Rep Power: 529

I'm taking a ticket to court where I was issued a ticket for not stopping at a red light before making a turn, but I had a green arrow.

Does anyone have any tips? So far I know:

1. Wear a suit
2. Call the judge "Your Honor"
3. Make diagrams and charts (if I'm feeling nerdy I'll use satellite images instead of charts drawn with a marker)

How long does it usually take once you get to court?

How long from the time I mail in my "I want a trial" note until the trial date? Do they make you wait like 3 months?

Would you recommend a lawyer or can I do this myself?

Anything else?

Thanks.

 
Rep Power: 0

go talk to the crown prosecutor or whatever it may be called in the us and tell em what happend. there wont be a need to go see the judge. there nice people. they always cut my tickets in half or sometimes even more.

 
Rep Power: 0

If you're fighting a civil traffic ticket I wouldnt get a lawyer...what's the map for? Always dress nice and show respect to the judge (he didnt go thru years of law school to called anything else).

Once you get into court, you'll be sitting with a bunch of other people that were ticketed or arrested...and the officers that gave those tickets/arrests. You're on the judges docket (list of cases for the day) and you wait till he calls you.

 
Rep Power: 529

Can I do that any time or just on the date written on my ticket?

 
Rep Power: 374

if the officer was behind you, ask to have his in-car camera subpoened to court for evidence that you had the green arrow.

Injen

 
Rep Power: 346

when you fight a ticket in court, the only words you say to the judge are "present", during roll call and guilty or not guilty. the prosecutor does all the talking. and yes, it is always better to dress nice.

 
Rep Power: 529

He wasn't behind me. He was perpendicular to me, on the road I turned onto, hence, he couldn't see my light.