37+ mph in NJ

[LINY86]

What is the name of your state? From NY, pulled over in NJ

I am 18 years old, and have had a clear record thus far.
I was going 102 mph in a 65 mph zone.

On the tickets(speeding, careless) the court appearance boxes were not checked so I thought I could just pay and move on.

However, when I called today, they told me I have to appear at the court and that my tickets are going to run up to 370+ dollars. Even thought according to the backside of the tickets, they add up to be around 280 dollars.
So I am already a little bit irritated by the fact that I wasn't informed of consequences properly.

Anyway, The Knowlton Municipal Court I have to show up at is far away from my house, so I was going to just pay the ticket. But now, since I have to show up at the court anyway, are there any ways for me to plead not guilty and mitigate the fines/points?

Please reply back to me, for I will truly appreciate your help.
What goes around, comes around. Thank you in advance.

 

[seniorjudge]

Standard answer

Here are some hints on appearing in court:

Dress professionally in clean clothes.

Do not wear message shirts.

Don't chew gum, smoke, or eat.

Bathe and wash your hair.

Go to court beforehand some day before you actually have to go to watch how things go.

Speak politely and deferentially. If you argue or dispute something, do it professionally and without emotion.

Ask the court clerk who you talk to about a diversion (meaning you want to plead to a different, lesser charge), if applicable in your situation.


Here are five stories that criminal court judges hear the most (and I suggest you do not use them or variations of them):

1. I’ve been saved! (This is not religion specific; folks from all kinds of religious backgrounds use this one.)

2. My girlfriend/mother/sister/daughter is pregnant/sick/dying/dead/crippled and needs my help.

3. I’ve got a job in [name a state five hundred miles away].

4. This is the first time I ever did this.

5. You’ve got the wrong guy. (A variation of this one is the phantom defendant story: “It wasn’t me driving, it was a hitchhiker I picked up. He wrecked the car, drug me behind the wheel then took off.”)

https://forum.freeadvice.com/showthread.php?p=854687#post854687

Other people may give you other advice; stand by.

 

[LINY86]

I have already read your hints in appearing at the court.

And while I do appreciate that you took your time to post it up for me, I was looking for more specific answer.

I did notice from reading the forum that you, seniorjudge, were the one to know the laws and how things work in courts. That is why I was hoping you would submit a reply on my post.

If you do not mind, can you or anyone else for that matter offer me some advices? I am in need of very much help. I already contacted a lawyer, and he has asked for $750.

I am still not sure if that fee is contingent on whether I get my case dismissed or convicted. I have already sent him an email about that and am waiting for the reply.

Meanwhile, I will be looking up to you folks at freeadvice forum to help me out on this one.

 

[You Are Guilty]

You can find a competent attorney for way less than that. Think closer to $300-$350. Keep looking around.

And at 37 over, I'd definately get a lawyer.

 

[fedcop110]

On the tickets(speeding, careless) the court appearance boxes were not checked so I thought I could just pay and move on

Boss, consider yourself lucky. If it were me you would be placed under arrest for reckless and your car would have been impounded.

However, when I called today, they told me I have to appear at the court and that my tickets are going to run up to 370+ dollars. Even thought according to the backside of the tickets, they add up to be around 280 dollars.
So I am already a little bit irritated by the fact that I wasn't informed of consequences properly.

If this were Virginia the charge would have been reckless driving and it is a class 1 misdemeanor (max of 12 months in jail and $2500 fine) I don't know about NJ but I would assume that it is pretty close to the same. Of course you can plead not quilty. Whether or not that is a wise and prudent choice is one that I will leave to your lawyer. However, it is highly unlikely that you will get a reduction of fines or jail time due to your disregard for the safety of others on the highway. As far as a dismissal you have really not given us any information on the circumstances of the stop. You have just said that you are annoyed at the fact that you have to appear in court. In my humble opinion you really, really need a lawyer. Good luck and Slow down.

 

[seniorjudge]

Q: I was going 102 mph in a 65 mph zone.

A: You are lucky you are not in jail.


Q: On the tickets(speeding, careless) the court appearance boxes were not checked so I thought I could just pay and move on. However, when I called today, they told me I have to appear at the court and that my tickets are going to run up to 370+ dollars. Even thought according to the backside of the tickets, they add up to be around 280 dollars. So I am already a little bit irritated by the fact that I wasn't informed of consequences properly.

A: Why did you call?


Q: Anyway, The Knowlton Municipal Court I have to show up at is far away from my house, so I was going to just pay the ticket. But now, since I have to show up at the court anyway, are there any ways for me to plead not guilty and mitigate the fines/points?

A: You can try, but I suspect that the prosecutor will show a great deal of disinterest, considering your speed. This is usually a jailable offense; speeders and drunk drivers kill about ten times the number of people we lost on 9/11 every year.

 

[fedcop110]

A: You are lucky you are not in jail.
A: You can try, but I suspect that the prosecutor will show a great deal of disinterest, considering your speed. This is usually a jailable offense

Didn't I just say that

A: Why did you call?

I didn't even pick up on that. Why DID you call? If you were prepared to pay the fine, why would you call the court? Doesn't make a whole lotta sense to me. But who am I to argue.

 

[LINY86]

First of all, even though I am getting hopeless replies, I would like to thank you all for responding to me. I appreciate that.

Second of all, I called to ask, because someone I know told me that I was extremly lucky that the court appearance box was not checked.

From the replies so far, I guess I would have to look around more for a competent lawyer, or pay the 400-500 dollars fine with points and move on?

I will continue to look for a lawyer, but does anyone know exactly how many points will be on my license if I plead guilty?

I also have another question. If I do choose to plead not guilty, can I bring any outside source to the court? Such as letters from my teachers and mentors that I am not a sort of a student to go out and speed again from this incident.

I am a very well behaved student who works to achieve excellent academic status. I have many teachers who would be willing to vouch for my well behaving character.

Some of you might say this has nothing to do with my speeding, but I am wondering if I can make the judge understand how big of an impact this will have on my life.

Again, thank you all for your thoughts on this. I will be looking forward to further replies.

 

[You Are Guilty]

From the replies so far, I guess I would have to look around more for a competent lawyer, or pay the 400-500 dollars fine with points and move on?

I'd prefer to pay that money to a lawyer in an attempt not to get the points, but it's a personal call on your part whether you want to.

I will continue to look for a lawyer, but does anyone know exactly how many points will be on my license if I plead guilty?

5 points.

I also have another question. If I do choose to plead not guilty, can I bring any outside source to the court? Such as letters from my teachers and mentors that I am not a sort of a student to go out and speed again from this incident.

I am a very well behaved student who works to achieve excellent academic status. I have many teachers who would be willing to vouch for my well behaving character.

Some of you might say this has nothing to do with my speeding, but I am wondering if I can make the judge understand how big of an impact this will have on my life.

This often backfires because the court will want to know why you didn't think of this before you got caught.

 

[LINY86]

Thank you for your reply youareguilty.

So it is okay to bring outside letters although it often backfires.

Also, are you sure about the point system? Are you certain that I would get 5 points and only 5 points? No more than that? I was told by my friend that I would get 8 points on my NJ license which would not matter, because I live in NY.
But, when I apply for insurance myself later on, I'm sure the insurance comany will at least look around the tri state area. Besides, who knows if I have to move to NJ later on in my life?

And do you know how big of a role 5 points on my license would play insurance premium wise?

If I'm going to get 8 points on my license, I'm willing to pay for a lawyer, because to my understanding, you are only allowed 11 points on your license before you get suspended from driving.

 

[You Are Guilty]

Sigh. No one ever believes me. I must have a dishonest (type)face. Anyway, see for yourself that NJ only has one 8-point violation (leaving the scene of an accident with personal injuries): http://www.state.nj.us/mvc/cit_violations/d_vp_pnf.html#NJSA

However, with the exception of a few infractions (DUI comes to mind, but not speeding), the NJ points should not transfer to your NY license. Of course, the fine is all they really care about anyway.

That being said, yes, you will have trouble should you ever want a NJ license, and yes, there's a good chance your insurance company will get wind of the monstrous speeding conviction and raise your rates for the next 3 years accordingly.

Thus, yet another reason to find a (good) lawyer.

Good luck.

 

[LINY86]

It was not that I did not believe you, I was just going through so many opinions and so much information in the course of 2 days that I almost did not know which/who to believe. Please excuse if I had offended you.

The part I did not exactly understand is when you said I will have trouble getting a NJ license? How will I exactly have trouble getting NJ license? Because, as it turns out I might be moving to NJ in a year or two.

Again, does anyone know by how much the insurance rate would rise when I get my own insurance? I am actually trying to calculate my losses in the long run and take the least financially bumpy road.

Thanks for taking your time to help me youareguilty.

 

[Alchohol_Free]

Listen to Senior Judge

He's a wise ole' brute. AND... he's a real judge.

102 mph??? Are you out of your mind?? How much lead do you have in your foot?

 

[LINY86]

Hi alcohol free, I already noticed that the senior members(senior judge, youareguilty) are the ones to give useful advices.

btw I asked for help and your comment isn't helping me much, is it? It is not so comforting to hear a comment like that either, so can we keep discouraging comments to ourselves? I have alrady learned my lesson from this whole mess.

 

[You Are Guilty]

It was not that I did not believe you, I was just going through so many opinions and so much information in the course of 2 days that I almost did not know which/who to believe. Please excuse if I had offended you.

Thanks, but it takes quite a bit to offend me these days

The part I did not exactly understand is when you said I will have trouble getting a NJ license? How will I exactly have trouble getting NJ license? Because, as it turns out I might be moving to NJ in a year or two.

NJ has a "permanent" driver record (so to speak) which would record the ticket. I am not positive, but at either 5 or 6 points, you hit the danger zone and some sort of action is generated (might just be a warning). But since you automatically lose 3 points/year if you stay out of trouble and don't get any tickets, if you move after 2 years, no points would remain to cause any issues.

Again, does anyone know by how much the insurance rate would rise when I get my own insurance? I am actually trying to calculate my losses in the long run and take the least financially bumpy road.

There's no real way to know as I do not have your driving history, nor do I sell insurance. You might be able to get an idea if you fill out one of the online insurance quote forms (try Geico), and then do the exact same one but list the speeding ticket and see how much the premium changes.


At 18, I really hope you appreciate that you didn't spend a day in the clink for this one. Had you been caught in NYC at those speeds, you wouldn't even have a car anymore.