HELP - Reckless Driving Defense
01-04-2003, 02:11 PM
#1
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HELP - Reckless Driving Defense
Hey guys,
I need your help here fairly quickly in the DC area (Northern VA). In October a friend of mine borrowed my '02 Silver CL-S (non-navigation) and got pulled over doing 86 (supposedly) in a 55 and was cited for Reckless Driving. He went to court in Fairfax County Dec 4 and figured he could get it reduced since he has a clean driving record. Wrong. The asshole judge jerked his license for 4 months. The bailiff actually came up and physically took his license right then and there when he was in front of the judge. Talk about a ruthless SOB.
Anyhow, he is fighting it and has a judge trial Feb 13. I took the car to my Acura dealer here in the DC area to get the speedometer checked (just in case) and they said they couldn't check it. I confirmed this with another dealer in the area.
So....... it's back to square 1.
Has anyone ever beat a similar charge and, if so, what defense was used? Anyone know a good lawyer in the DC area that could win this?
I would appreciate any help you could provide.
Govleach
I need your help here fairly quickly in the DC area (Northern VA). In October a friend of mine borrowed my '02 Silver CL-S (non-navigation) and got pulled over doing 86 (supposedly) in a 55 and was cited for Reckless Driving. He went to court in Fairfax County Dec 4 and figured he could get it reduced since he has a clean driving record. Wrong. The asshole judge jerked his license for 4 months. The bailiff actually came up and physically took his license right then and there when he was in front of the judge. Talk about a ruthless SOB.
Anyhow, he is fighting it and has a judge trial Feb 13. I took the car to my Acura dealer here in the DC area to get the speedometer checked (just in case) and they said they couldn't check it. I confirmed this with another dealer in the area.
So....... it's back to square 1.
Has anyone ever beat a similar charge and, if so, what defense was used? Anyone know a good lawyer in the DC area that could win this?
I would appreciate any help you could provide.
Govleach
01-04-2003, 02:41 PM
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i was pulled over doing 117 in a 70 and the same thing happened to me. The baliff physically took my license right in front of the judge. (only one month though) At least in CA, that only happens when you have already pleaded guilty or no-contest though... Did he already plead guilty? I thought they couldnt take it away until he did that. ??
Obviously, i didn't use a defense, mainly because I couldn't find a lawyer in the fresno area
Obviously, i didn't use a defense, mainly because I couldn't find a lawyer in the fresno area
01-04-2003, 03:04 PM
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Yes, he pled guilty originally. He thought that if he was honest and didn't try to give a weak excuse, coupled with the fact he has a clean record, that he would get leniency.
Now he has appealed the entire thing and will have a judge-trial. He owns a '93 Legend and wasn't used to 260 horses under his foot!
Now he has appealed the entire thing and will have a judge-trial. He owns a '93 Legend and wasn't used to 260 horses under his foot!
01-04-2003, 04:08 PM
#4
my story about my reckless driving ticket i got in oregon three months ago
Originally posted by TypeSDragoon
story time!
well, i finally get my name called and go up in front of the judge. i tell him that i don't have the money for an attorney and that the state denied my claim for a public defender. so he said that he would move the court date back two weeks so that i can try to get an attorney. i told him that i cannot afford to come to court again in two weeks and that i just don't have the money for an attorney or to keep driving all the way up here. the judge was very nice to me alltogether considering that i sat there in the audience and didn't say a peep the whole time and because i was dressed nicely out of respect for his court (IMO that's good reason he was being nice). Another thing that the judge said is he asked me what the ONE point on my DMV record was because he was having trouble reading it on his paperwork. i almost shit my pants!!!! so i told him that the point was a speeding ticket that i got almost 3 years ago and it's about to come off my record in just a few months. he kinda smiled/laughed and said "well, at least your not a huge menace on the road". i just kinda smiled at that because he was really being totally nice to me considering what i was there for. i cannot believe that they only showed ONE point on my DMV record!!!!! so he asked the District Attorney if he wanted to come up with a bargin right now since i cannot afford to have this thing continue more. The DA didn't have ANY paperwork on my case! so the judge game him his paperwork and he basically read the police report on the matter. then the DA said that he would make it only a $250 dollar fine, 12 month bench probation and a 90 day license suspension if i agree to it. so of course i agreed! it's a better deal to take that then to go to a full trial on this and risk jail time if fully convicted.
so i basically plead quilty on the charge but took a smaller fine instead of risking jail/bigger fine.
since i did agree to the reckless driving then that will go on my record. god knows what's going to happen in the future as far as my insurance goes. they will drop me like a bad habit and i will lose the loan on my car since i will not have coverage.
they never heard my side of the story, because i would only get to do that in a real trial with the cop present and everything. so oh well to that.
oh, and the fine for this was $5,000 not 4grand
the cop wrote it down wrong. the other part of the fine is a maximum of 1 year in jail!
so i believe that i took the better route because i didn't want to risk goign to jail if they found me completly guilty. but i'm also pretty sure that my story would have held up in court because of what happened. it might have been reduced after they heard my story and came to a conclusion for all i know. but it was a gamble. i took this smaller fee because it was a last minute thing done by DA. he took about 30 seconds to look at the paper work/read the story, then say what he would bargin with
now the main thing i'm concered about is the reckless driving on my DMV record because i know it's a 2 point thing that stays on your record for 7 years!
but i'll have to check on all that with California DMV to see how it applies to me.
the only other thing that i have to do now is to apply for a "hardship" with the oregon DMV so that the suspension will still allow me to get to and from work everyday.
story time!
well, i finally get my name called and go up in front of the judge. i tell him that i don't have the money for an attorney and that the state denied my claim for a public defender. so he said that he would move the court date back two weeks so that i can try to get an attorney. i told him that i cannot afford to come to court again in two weeks and that i just don't have the money for an attorney or to keep driving all the way up here. the judge was very nice to me alltogether considering that i sat there in the audience and didn't say a peep the whole time and because i was dressed nicely out of respect for his court (IMO that's good reason he was being nice). Another thing that the judge said is he asked me what the ONE point on my DMV record was because he was having trouble reading it on his paperwork. i almost shit my pants!!!! so i told him that the point was a speeding ticket that i got almost 3 years ago and it's about to come off my record in just a few months. he kinda smiled/laughed and said "well, at least your not a huge menace on the road". i just kinda smiled at that because he was really being totally nice to me considering what i was there for. i cannot believe that they only showed ONE point on my DMV record!!!!! so he asked the District Attorney if he wanted to come up with a bargin right now since i cannot afford to have this thing continue more. The DA didn't have ANY paperwork on my case! so the judge game him his paperwork and he basically read the police report on the matter. then the DA said that he would make it only a $250 dollar fine, 12 month bench probation and a 90 day license suspension if i agree to it. so of course i agreed! it's a better deal to take that then to go to a full trial on this and risk jail time if fully convicted.
so i basically plead quilty on the charge but took a smaller fine instead of risking jail/bigger fine.
since i did agree to the reckless driving then that will go on my record. god knows what's going to happen in the future as far as my insurance goes. they will drop me like a bad habit and i will lose the loan on my car since i will not have coverage.
they never heard my side of the story, because i would only get to do that in a real trial with the cop present and everything. so oh well to that.
oh, and the fine for this was $5,000 not 4grand
the cop wrote it down wrong. the other part of the fine is a maximum of 1 year in jail!so i believe that i took the better route because i didn't want to risk goign to jail if they found me completly guilty. but i'm also pretty sure that my story would have held up in court because of what happened. it might have been reduced after they heard my story and came to a conclusion for all i know. but it was a gamble. i took this smaller fee because it was a last minute thing done by DA. he took about 30 seconds to look at the paper work/read the story, then say what he would bargin with
now the main thing i'm concered about is the reckless driving on my DMV record because i know it's a 2 point thing that stays on your record for 7 years!
but i'll have to check on all that with California DMV to see how it applies to me.the only other thing that i have to do now is to apply for a "hardship" with the oregon DMV so that the suspension will still allow me to get to and from work everyday.
01-04-2003, 05:05 PM
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R. Driving
Basically and sorry to say you have to no someone to get out of a R. Driving Ticket..
I got nailed one night and was given Reckless, Improper Passing, and Speeding all in one shot.. WOW>>> The cop had some fun with me!!
But to make a long story short a good friend of mine whom is a police officer in another county called the Officer whom issued me my tickets and told him to take it easy on me..
So I go to court and the Cop pulls me to the side before talking to the prosecutor and he gave me the best news Ever.."I talked to ur friend and were gonna drop all ur tickets and give u a careless"
THANK GOD
So thats my story I wish your friend the best of luck!!!
I got nailed one night and was given Reckless, Improper Passing, and Speeding all in one shot.. WOW>>> The cop had some fun with me!!
But to make a long story short a good friend of mine whom is a police officer in another county called the Officer whom issued me my tickets and told him to take it easy on me..
So I go to court and the Cop pulls me to the side before talking to the prosecutor and he gave me the best news Ever.."I talked to ur friend and were gonna drop all ur tickets and give u a careless"
THANK GOD
So thats my story I wish your friend the best of luck!!!
01-05-2003, 04:06 AM
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speedometer error and reckless driving have nothing to do w/ each other. Reckless means "conscious indifference" to the potential consequences of your acts to those around you. You could get a reckless driving charge going under the speed limit if for example, you swerved your car at someone and in the process, went off the road and hurt your passenger or did a substantial amount of property damage to someone other than yourself.
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