in excess of 65mph on the freeway.

I knew I had a fairly slim chance of winning since I had no argument, but I wrote up a story, and at the end of the declaration, I wrote that if I was found guilty, I would like to request Traffic school... Since it's been a few years since my last ticket, I was sure they would allow me that option. So a week or two after sending in my declaration papers, I receive a verdict that said I was found guilty, with the option to request for a new trial. On the verdict, there was also something in the comments section that says the Judge granted me traffic school if I was eligible. I thought that in order for me to get traffic school, I would have to request a new Trial De Novo since there was no form for me to sign to do traffic school. So I sent in a new Trial de Novo, and within a few days I receive a new court date for March 24, 2009.

A few days after receiving my court date, I get sent something in the mail telling me that since I was eligible for traffic school, I would have to send in a check for $39.00 and bring it into the courthouse. So since i was going to be busy on the 24th of March, I decided to go to the courthouse a week before and pay the clerk the $39.00 and opt for traffic school. The clerk told me it was too late for me to change my plea since they need to give the officer at least a 10 day notice if I wasn't going to show up. So basically, I wasted a trip to the courthouse and if I didn't show up for my new trial, I would be screwed.

So when I showed up at the courthouse for my trial, my only intention was to just ask the judge for traffic school. The bailiff told all the defendants that if you were eligible for traffic school, you would need to tell them PRIOR to the judge hearing the case. Once the judge came into the courtroom, then it would be too late to ask for traffic school... once he started hearing the case, it was too late. Luckily, the bailiff also announced which officers were present for the trial... And roughly of the 25-30 defendants, about 30% of the officers did not show up... Including mine. So basically I got lucky my cop didn't show up for my trial, and all I had to do was wait for the judge to come into the court, and go up to him, tell him my name, and sign a sheet of paper. Then my case was dismissed and I was allowed to leave. They will send me my $277 refund in the mail in 6-8 weeks.

If you aren't sure if you are eligible for traffic school, the judge offered something called a 12 hour school... I have no idea what that is.. but I think it's for those that have already taken traffic school in the past 18 months, but it won't erase the point off your record.. or something.. I have no idea.

So overall, I was fairly lucky... got the ticket in August, and with all the extensions and other nonsense, 7 months passed by... and my cop doesn't show up. But, there was this one girl there that was SO LUCKY. The bailiff announced that her cop didn't show up, then the phone rings.... it was the cop, telling the bailiff that he was going to be late 5-10 minutes, and to wait for him.. So this girl is all bummed out, and she was stressing out whether or not she should take traffic school. So her cop finally shows up, and walks up to the bailiff and clerks. The cop tells them something, and then goes to sit down. Then this girl goes up to bailiff and asks for traffic school... The clerk overheard the girl requesting traffic school, and basically told her that "It's too late...just sit down..."... so now, this chick is really stressing... she was asking everyone in the court what happens next...

So the bailiff starts reading alphabetically those defendants that were going to get their case dismissed since the officer didn't show. Then they announced the girls name... And the clerk said outloud that "her case is dismissed since the officer has no recollection of it.." I was like WHAT THE FUCK... So the few of us around her were like, holy shit.. you got so lucky.. the cop was right there in the courtroom, and he just told the clerk that he has no recollection of giving her a ticket.

That was the first time I've ever heard of a cop doing that... but, I guess there are some cops that are honest..

Ha, that's my story..

so damn lucky

[LateBraking]

12 hour doesn't raise your premiums but stays on your record, is what someone else told, me. Someone check that?

Originally Posted by rdsport323

but, I guess there are some cops that are honest..

Or maybe it was just because she was a chick. We will never know.

[E90330iS]

Thanks for the info guys. Went to the court today and send in a request for traffic school without asking for a new trial yet. If that is denied I would need to ask for a new trial.

[Samuel L Jackson]

Originally Posted by longtran

it worked for me.. i was caught doing 90 mph in a 65 zone.

Probably only worked because the cop didn't respond, otherwise you would be found guilty.

Originally Posted by rdsport323

So the bailiff starts reading alphabetically those defendants that were going to get their case dismissed since the officer didn't show. Then they announced the girls name... And the clerk said outloud that "her case is dismissed since the officer has no recollection of it.." I was like WHAT THE FUCK... So the few of us around her were like, holy shit.. you got so lucky.. the cop was right there in the courtroom, and he just told the clerk that he has no recollection of giving her a ticket.

That was the first time I've ever heard of a cop doing that... but, I guess there are some cops that are honest..

Ha, that's my story..

Another possibility is that she has a friend who was a cop who talked to that cop. I saw that happen during my court date.

[Crimson92]

Originally Posted by longtran

it worked for me.. i was caught doing 90 mph in a 65 zone.

lol, calm down speed racer

[iAerodynamic]

Originally Posted by LACSTER

only if i knew this sooner. Got caught doing 60 on a 45 in the MDX and my insurance went up $600 per year

damn.. that sucks.!!

[s!ke]

Originally Posted by longtran

it worked for me.. i was caught doing 90 mph in a 65 zone.

It worked for me as well. I got clocked by the Overhead Plane doing 88 in a 70 (I-5) and the ground unit got me... I did trial by mail, and even had to ask for an extension because I forgot to mail it in... basically they said not only the Ground unit has to write a statement, but so did the pilot...

Basically I almost forgot to send it in AGAIN, and didn't write a statement or anything... just put a stamp on it and sent it in, 2 months later, got my check for $300 refunded. What a nice present.... and now I won't be an idiot anymore and forget to send it in... let alone speed.

edit, sorry for the bump... didn't realize it was this old.