... it is filled out weird?

Summary: I have a questionably filled out ticket for 23 over (trapped where the speed limit apparently drops 20mph) with a mandatory court appearance.

Question: What happens to me? What do I do about it? Can I get it thrown out for being filled out weird?

I’m worried about it screwing my insurance or jail or $1000 fine or I have no idea what happens!

The stop was very weird:
I pulled right over into a parking lot because the road is several very narrow lanes with no shoulder. The officer didn’t introduce himself.
Officer: “Do you know what the speed limit is on highway 6?”
Me: “I don’t know… 55?”
Officer:  “Do you know how fast you were going?”
Me: “Honestly, no… about that?”
Officer: “It drops to 35 right there and you were going 58. License.”
I gave him the license and before I could reach for my registration and insurance which are in my sun visor, he left. He came back literally 2 minutes later. I have my registration and insurance out ready to hand it to him but before I can say anything:
Officer: “Over 20 requires a court appearance as noted on this ticket. Good night.” *hands me ticket and LEAVES*
That is the fastest ticket I’ve ever heard of. I’m surprised he didn’t do something like drop it down to 20 since it was obviously a speed trap.  

The ticket was very weird:
He didn’t ask to see insurance or registration. He didn’t ask me to sign anything. He didn’t give me a card or a name. The ticket is filled with some things incorrect: vehicle model, vehicle color, and hair color are blank, my zip code is written where my phone number should be. He didn’t even ask me for a phone number or place of work. Do they throw tickets out for that?

Personal Details: My last ticket was a 2 or 3 point ticket from 21 months ago. I have no criminal or arrest record. Ticket by city police in Denver.

The government is exempt from doing their job. You are not exempt from defending yourself. They can't afford to staff the positons with compentent people to keep up with the revenue demands of the State.

You need to talk to a lawyer in your area familiar with the DA/judge.

The magistrate that hears it won't give a fuck.  I had a ticket with similar blanks, WRONG LICENSE PLATE and vehicle description.  Officer testified that it was me and my car, magistrate said "Fuck you guilty."  You won't get anywhere.

A decent lawyer should be able to get that knocked down if your record is relatively clean. I wouldn't be surprised if s/he could get it down to a non-moving violation and $100 fine. CO law is probably different, but you didn't break the 25 MPH threshold, so you should be OK.

Get a lawyer. Costs up front but keeps points off the license and saves on insurance.

This is true as well.  But the errors on the ticket won't have any bearing on that.



 

I don't know about your state but in my state 25mph over and you go to jail period.



I was just a kid and it was my 18th birthday 2 days earlier, it was friday the 13th.

Plead not guilty, take it to trial if need be. Most likely it will get knocked down by the DA before then though.

Request deferred adjudication.
It's like probation, you pay the full fine but if you don't get any more tickets for 90 days the ticket disappears.
Everybody is happy. The court gets its money, you don't have your insurance jacked and no points on your license.

Probably had to go in a hurry.


 

In VA its reckless driving>20 mph over.  Heavy fines, possible jail time (buddy had to goto the pokey during the Superbowl once and had license suspended for 90 days).  Get a lawyer and let them to their magic.

With so many errors on it,  it doesn't have a snowball's chance in hell of being upheld in court.   It'll be dismissed in court.



Just watch those speed limit changes.  They're there for a reason...to trap the unwary driver and help the city make money.





CJ

Wish I could find Denver's laws online so I knew what the court could do to me as far as fines, suspensions, jail...


Ain't that the truth!

Everyone else was going the same speed... too bad that's no legal defense

Don't count on it.

Show up to court and hope that the officer doesn't show? That's about the best chance that you have. Whenever I used to get tickets, I'd go straight to the DA and talk to them about the citation. They'll usually work with you. Sure, you'll pay the fines, but it won't go on your record/insurance.

day bump

When I was 18 I got a ticket for 80 in a 40. It was thrown out because the cop checked two boxes instead of one (I want to say he checked both criminal vs civil, but cant remember exactly). Didn't know about it until my name wasn't called in court, and had no reservations paying the $40 "failure to yield to an emergency vehicle" secondary citation. I made a left turn into an empty parking lot instead of crossing 3 lanes of traffic for that part.



You can either hope to be lucky or lawyer up and pretty much guarantee its dismissal.

Pay the 2-300$ and get a ticket laywer that gives a guarantee.

it was a FAKE cop!!!!!!

I got my ticket thrown out for 20+ over because the cop wrote the wrong speed limit. I showed up with pictures to show the judge and he called the cop over to the stand.  The cop said it was his mistake and dismissed the 6 point $280 ticket.

Damn Double tap
 

The one time I had to go to traffic court the lady infront of me was in the exact same situation.  They were doing bridge construction and the speed limit dropped 20 mph....there was one sign showing the new speed limit.

The local police had the traffic officers lined up...they were writing tickets like shooting fish in a barrel.

After she got her ticket she called the police and they could not give her any information about how many vehicles were stopped and/or ticketed.

So she took the afternoon off and sat in a parking lot close by and counted how many cars were stopped.

She had a log she showed to the judge and showed him how many dozens and dozens of cars the police were stopping.

The judge threw the case out and lectured the officer about "underhanded speed traps"

I will never forget the look on the officer's face when the judge let her go

Take a picture of the speed trap and the INVISIBLE sign that denotes the reduced speed. Go to court. Good luck.

Last ticket i got was a 149 in a 55...   back roads on my bike...  i have no excuse...  DPS was waiting and i actually stopped..  he said..  I can't belive you guys actually stopped..  he said because you stopped im dropping it to an 89 in a 55..  so you can't do defensive driving, but you can do deferred adjudication..     So try that if all else fail.   you pay your fine but if you don't get stopped again in 90 days it doesn't go on your record

Find a lawyer who does traffic tickets. They will get the ticket tossed. It might cost you two or three hundred but it won't affect your license or insurance that way.

The only thing I find disturbing about this scenario is:

Most of the posters seem to agree that if you show up in court by yourself and point out to the judge that the ticket (an official govt. document charging you with a crime) is improperly filled out, you will get fined and suffer the full punishment of the law. Followed by further financial "punishment" from you state mandated insurance.

If you show up with a $200.00 an hour lawyer who simply points out how the ticket is improperly filled out (exactly what you would have done) you stand a good chance of "beating" the ticket.

What does this say about our confidence in our court system. We have not had a "justice" system for a long time, what we have is a "legal" system that operates to promote, empower and maintain itself.

Fc2

Officer:  Do you know how fast you were going?
Me:  Yes I do

NEVER admit that you didn't know how fast you were going.  If asked how fast you were going, then tell him the speed limit.