Ticket procedure?

Hey I got a ticket for 85 in a 70 down by Macon in Twiggs County a week or two back. Can someone explain what my options are here in GA? They setup a court date automatically, so I assume I can just go to that if I choose. Do I appear before a judge or is there sometype of intermediate first?

Thanks,
JC

 

i have got 2 tickets so far and this is how i handled them:

1) speeding: 85 in a 55 in TN
they set a date at a court in the middle of nowhere... i mailed in a check, copy of the ticket and a letter stating i wanted to plea no-lo... they took the payment and reduced the charge to 57 in a 55... in GA, i believe u can call the court and get a price about 7-10 days after u received the ticket

2) tint ticket in GA:
called the court 10 days later to get a price ($99)... mailed in a payment, copy of the ticket, and proof that the tint had been fixed

 

I got a ticket for going 85 in a 55 that I had to go to court for on Monday. I got to the Decatur courthouse and there was a line around the building that I was supposed to wait in till I got into the courthouse. Get in line and there is a Cop making the announcement that you are not permitted to bring Cell phones with Cameras into the courthouse, then he said that we would be hear till about 5 PM. This was a 2 PM. I said "Fuck It" called the number on the back of the ticket and paid my fine with my Credit Card and left.

Now I need to find out about the Points on my license from the ticket.

 

Yes. You can usually call or go online, depending on how high-speed the department the ticket came from is. You can just pay the fine and take whatever points might be involved or you can plead no-lo and possibly get a lesser punishment.

 

Go to blurofinsanity.com and look for beating a speeding ticket. It gives you judicial procedure and what things you can do to defend yourself. I have used it on two occassions, but with a 50% success rate. The one I lost, I think was due to a judge's inexperience with traffic court, because the officer had no evidence against me except for a visual speed approximation.

 

What exactly is nolo and how do you plead it? Do I just have to pay the ticket as normal and hope they reduce it? That's kinda sketchy.

Ya I went online already and the ticket is $145. I don't really care about the money (well I do, but I was speeding so hey my fault) but I really don't want any points on my record. I've been to court twice in Michigan, so going again doesn't bother me but if I can get it reduced to under 15 over without having to go to nowhere GA it would be a plus.

Thanks for the help so far guys.

 

Does it still go on your driving record like any other ticket though?

 

the ticket is reduced to a lower offense... usually an offense that does not add points... like alex mentioned, u get the opportunity to plea no-lo once in 5 years or something... but remember, that the judge reserves the right to deny your plea

 

Yes, still goes on your record.

You may have a hard time getting the speed reduced without actually going to court. I think Milo's case was unique, most of the time if you mail in your payment you're assumed to have pled guilty. If you want to plead anything otherwise you'll have to show up for court. But if you do show up there's an extremely good chance you'll see a reduction of some kind, just talk to the prosecutor beforehand.

Although for only 15 over it may not be worth driving down there. If you said money's not a problem, 15 over is only gonna get you one point, maybe two. Good luck!

 

if your under 21 and you were going pretty fast you have to go to court though.

 

might have been a TN thing... i called the court and they said i could plea no-lo by mail...

 

I guess I should suck it up and go to court then. I'd like to avoid the insurance hike too if I can help it. I was in a stupid rental without cruise control, so I think I can get enough sympathy to at least drop it a bit.

I'm 23, but thanks for the heads up.

 

Lol, don't try for sympathy, judges are pretty immune to that unless there's a really good reason for it. And 15 mph over isn't that hardcore. Just go to the prosecutor beforehand and say you wanna plead nolo, or say, "Listen, I know I was going too fast, blah blah blah....." and ask if there's a way it can be reduced just a little (14 over won't be reported to you insurance company and won't put points on your license, IIRC). If it's your first offense, tell them that too. You don't need much of a reduction, just a little one.

 

its always good to have someone in the field!!!

 

thanks for your input blueline :bigthumb:

 

Eh, it worked for me twice in Michigan haha. Definitely not my first offense unfortunately. You know the people down here better than me though, so I'll be happy to listen. So how do I get ahold of the prosecutor? Do I just have to grab him when I am there or can I call and talk to him beforehand? Thanks for the help man, I really appreciate it.

 

from the tickets i got [12 speeding, 2 rettactic lane change] and just got my lincense today, it's simple if u dont wanna go to the court date and u have a visa card then u can call the number behind ur yellow ticket and wait 10-30 mins on fone u can pay there with ur credit card, or u can go personally and pay ur fine .. dont pay late deklab charges 100 dollers for a day late..
dunno abt others

 

you can also opt to take some kind of traffic class I know quite a few in seloc have done it

 

I'll tell you about my experience on May 2nd. Court date for 28 Over in a 45. I'm also under 21 =\ (End of thread hyjack).

Good luck with yours.

 

Yup, you can usually find him/her at the front of the courtroom. Make sure to talk to them before the judge calls the calendar, and you should be fine.

Anytime :wiggle:

 

might as well try and show up. pleading nolo contendre (i'm did it but i dont want to say so) is the same thing as pleading guilty as far as insurance companies are concerned...and anything 14 or over is game for increasing your premiums. Best to try and fight the ticket in court, if your officer doesn't show, plead the 6th amendment as grounds for a dismissal, "right to have the witnesses of the offense presented against you in a trial". If he does show there are a few tricks as explained in this guide to try and put some fog over the officer's testimony...
http://www.jesbeard.com/29ab.htm
and also browse the Georgia traffic codes for any tidbits.

For my first ticket that i'm going to court for on the 26th, i found a line in the traffic codes that says an officer can't use a detection device on a road grade greater than 7%. So i went and got a topo map, did a little math and it was 8.5%. May or may not go out to the spot with a sextant and measure it myself. So i get to present that, ought to be fun : )

 

I ended up calling the courthouse and sweet talking the clerk who answered the phone. She went and talked to the judge for me and got me pled down. I was able to pay online and no ticket on my record! Thanks again for all the help fellas.

 

NEVER DO NO-LOW IF YOUR BOUND TO GET INTO BIGGER TROUBLE..
EVERY NO-LOW [1] COMES EVERY 5-6 YEARS
Choose NO-LOW only when into bigger shit then tickets..

 

dunno bout u but i usually dont 'plan' to get into big trouble in the future

maybe im wrong but there are 2 things i heard about no-lo
1) its up to the judge whether he/she wants to offer you the opportunity
2) u can plea no-lo once every so often (if permitted by the judge) for each different offense

 

You can only plead nolo to tickets.....