SIAP

Got pulled over last Thursday in Houston.

How big is the ticket? Does he have buddies?

Do you know kung fu?


**I have nothing to contribute

I fought the law and the law won.

why not DD and be done with it

If defensive driving or deferred adj aren't applicable, hiring a traffic lawyer is the next step. Probably a better use of your time/energy/money than trying to represent yourself in court over a speeding ticket, unless the officer was grossly in error and you can prove it.

I hired a traffic lawyer once, and he did get my ticket dismissed. The amount of fees associated was roughly equal to the fine amount, but it was nice to not have the ticket on my record.

Any recommendations on a traffic lawyer in Houston? Def driving and deferred disposition are available but I'm still interested in other options.

I fought a BS one in Navasota once. Went down for the court date and said I wanted a trail by judge. The DA offered me a lower fine and I said no since I knew I wasn't speeding. They said they would schedule a date and I haven't heard anything since. That was about 10 years ago so hopefully I'm in the clear. I even made sure to send change of address notices ever time I moved via certified mail.

[This message has been edited by BQ2001 (edited 5/20/2013 12:12p).]

BQ,

You may want to ask litig8r187 about that ticket. I get the impression he has something to do with the DA's office in Navasota.

OP,

I've never fought one, but have had two. The first one was dismissed with defensive driving and the second one with deferred adjudication.

BQ2001 - I've been meaning to talk to you about that. You should find yourself a safe house or a relative close by because you're probably wanted for murder.

Had a lawyer for a prof once. He told us a story where he defended his friend from a speeding ticket when right out of law school. He challenged the accuracy of the cop's radar detector by pulling everyone in court outside and clocking a tree at 10 mph.

If you're going to do it, go after the calibration records of the radar detector and actually request to test it.

BQ2001, I'll look into it for you!

City of Navasota or JP court?

ABATTBQ, although calibration records can be helpful, if the officer is doing his job, that will not help.

First, DPS officers have to visually estimate speed +- 2mph to receive their radar certification. Trust me, They can do this. They have to recertify, I believe, annually. This means their testimony is not dependent on the radar. It is merely a tool used to verify what he already witnessed.

Second the officer should be doing an external calibration of the radar before and after each shift. There is usually a note on the ticket indicating the calibration time. This is done using tuning forks set to a specific tone that simulate the frequency received from vehicles moving at specific speeds. Unless the tuning forks AND the radar are both are messed up, this will indicate if the radar is functioning properly.

Third, the radar is internally calibrated after every stop. Of course, this could malfunction but it is rare.

The chance of all of these precautions failing are very slim. Now, bad cops or cops that don't follow protocol can be a problem but it is rare. They really don't have to "cheat" to get plenty of speeders. Its relatively easy. Usually their biggest decision is at what point do they cut off who they are going to stop.

BQ, I'll be getting back with you



[This message has been edited by litig8r187 (edited 5/20/2013 4:01p).]

I never paid a ticket I received for speeding in Alabama about 25 years ago. It was a BS ticket and I just never went back to the state....until 2009. So is this something I need to worry about because I do drive through it about 1 time per year.

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There is usually a note on the ticket indicating the calibration time.

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There's nothing listed on the ticket for a calibration time, not even a spot for it. There's also no one listed as the "Witnessing Officer", only the name of the officer, in a different place on the ticket, who issued the ticket.

They also messed the color my vehicle, issued the ticket for a speed different than what the officer accused me of verbally, and the "Incident #" space is empty.

a 25 year old unpaid ticket?!

This could be good!

I fought a speeding ticket in Houston about 15 years ago. I was a little miffed the officer gave me a ticket for 40 in a 35 so I asked for a court date. The officer did not show up so the ticket was dismissed.

David Sprecher in Houston got 5 of 5 tickets dismissed from 1 stop. Would recommend.

I have used citizen or Sullo for 3 tickets over a 5 year period.

don't worry about finding them, you will get plenty of letters in the mail. Well if you did get pulled over in Houston.

They will charge you 50 dollars and you will have to show up in court. your case should be dismissed by 10am.

so $50 and a morning of you time and it gets dismissed.

Now this is not every time, sometimes the officer shows up to court, and in my case, he was still mad at me and you end up getting what ever violations you had dropped to something you can take DD for.

Also, small county courts do not have lawyers who defend people all day. So in Angleton etc... you are SOL.

Nevermind.

[This message has been edited by DBSwooper (edited 5/21/2013 4:59p).]

Many years ago when most states were doing away with the double nickel speed limit I was stopped on the interstate in North Carolina for doing eight miles over. Trooper was a real hard a## and I thought I would lighten the moment by stating "I guess I need to go see Sheriff Taylor down at the courthouse and pay my fine." Holy sh## did that piss him off! After a five minute lecture on the history of North Carolina I was informed that NC and Texas have a reciprocal agreement and if I don't pay my license will be suspended.
Flash forward three months. Letter from DPS informing me to pay NC fine or license will be suspended. Call NC expecting to pay 2-3 hundred w/late fees like in Texas. Nice lady informed me it was 1385. I about fell down, I repeated $1385.00. She said "oh no hun $13.85. original fine was eight dollars with a $5 late fee."

The prosecutor has a lot of latitude in these things. The OP wants to fight this one, but for those that are willing to pony up, offer to pay the fine in full that day for a 24 hour deferred adjudication. No defensive driving -- just pay in full. Most of the time, I bet they'd go for it.

David Sprecher is 26 of 26 for me over the years. Houston courts have changed procedures so it will waste the better part of a day at court. Sprecher costs about what the ticket would cost.

My philosophy is save the defensive driving for the tickets in the middle of nowhere where there are no good traffic ticket attorney. As for deferred it will work as a last resort but if you get another ticket during the time period you are screwed and end up with 2 tickets.

[This message has been edited by big ben (edited 5/22/2013 1:26p).]

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I have used citizen or Sullo for 3 tickets over a 5 year period.

don't worry about finding them, you will get plenty of letters in the mail. Well if you did get pulled over in Houston.

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I got a letter from them yesterday. Good to know. I was going to research him this morning.

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David Sprecher is 26 of 26 for me over the years. Houston courts have changed procedures so it will waste the better part of a day at court. Sprecher costs about what the ticket would cost.

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Had a co-worker recommend Sprecher this morning. Are you saying his attorney fees are the same as the full ticket cost or what the ticket would cost if you had done defensive driving? The fine amount for my ticket is $227 but if I took DD, I would have to pay $112.10 + $25 for the DD course + $10 for a copy of my driving record.

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Op email me at aggieben08 "at" yahoo

Few months ago I got a 88 in a 60 ticket on I10 at tc jester and this attorney is getting me out of it

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sent

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Few months ago I got a 88 in a 60 ticket on I10 at tc jester and this attorney is getting me out of it

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I got pulled over at this exact spot about a year ago. Was booked for 70 in a 60 (ridiculous that whole stretch is 60). I told the cop he was doing a great job protecting the peace out here. Probably a dumb thing to do but I get so sick of these jackholes not spending their time actually preventing crime more. He just responded "just slowing you down, sir" and walked off. I took defensive driving.

I remember it was Officer Brown, sporting a nice new Camaro

[This message has been edited by ClickClack (edited 5/22/2013 9:56a).]

Sullo Sullo for the win. Email me and I can give you details on my dismissal back in January for a ticket I got last June.

Mike, sent.

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Probably a dumb thing to do but I get so sick of these jackholes not spending their time actually preventing crime more.

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Take a look at the numbers, more people are killed in traffic accidents in Texas every year than by any violent means. Speed is a significant contributing factor in many of those crashes. You hate getting caught, but to be blunt, speeding kills and you aren't above causing the death of another (or yourself) because of it.

Then again, what would I know about it being a certified in accident reconstruction.

If someone was doing way over the speed limit I would certainly agree, but I highly doubt I was endangering anyone's life when I didn't slow down exactly at the sign in Riesel and got written up for 6 over.

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If someone was doing way over the speed limit I would certainly agree, but I highly doubt I was endangering anyone's life when I didn't slow down exactly at the sign in Riesel and got written up for 6 over.

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Differential speed, the others had slowed around you for the marked speed limit and you hadn't, well, that extra 8.796fps might matter. As you delve into the world of reconstruction and strip away your personal feelings to look at the hard numbers, it is amazing that more people aren't upset about it.

I don't expect you to understand, I have realized that 99% of the population simply have no desire to believe the daily death and destruction that occur to an incredible amount of normal people doing normal things out on the public roads.

[This message has been edited by DBSwooper (edited 5/22/2013 5:32p).]

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but I highly doubt I was endangering anyone's life when I didn't slow down exactly at the sign in Riesel and got written up for 6 over.

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Honestly, if you were willing to drive 1 MPH over the speed limit in Riesel, you were deserving of the ticket. It's one of the best known speed traps in the state.

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Probably a dumb thing to do but I get so sick of these jackholes not spending their time actually preventing crime more.

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Take a look at the numbers, more people are killed in traffic accidents in Texas every year than by any violent means. Speed is a significant contributing factor in many of those crashes. You hate getting caught, but to be blunt, speeding kills and you aren't above causing the death of another (or yourself) because of it.

Then again, what would I know about it being a certified in accident reconstruction.

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I can see both sides of this discussion, however, when I got my ticket, there were SIX officers in a parking lot speed trap, no bigger than 20'x30', pulling people over on a 2-lane road with a speed limit of 35 mph. Somebody please explain why SIX officers had to be involved with such a small speed trap.