Can I argue a speeding ticket in court due to an incorrect year of violation?
I received a speeding ticket and the officer wrote down the wrong date completely (day/month AND YEAR!). I plead not guilty because I was not present in the county on that date, in that year the ticket states. I understand officers can make minor mistakes on tickets, but it was June 2007 and he wrote it for 2006. I now have a court date set for next month. What sort of argument or style should I use with a Mississippi Judge to argue this? Any tips will help!
I received a speeding ticket and the officer wrote down the wrong date completely (day/month AND YEAR!). I plead not guilty because I was not present in the county on that date, in that year the ticket states. I understand officers can make minor mistakes on tickets, but it was June 2007 and he wrote it for 2006. I now have a court date set for next month. What sort of argument or style should I use with a Mississippi Judge to argue this? Any tips will help!
***ALSO, I failed to mention that I never signed the ticket or was asked to sign it.
You received a citation for a traffic violation. The error on the date can be amended.
May 21st, 2010 at 12:32 am
You signed the violation (Which is not an admission of guilt) but it shows your were present at the location of the violation.
Unless the officer "checked" the wrong offence…go plea.
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May 21st, 2010 at 12:53 am
you can try to fight it but the officer can correct the date on the ticket when you go to court. stop being petty and pay the ticket
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May 21st, 2010 at 1:01 am
you tread on thin ice there bro.
a judge might think you’re being a prick and give you a more harsh sentence.
or you might get off…there’s no way to really know.
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May 21st, 2010 at 1:51 am
See a lawyer, I’m pretty sure you can argue your way out of it due to the mistake, but do see a lawyer first.
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May 21st, 2010 at 2:10 am
Absolutely. ~
I would fight it!
I fight every ticket I get and win about 50% of the cases. My brother once fought a ticket based on that the stretch he got the ticket on was not surveyed for that purpose AND won.
If most people weren’t such pus*sies about defending themselves (like most of the people answering here!), these petty things would be slowed down and the justice system would take a real hit. Which it needs, as justice has become a foreign word!
Legally things can’t be changed or amended on a whim at the last minute!
Already the insurance hit is worth fighting every ticket! And BTW, I’ll lie just as much as I have seen cops lie, with utter conviction! You have to fight fire with fire.
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May 21st, 2010 at 2:26 am
I REALLY WOULDN’T TAKE THE CHANCE IN TRY IT COULD GET YOU IN MORE TROUBLE INSTEAD OF HELPING YOU OUT I WOULD JUST PLEAD GUILTY IF I WERE YOU
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May 21st, 2010 at 2:42 am
Sure you can… it will go like this:
You: I want to have this charge dropped because the year is wrong.
Presecutor: I move to ammend the date on the ticket.
Judge: So ammended… then to you… NOW "MISTER" sh*thouse lawyer… PAY THE FINE.
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May 21st, 2010 at 3:13 am
I had always heard that if the cop doesn’t show then the judge has to void the ticket as there’s no one to dispute your claim.
Don’t know if this is true but worth a shot. The judge will know it was an honest mistake by the cop so don’t know if the date is going to help you. Just don’t know the law there.
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May 21st, 2010 at 3:57 am
Go to court. Most of the time, if you bother to show up, the judge will reduce the fine, or the points, or both. Also, if the officer doesn’t show up for the court date, the whole thing is thrown out completely (yes that’s the law- it effectively means there is no prosecutorial evidence, which means they can’t convict you.)
Don’t bother commenting on the date, just be honest. Give an excuse if you feel it’s necessary but keep it simple. "Yes judge, I was speeding, I didn’t realize I was going that fast", or whatever is appropriate. Make an effort to sound sincere in your apology, and don’t try to "win your case" with some tv lawyering, it’s not worth your time or theirs.
That said, never automatically pay a ticket unless going to court would take more money out of your pocket than paying the ticket does. Remember though, that paying a ticket means you’re "guilty" and it affects your insurance premiums as well as your specific bottom line for the time you take off to go to court etc.
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May 21st, 2010 at 4:15 am
That sounds like enough to get someone off from a murder trial, let alone a traffic ticket.
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May 21st, 2010 at 4:40 am
I’d have to agree with the guy who said you signed the ticket. If you felt there was anything incorrect about the ticket- besides whether or not you thought you deserved it, you should have said something then. Either way, you signed it, so you were there.
And when (not if) the judge sees through your ploy, he’s probably going to come down hard for playing games. Either way, when (not if) you lose, you’re going to wind up paying more than the original ticket.
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May 21st, 2010 at 5:07 am
If anything is wrong on the ticket, it can be thrown out, because the officer made an error. Get a good lawyer and a judge will have to throw the ticket out!
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May 21st, 2010 at 5:51 am
No!
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May 21st, 2010 at 6:06 am
well i would ask them to prove that it was you on the original date………but in another factual just pay the ticket you know you did wrong and you got caught . dont waste our tax payers money for something petty.
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May 21st, 2010 at 6:28 am
You received a citation for a traffic violation. The error on the date can be amended.
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Me, retired Police Officer
May 21st, 2010 at 6:43 am
The ONLY thing not signing the ticket COULD do is allow you to claim you were not aware of your court date. Once you appear in court, they KNOW you are aware of the ticket and any court dates they inform you of in court. If they Day and Month (not just the year) are wrong on the ticket, you may have a prayer. Clerical errors completing the ticket are not sufficient to void the charge. Every ticket i have ever seen has a pre-printed ticket number on the form. If the tickets before and after yours were issued on the same day, the correct date of your ticket has been proven to be that date.
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May 21st, 2010 at 6:50 am
You can argue,anything you like…don’t bank on winning and bring your check book.
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