getblown5.9

On all my previous tickets, the cop has ALWAYS showed up for court and I never get off. I got a ticket for causing an accident back in Sept. when I rear-ended a van and fellow member 06DIESEL who was behind me, flew off the road taking out a pole.

Apparently yesterday was my court date, I never got the notice because according to the clerk at the courthouse, my address is wrong in the system. Worst part is, my buddy who got the same ticket, showed up, the Trooper didn't, he got off.

Now i have an FTA, technically have a suspended license, have to request a new date etc. and chances are the trooper will show up for my new court date. So because of their clerical error (more so the troopers very sloppy writing) I have to go though all of this hassle of writing letters, and waiting longer.

Bah Humbug

HOV

Lawyer up and get that worked out.

Need95-00CTD

Yeah, been there, done that. Your stuck with what the court makes you do. Getting a lawyer will probably be more expensive in the long run, but if you want to make sure it doesn't happen again its your best bet. I would just show up to court and talk to the DA about what happened, if he actually has a soul (most of them are good guys) he'll understand and drop the charges, or at least lower them a good chunk.

I had a license suspension problem, because the US and Canada got their MPH and KmPH confused, I got arrested for driving without a license, thrown in jail and had my license revoked, basically I was guilty until proven innocent. After I talked to the DA, and he found out the mistake (15KmPh over, instead of 15MPH over...in a 100KmPH Zone) he gave me my license and erased it out of the file. Got a letter from the NYS DMV a week later saying I lost my license, and had to take the whole thing up with their system, what a waste of time.

Sorry to hear about your crap with the Gov't, but it happens to the best of us.

jthorpe

Did you not get a citation with the court date on it at the scene? I'm assuming you were ticked for something like failure to reduce speed to avoid a collision. What happened to your ticket? I have never ever seen one without a court date on it.

06dually

That's what I was thinking. Every ticket I ever received had a court date on it.

Fronty Owner

On the three tickets I have gotten, the court date was written on the ticket.

fiveology

Not in Maryland. The court system waits 15 days, to see if they receive payment of the fine, before mailing the notice to appear.

grantx5

Let me get this straight, "their clerical error (more so the troopers very sloppy writing)" is at fault here not the fact that you caused an accident. Correct?

Here's a tough lesson to learn, "You are responsible for everything you do." It is not the court's responsibility or the cop's to make sure you know everything, it's yours. As my dad would say, "if you don't take responsibility for your life, someone else will." As you can see, this is happening to you.

I am not saying this to give you a hard time just hoping you will learn and not repeat the same mistake(s) twice. It's your life, take control of it. Get busy taking responsibility and fixed what's broken. You might be surprised at the court's (judge's) reaction when he/she your new attitude.

PourinDiesel

Better get this cleared up before you get a warrant.

s cesnick

Correct. This usually gives you enough time to see if your Trooper buddies are tight with the guy that gave you the ticket and see if he can be "Persuaded" into not showing up for court. this has worked for me in the past. If not, you are better off just paying the darn ticket. Especially here in the Peoples Republic of Maryland because there is ZERO chance of them showing you any lieniency.

dodgeguy71

"On all my previous tickets" kinda gather there's a trend here? I know we all like to play in our trucks and I have to agree with grantx5. In 20 years I got 1 ticket for laying rubber....I was dumb.

Sounds like your in for a bunch of heartache and pain in the backside, maybe this will be the moment in time you go from "all my previous tickets" to " I don't want anymore tickets".

I hope it works out for ya and not trying to be an a-hole towards ya but we are all at fault for our mistakes, some people are lucky and just don't get caught. I still do things from time to time....it's knowing where you can do it.

Diesel_Storm

why are people jumping his case about tickets? all he said was "on all my previous tickets" not something like "on all my previous 10 tickets". maybe he has has only 3 tickets?

he is not saying he is not at fault for the tickets, he is merely saying that the court screwed up by not sending him his notice to appear. therefore, he now has a suspended license and has to get a new court date.

"Do not judge, lest ye be judged also"

on all my previous tickets, (i have been to court for 1 ticket) the cop has always showed up for court and i never got off.

chaikwa

Wow, how does THAT work out? How do you know what the court's schedule is for any given day? It isn't possible to court date a citation in Massachusetts. The courts do all their own scheduling and there's STILL a billion people waiting for their hearings to start at any point in time. I can't imagine what would happen if all the officers in the Commonwealth started putting court dates right on the citations! (might be fun to watch at the court tho!)

I'm glad I wasn't the first one to think/say this!

chaikwa.

06 DIESEL

TJ, the trooper did show up, since he did not witness the accident he could not lawfully give me that ticket according to the judge. I was the only witness to the accident and since I was on trial I could not give testimony so to speak. All I had to say was how to pronounce my last name, that I had no witnesses present, and thank the judge for dropping the ticket. If you need anything from me just let me know, I will help you in any way possible.

06 DIESEL

trksrfun

i had the same issue not to long ago somehow the court ended up with an address that i didnt live at... i didnt hear anything from them for about a month called up and was told when my court date was and when i arrived i told the officer and the judge that i had not recieved anything and he showed me everything they tried to mail me had got sent back and we got it all straigtened out.

i would suggest to hold off on a lawyer for this one, speak with the officer and see if he is willing to help lower the charge if not drop it if he can (some dept wont allow it) if you dont like the outcome at the end the judge will ask you if you want to appeal it the charges stay at what ever they were initally. then get a lawyer and go from there...
sorry if this is a little long,tried to some it up best i could with helpful info... any questions shoot me a pm i just was in your shoes a month ago maybe..

good luck!!