I am a minor in California, and I got a ticket for what the cop called racing on a local canyon road back in February. I am at a loss as to what to do as so many people have been telling me so many different things.
First of all, I want to say not guilty, because it was in no way a race. I was on the road following my friend up to the point at which the cop was watching. We were admitably speeding, although the cop did not use radar and didn't say how fast I was going. We were not overtaking each other, we were not driving on the other side of the road, we were not tailgating each other, we had no intent of overtaking each other, and knew perfectly well who was going to get to the top first, we were just driving up fast in our lane. I am not sure how much of an argument I will have in juvenile court because from what I have heard the judge really doesn't listen to you without a lawyer.
I do not have a lawyer, although I tried to get one. My parents feel that a lawyer isn't needed, and do not want to pay the money for one due to our financial situation.
Here is more of the dilemma, my parents are saying that I should just plead guilty to try and make the court see how cooperative I am being, and to not stir up more trouble, but at the same time, I honestly wasn't racing, and want to argue my case.
I want to try and get an extension because I both A. need more time to prepare, and B. actually do have a major group project to do on the court date. The problem is that the court date is this Friday, and I just found out about the project today. Is to too late for an extension, or should I still try and go to the clerk's office(with my parents of course)? I got a letter from my teacher explaining the project and my situation and how I have to do it on Friday, hopefully this will help.
And yet another thing I heard about doing was transferring the case to a different court where they have a history of being more lenient, but again, I have no clue on how to do this.
Any help would be much appreciated for my fast approaching court date.
First of all, I want to say not guilty, because it was in no way a race. I was on the road following my friend up to the point at which the cop was watching. We were admitably speeding, although the cop did not use radar and didn't say how fast I was going. We were not overtaking each other, we were not driving on the other side of the road, we were not tailgating each other, we had no intent of overtaking each other, and knew perfectly well who was going to get to the top first, we were just driving up fast in our lane. I am not sure how much of an argument I will have in juvenile court because from what I have heard the judge really doesn't listen to you without a lawyer.
I do not have a lawyer, although I tried to get one. My parents feel that a lawyer isn't needed, and do not want to pay the money for one due to our financial situation.
Here is more of the dilemma, my parents are saying that I should just plead guilty to try and make the court see how cooperative I am being, and to not stir up more trouble, but at the same time, I honestly wasn't racing, and want to argue my case.
I want to try and get an extension because I both A. need more time to prepare, and B. actually do have a major group project to do on the court date. The problem is that the court date is this Friday, and I just found out about the project today. Is to too late for an extension, or should I still try and go to the clerk's office(with my parents of course)? I got a letter from my teacher explaining the project and my situation and how I have to do it on Friday, hopefully this will help.
And yet another thing I heard about doing was transferring the case to a different court where they have a history of being more lenient, but again, I have no clue on how to do this.
Any help would be much appreciated for my fast approaching court date.