I'm needing recommendations for an attorney to fight a traffic ticket in College Station.

Thanks!

Being a student who is often at Northgate (for lunch purposes, mostly), I see that the Office of Drew Gibson & Associates tends to market itself as an attorney to lesser-moneyed college students ("Caught with some pot? Having more fun than the law will allow?") and I can't imagine why they wouldn't turn away a traffic ticket attorney request (or at least legal advice).

Also, given the money and effort these things usually are, I'd say you'd be better off just paying it unless there was some other variable I'm not accounting for.

Meh, just pay it. In all likelyhood, you'll at best just delay paying the same amount in a year or so....while also paying whatever amount your attorney fees are.

clint - really? why? I guess we need the story

The short version- the officer thought I ran a red light and I disagree.
It's worth something to me to keep it off my record.

I know in some areas, there are attorneys that specialize in fighting traffic tickets. I was surprised that most of the attorneys I found in a search are not local.

Unless you have video proof and sworn testimony from two priests and a nun you likely aren't going to get that dismissed.

Seriously the judge there backs the officers. Also unless you have any proof then why should anyone believe you over the officer?

So you've had multiple tickets recently...

Can't do defensive driving?

I could take defensive driving, but would prefer to make it go away without wasting half a day.

LOL, your likely to waste more than a half a day fighting it. Unless you have proof, you're better off asking for a jury trial and usually that means you testifying in front of that jury.

and if you hire an attorney the cost will be at least 4 times what the fine + defensive driving would cost and the time wasted would be at least double.

doesn't seem worth it.

Are we missing part of the story?

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Are we missing part of the story?

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Well, most people don't think they disregard a red light when they actually do because they're not staring at the light and the stop line at the same time. Drivers tend to glance at the light, incorrectly believe they have enough time to make it, then turn their attention to the vehicles around the intersection to make sure that they won't be in a collision. That is also one of the reasons why there is a "dead red" time built into the light cycles. An officer watching can watch a light turn red then turn his attention to the designated stop point to see if a vehicle had actually entered the intersection or not.

Going to go with Broncos here: do defensive driving. Online, it's really not that bad. You'll waste far more than half a day if you contest the ticket, I suspect. But I could be wrong about that.

Pay the fine or do DD
Stop running red lights
???
Profit

EOT

There is no edge in Brazos County for a traffic atty to win a traffic violation.

In larger cities, things run differently and a ticket is easier dismissed. It is seldom tried.

Not so in College Station/Bryan.

Options are pretty much

• Fight it yourself, spend much more than 1/2 day, may be on the record depending on the result
  
• Fight it with an attorney, spend more than 1/2 day, and more than the fine, and may be on the record depending on the result
  
• Defensive driving, spend less than the fine, spend 1/2 day, not on the record
• Deferred Adjudication, spend less than the fine, not on the record, but don't screw up again for 3-6 months!
• Plea guilty or no contest, pay the fine, and it stays on the record
  

I was a witness in a jury trial over a decade ago here in College Station at the municipal court. I was there for the prosecution. Just as a witness, it cost me about 3 hours of my time. About an hour meeting with the assistant city attorney regarding my role & how municipal jury trials work, and then about 2 hours total in the courtroom which included jury selection and the actual trial). The defendant was a local veterinarian and I suspect he spent a whole helluva lot more time than I was asked to.

You are correct to fight it, if you were right. That badge does not make the cop right and we
have 1 or 2 overly enthusiastic/youngster police officers and constable deputies around here.

If you did it though, own it and pay it.

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Options are pretty much

• Fight it yourself, spend much more than 1/2 day, may be on the record depending on the result
  
• Fight it with an attorney, spend more than 1/2 day, and more than the fine, and may be on the record depending on the result
  
• Defensive driving, spend less than the fine, spend 1/2 day, not on the record
• Deferred Adjudication, spend less than the fine, not on the record, but don't screw up again for 3-6 months!
• Plea guilty or no contest, pay the fine, and it stays on the record
  

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Seriously though don't be the dick who requests a trial and ties people up for a few hours wasting their day. Odds are it was already yellow and turning red but you thought you could still make it through the intersection.

Something seems amiss when you'd rather fight it in court than spend a few hours on Defensive Driving. The fact that we even have that option is a blessing.

^^^^^...Yes, let us be "blessed" that the powers that be allow us to spend a ton of money on fees to take a class in order to avoid spending a ton of money on fees to a court. How generous of them.

So you're not OK with having a way to get a ticket off of your record? You'd rather just pay your fines and be done with it?

I'm ok with taking Def Driving, I've done it years ago.

I'm NOT ok with just rolling over and taking a ticket you don't deserve.

Been a long time since I've gotten one (knocks on wood) but the last one I got, I fought.
(out of town, small town speed trap) I was obviously slowing down and complying and the cop was
far less than professional. So I fought it....and I won.

When I was much younger and foolish I was clocked by DPS in triple digit speeds. I was guilty,
dead to rights, and I paid the ticket. Expensive lesson learned.

As I stated above. If you are guilty, own it. If not, you are correct to fight it, not just take their
"blessing" and do Def Driving.

Alright, maybe "blessed" was a bit too technoag-ish. All I'm saying is that I'm glad the courts have an option to get a ticket dismissed with minimal trouble.

I've gotten 6 or 8 tickets in my life since I began driving 18 years ago. Every single one of them was warranted except my very first one. I was going the speed limit and someone sped past me and the cop thought I did it instead. I plead my case to the officer, no luck.

I went to the courthouse to figure out what to do. I saw that i could do defensive driving for a hundred or so dollars including court fees. Or I could come back up, waste a day, plead my case to a judge (still paying court fees) with a slim hope that I could get it dismissed. If I lost, more money.

I decided my time was infinitely more valuable than that. I went to defensive driving for a few hours listening to a guy, that didn't want to be there any more than I did, drone on about safe driving, took a test and went home.

I'll do that 10 times out of 10 if that means I don't have to dick around with the judicial system any more than I have to.

Yup Lawyers will wipe if off you record in way less time than def driving and for a lesser charge no doubt

Thanks to everyone that replied. I decided to do defensive driving.

I had hoped to find an attorney that specialized in fighting these. I went that route several years ago in Houston and it was relatively painless, but that does not appear to be an option in College Station.

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Seriously though don't be the dick who requests a trial and ties people up for a few hours wasting their day. Odds are it was already yellow and turning red but you thought you could still make it through the intersection.

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If the ticket was unjustified then it is the cop being a ****, not OP. Or...maybe...someone just made a mistake, and it should be sorted out in court.

If you really don't think you ran it, request the video of the incident. If it proves you didn't run it, just show it to the prosecutor.

KEITH SWIM fo life! He specializes in these. Bit late in on the convo though.

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If you really don't think you ran it, request the video of the incident. If it proves you didn't run it, just show it to the prosecutor.

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Where would one request a video of such an incident? There are not any red light cameras in CS anymore. It is a common misconception that the mounted camera-looking devices on some of the intersections record traffic incidents. They are not used for that purpose, unless the city has changed things. I won't lie though - when I worked for the city I use to get a good laugh when people would call up and demand the footage and then when you told them what they were really used for, you could just hear their heart sinking.

Depending on the jurisdiction, the officer's vehicle has a front-mounted camera, which is constantly recording but only saves the video if the lights/siren are activated. The recording will be saved from 30 to 60 seconds before the activation of the lights/siren.

If the officer's vehicle was facing the intersection during the alleged criminal act, then unless he followed for an extended period of time before activating his lights/siren, there should be video of the officer's point of view available.

I have obtained video like this in the past by requesting it from the clerk of the court. If they say no, ask for a subpoena form. You have the right to use all evidence of guilt or innocence in your case, regardless who has it in their possession.

A few years back, my daughter was stopped on campus for rolling through a stop sign. Her story was that she saw the police car made a point to stop, but still got ticketed. It was her word against his, and he didn't start his camera until after he pulled her over. She did DD and went on with her life.

I have sat through several traffic courts and never seen a defendant win. The LEO always has what seems to be well documented notes compared to the defendant's sputtering. I have even heard defendants admit to speeding, "but not as fast as he said I was."

I did sit on a jury where we gave the defendant the minimum fine for speeding in a school zone. The reason, he and most of us on the jury thought the school zone started a block later than it really did. We all recognized he was speeding and fined him for it. The prosecutor was not happy with us.

Am I the only person who thinks it's totally messed up that defending yourself against the government is so much more tedious and expensive than just sucking it up and accepting it that most people just do (and advise) the latter?

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Am I the only person who thinks it's totally messed up that defending yourself against the government is so much more tedious and expensive than just sucking it up and accepting it that most people just do (and advise) the latter?

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No

The veterinarian that I referenced above won his case although to this day I don't see how because he admitted to the wrongdoing. He did give a sob story on the stand about how he was enroute to help a sick animal. I figured the jury was sympathetic towards him.

I'll also mention that the vet's office did not confirm his story of the sick animal - they actually said he had left for lunch.