Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer or a legal expert, just an enthusiast that has gotten his share of tickets and had the opportunity to navigate the legal system. All content is solely my opinion and not that of audizine, its affiliates or sponsors, use at your own risk.
What this guide is for:
It will show you step by step of contesting (fighting) your ticket; a minor moving violation or even a fix-it ticket.
What this guide isn’t:
If you got a major 2 pointer (DUI, reckless driving, over 100MPH, street racing, speed exhibition) these carry a mandatory court appearance, you need a lawyer, this guide is not for you. Also this guide will only address the legal ways of contesting your ticket, no gray area ”the DA owes me a favor” type of shenanigans.
The best way to get out of a ticket is not get one in the first place, be attentive to road sighs, traffic lights & posted speed limits, have a front license plate and avoid tinting the front windows. You can and will get pulled over for just tint or no plate, it happens all the time.
If you do get pulled over, do not admit fault, do not argue with the officer, do not give him excuses as to why you did what you did, you are digging yourself a hole and you will not win. Keep the conversation as short and as pleasant as possible, all you have to say is “I am not going to answer any questions” and nothing else.
In order to avoid extra infractions, have your registration card, proof of insurance and drivers license in your car in a convenient place at all times, if you misplaced any of them go to the DMV for temporary ones, if you get pulled over and you don’t have all three say good bye to $25 per infraction.
So you got a ticket and you want to fight it.
First and Foremost, wait the 2-3 weeks until the ticket shows up in the database online.
The main reason for this is sometimes the ticket paperwork gets lost/mixed-up or entered under the wrong license number and doesn’t show up, this is very rare, but it is a chance to avoid the ticket altogether. If after 4 weeks you didn’t receive a courtesy notice and the ticket does not show up online, call the court and only give them your name, drivers license number and date of birth, if they can’t find any tickets, your scot free EDIT: they have up to 1 year to file the ticket, so they may find it later and send you a notice with the new appearance date. They will try to ask you for your ticket number and infractions, do not give it to them, they will input it directly into the system and put it on your record. You might say “this is not legal and the ‘grey area’ you were taking about earlier”, my response to this is as follows: It is up to the state to prosecute you, having the correct paperwork is part of that prosecution process, it is not up to you to provide them with evidence against yourself.
So you waited the 2-3 weeks and the ticket is in the system, or you got the courtesy notice what you want to do is set up a Trail By Declaration (TBD)
There are several options available depending on which county you got the ticket in. Every county/court house is a little different, some will allow you to set up a TBD; online, over an automated phone system, speaking to a real person on the phone, or by going down to the court house if convenient.
You need to find out the bail amount (fine) for your ticket, either from the courtesy notice, by speaking to a person on the phone or if there are no available operators to speak with (due to budget cuts) and you didn’t receive a courtesy notice, you’ll need to send a written TBD request to the court, they will reply in an official letter with the amount of money you need to post as bail. Then resend the same TBD request with the check.
If sending a written TBD request it should look like so:
__________________________________________________ __________________________
<date>
<Your Name>
<Address>
<City, State Zip>
<Court’s Name>
<Address>
<City, State Zip>
re: Case Number <ticket #>; Request For A Trial By Written Declaration
To Whom It May Concern:
Per Vehicle Code section 40902(a) and Rule of Court 4.210(b)(2), I am hereby requesting a trial by written declaration.
Per said rule, I expect to receive from you my appearance date along with forms TR-200 and TR-205. You may mail them to my address found above.
Please also include a statement as to the amount of bail so that, per Vehicle Code section 40902(b) and Rule of Court 4.210(b)(4), I may enclose it with my TR-205.
Thank you for your assistance in this matter.
Sincerely,
<signature>
<Your Name>
__________________________________________________ _________________________
They will send you these forms:
TR-200 (instructions)
http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/forms/documents/tr200.pdf
TR-205 (statement of facts)
http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/forms/documents/tr205.pdf
Fill out this form and under ‘statement of facts’ write “see [number of pages] attached”
You will need to type the reason you are not guilty, this can be a one sentence “I am not guilty” and if the cop doesn’t write anything your case is dismissed, but you will obviously want to write something long and clever in order to increase your chances.
one exsample:
__________________________________________________ _________________________________
STATEMENT OF FACTS
Defendant's Name: <your name>
Case No.: <same as your ticket number>
I respectfully submit this written declaration to the Court pursuant to CVC 40902. I plead Not Guilty to the charge of violating CVC 22349(a).
The facts of my case are as follows: While driving northbound on Interstate 5 past Camp Pendleton, just north of Las Pulgas Rd., at around 1:00PM on 3-12-00. I was stopped by CHP Officer Flan (I.D.#12345) and charged with violating CVC 22349(a) for traveling a speed of 75mph. I do not deny traveling at this speed but submit that my citation should be dismissed, as my speed was necessary in compliance with the Basic Speed Law and the Minimum Speed Law.
The traffic was heavy and moving at an average speed of 80 mph. At first, I tried to obey the posted maximum of 65 mph, even though the other vehicles were going 10-15mph faster. Due to the heavy, fast moving traffic, I was constantly being tailgated and was almost rear-ended by several cars. Motorists honked their horns at me and made obscene hand gestures. My attempt to obey the letter of the law by maintaining a speed of 65mph was causing a hazardous situation for myself and others.
CVC 22400, "The Minimum Speed Law," requires that "No person shall drive upon a highway at such a slow speed as to impede or block the normal and reasonable movement of traffic...." By driving at 65 mph, I was certainly impeding the normal flow of traffic: 80mph at the time of my stop. In this situation, it was safer to obey the Minimum Speed Law, by matching my speed to the traffic flow, then to follow the Maximum Speed Law and cause a hazard by driving at 65mph or slower.
The Basic Speed Law, CVC 22350, states: "No person shall drive a vehicle upon a highway at a speed greater than is reasonable or prudent having due regard for weather, visibility, the traffic on, and the surface and width of the highway, and in no event at a speed which endangers the safety of persons or property." If traffic is moving at 80 mph, it is not safe to drive 15-20 mph slower than this speed. To match the speed of traffic in this situation does violate the Maximum Speed Law. However, my situation required me to travel above 65mph to obey the Basic Speed Law and to avoid being rear-ended by faster moving traffic.
Where I was stopped, Interstate 5 is a well-maintained multi-lane freeway, quite safe to travel on at a speed above the 65mph maximum limit with favorable weather and road conditions. Since I was required for safety to accelerate to match the speed of traffic, I contest that my speed in excess of 65mph was necessary, reasonable, and prudent pursuant to the Basic Speed Law and Minimum Speed Law.
I trust in the Court's fairness in this matter and believe that my citation should be dismissed in the interest of justice.
If the court does not find in my favor in this case, I request a Trial de Novo.
I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of California that the foregoing is true and correct.
Date:
<your name>, Defendant in Pro Per
__________________________________________________ ________________________________________________
Various examples from red light camera to tailgating http://ticketassassin.com/docs/forms.html
What not to write: ”If the court does not find in my favor in this case, I request a fine reduction and a Court assignment to attend traffic school.” You will have plenty of time to request traffic school, instead you should write: ”In the event the court does not find in my favor in this case, I request a trial de novo.” This is basically a threat that you will continue to waste their time and money by requesting a new trial.
Then you send it in by USPS first class with proof of delivery.
Now you wait, you can periodically check online about the status or until you get a letter saying the case is dismissed/found not guilty or you are found guilty, in this case you need to mail form TR-220
http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/forms/documents/tr220.pdf
request a new trail*, this is where you will set a court date, keep postponing the court date as much as you can, they usually limit to 1 postponement but if you are overseas or studying in another state or whatever, sometimes they will postpone again but not always.
*NOTE: the court is NOT required to grant you a new trial, they can simply deny your request and close the case, this is rare but it does happen, at this stage if it’s worth your time/money you’ll need a lawyer to reopen the case.
UPDATE:
If you lose a trial by declaration and you set up a new trial, request a copy of the officer’s declaration
Step 1.
Follow these steps as soon as you lose the TBD trial, I waited 2 week after I set up the court date for the new trial and got the copy 3 days before the court date, which is too close for comfort
Step 2.
Call the records department of the court handling your case and ask about the procedure they normally follow, like which PO box to send the request (instead of the general court one), ask how many pages long is the officers declaration, there should be a minimum 2 pages as the TR-235 officers declaration form is two pages long, and the date it was filed with the records department (this helps them find the files much faster), cost is usually around $0.50 per page.
Step 3.
Send a request (by mail) to the records department requesting a copy of the officers declaration with a check in the amount needed, mention the case number, citation number, where you want them to mail the copy, and the date the declaration was filed with the records department not the date received by the court, for whatever reason they are filled under the different days.
Step 4.
4.1 Once you receive the copy of the declaration, note any inaccuracies, for example the officer described your car as a White 2 door, but you drove a Black 4 door, if enough mistakes are present you can use that to say that the cop inadvertently pulled over the wrong car. The amount of mistakes has to be substantial in order for you to win your case, use this defense as a last resort.
4.2 Prepare questions and counter arguments in a way by which you sway the cop to answer in your favor, stick to simple one sentence questions: where the answer can either be yes or no / safe or unsafe.
So you have setup a court date, and ran out of extensions:
If the cop doesn’t show up to the court, you win, but if he does, I had some luck with actually fighting my tickets in the court room with the cop, you can try to come up with something, or repeat exactly what you wrote under statement of facts in your TBD
Good luck and stay ticket free.
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Originally Posted by Quattro
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