I know I’m being an idiot here, but I’d appreciate it if some legal-minded Dopers would humor me.
I got a ticket last week (oops, turned out my truck’s inspection was only temporary), and I’d be stupid to try to contest it. Especially since this happened in a town 75 miles from home. I’ve written up the check and put it in the envelope they gave me. But darn it, my “damn the man” attitude really hates the idea of pleading guilty, which I’m supposed to do by checking a box on the back of the envelope. What might happen if I check “not guilty,” or don’t check either option? Will they just enter it as “guilty” when I don’t show up to contest it, or might I get a bigger fine? I don’t want to plead guilty, but I’m not going to throw money away either. Can anybody clear this up?
If you return it with a check enclosed for the designated amount, even without checking ‘guilty’, they will assume you meant to plead guilty, based on your having paid the fine for the offense. A clerk in the office will just deposit your check, and record the ticket as guilty-fine paid. Happens all the time. They even have people forget to sign the required signature on the ticket. They just take your money and process the ticket. No big deal.
If you specifically check “not guilty” but include a check for the fine amount, I think in most jurisdictions the traffic clerk would just assume you checked the wrong box, you meant to check “guilty” (obvious, since you paid the fine) and would process it that way.
Most jurisdictions allow for a nolo contendere plea, which has the same effect as a guilty plea, except you’re not admitting guilt. You’d still accept the fine/sentence and waive your allocution rights, but the conviction can’t be used as evidence against you in, say, a civil lawsuit.
For a minor traffic infraction, a nolo plea is essentially useless. BTW, if you really want to “stick it to the man”, why are you willing to pay them off in the first place?
The man possess greater power to stick it to me than I to him, and I believe any sociologist will tell you that that’s what allows him to govern. I’m not quite ready to flee society and live in the woods like Guy Montag just to save $50 on an expired inspection ticket.
I left the envelope out Friday night without checking either box, and someone put it in the mail slot without telling me. So it was gone before I could do anything. But I like the answers I’m getting here: I keep my dignity (until the mechanic finishes billing me) and pay the small fine.
In this state if you are cited for a waiverable offense then the officer puts down a court date on the ticket. If you plead guilty and mail in the money then you don’t have to show up. If you elect not to plead guilty then you must appear in court on that date or you’ll be in big trouble.
If you sent in the money without signing the waiver then what happened next would be up to the court clerk. It’s possible that the omission might go unnoticed, but what is supposed to happen is that the clerk contacts you to either get your guilty plea or return the money and confirm your court date.
IANAL but my job does involve working with tickets. This stuff definitely varies by state and possibly by county or municipality.
I’ve been to traffic court six times. Five times, I contested the ticket and each of those times I beat it. If you have an even halfway plausible story, the ticketing officer has to:
–Show up
–Remember to bring his notebook
–Dot all his i’s and cross all his t’s
–Not be on the judge’s personal shit list
Unless you’re flagrantly, obviously, inescapably guilty, the odds are in your favor. Will the travel time and time off from work cost you more than the price of the fine?
Maybe not in dollars and cents, but it couldn’t be worth it. That would involve four hours of travel time on the day of the week that I can least afford to take off from work.
Plus, “the man” (in the person of the police officer) is getting paid to be there anyway. It’s really not a hardship for the officer.
Here’s a better question, IMHO, than those above: Will the money saved on a fine for something you admit here is actually a correct citation be more than the amount you will pay in increased insurance costs if you lose in court?
Krok’s qualification bears remembering: have a plausible story. I, for one, like to think he’s referring to a plausible explanation and not going into court and tossing out fiction; i.e., telling lies in court.
I hadn’t thought about whether or not this would affect my insurance. A $50 fine is more of a psychic pain than a fiscal one; what’s actually been a bother is the money and time it’s cost to get the truck to pass inspection. It was in the shop all day Saturday, and I need to bring it back on Tuesday so they can find out why my emergency brake is totally non-fuctional and replace it. Even if I could come up with a good story for the court - the truth is that I didn’t know the inspection sticker was only a 30-day temporary - I would still need to get the thing inspected, because I’d just leave myself vulnerable to getting another ticket for the same thing. Then I’d be a real idiot.
Don’t know about New York but in Georgia it cost less, two-thirds less, to go to court, plead guilty and pay a fine than to send in a check for the amount written on the ticket.
That is unusual – and really weirdly counter-productive for the state. It encourages everyone to show up in court, cost the state more money by using up the courts’ time, and then plead guilty and get a lower fine – I really don’t understand that.
Here in Minnesota, if you show up and waste the courts time on such a ticket, without a solid argument to give the judge, many judges will sock you with a higher fine than that printed on the ticket. The least you would get is the exact same amount you could have just mailed in.
If you show up and claim poverty with a good story (poor student trying to make it thru college, single mother working to support kids, etc.), the judge might give you a break. But a conditional one; the judge will likely fine you the full amount, but then suspend part of it, provided you don’t get any other tickets in the next year.
Our judges do not like people wasting tax money & court time on frivolous complaints.
Thank god they only inspect for emissions here. I did that for a while; the car I bought for $1700 came with a broken emergency brake and I never fixed it, just left the car in gear. A couple times, I’d park it on a slope and find it had crept a couple feet downhill by the time I got back.
As a side note, if you park on a (not gentle) slope, you should turn the steering wheel (and thus the front wheels) towards the curb. That way if the car starts rolling for any reason, it won’t go far.
This takes a few seconds of your time and will give you the satisfaction of knowing that you are looking out for other peoples’ safety.
It thus appears that “the man” may have done you (or perhaps some hapless pedestrian that you’re soon to encounter) a big favor, possibly worth considerably more than $50.
