Incorrect "When to Appear" date on CHP ticket

[steelace]

What is the name of your state? CA

I had the misfortune of getting 3 tickets on one citation by the CHP the other day, probably was comeuppance for driving too fast once too often in my newish sports car. One is a fix-it ticket I hope, even though it has the no box of "Correctable Violation" checked for it (27156(b) modified smog device). The other two are 22349(a) exceeding 65mph (95+ estimated speed doh!), and 26158(a) unsafe lane change. Evidently I was a bad boy. Anyways, when I looked the court appearance date (arraignment date) on the bottom of the ticket all I could find was a date with the exact same date (yesterday) as the issuance of the ticket (yesterday) and it had the court location. I like to write any important dates on the calendar and I noticed this discrepancy. I am positive that it was a mistake and the date is clearly legible. Let_s just say I have gotten other tickets and they always have a future _Appear By_ court date. (A seperate SD police ticket I got has a future date set 2 months from issuance of the ticket.) Is this enough to get all of the citations on the CHP ticket thrown out? Thanks in advance for your help.

[Betty]

I would definitely not ignore tickets - you can ask court to dismiss but they may schedule a new date.

[Pugilist]

You might want to read about demurring. See David Brown's book Fight Your Ticket, page 10/22, available at the library.

Pug

[CdwJava]

It is also very likely that a "notice of correction" notice is in your near future.

You may also be notified of the court of a new court date once they receive it (if the CHP officer's supervisor misses the error).

- Carl

[steelace]

Pug - thanks for the info...I went to the library and read up on it (Fight your ticket in CA, is the same?) and did not find anything pertinent...but I am going to make another trip to a different library so I can actually check the book out instead of just quickly reading a reference version while parked in a 15 minute space.

Carl - Thanks for replying. Assuming I do not get "notice of correction", I wonder if that would be enough to have them throw it out and how would I go about getting it dismissed. Because there is nothing binding about a "courtesy notice", especially since some of the time they do not send one. When I signed the ticket it was an agreement to appear on/before the arraignment date (same day ticket was given). After I wait a while (1 month??) would I first talk to the clerk (I know get stuff in writing) clerk and/or going before a judge and after showing him the ticket, ask for "dismissal", probably related to procedural error???

Thanks. Kevin

[CdwJava]

Originally Posted by steelace

Carl - Thanks for replying. Assuming I do not get "notice of correction", I wonder if that would be enough to have them throw it out and how would I go about getting it dismissed. Because there is nothing binding about a "courtesy notice", especially since some of the time they do not send one. When I signed the ticket it was an agreement to appear on/before the arraignment date (same day ticket was given). After I wait a while (1 month??) would I first talk to the clerk (I know get stuff in writing) clerk and/or going before a judge and after showing him the ticket, ask for "dismissal", probably related to procedural error???

Thanks. Kevin

Keep in mind that they can re-file the matter. The "promise to appear" is only in lieu of going to jail or seeing a judge at that moment. What this has effectively done is made it impossible for them to charge you with a "failure to appear" on the cited offense - it does not absolve you of the offense.

You can contact the court and advise them of the error (give it a couple weeks after the citation so they are more likely to have a copy of the cite on file). Or, you can wait. The problem with waiting is that unfortunate things DO occasionally happen ... such as corrections notices, courtesy notices, or summonses being issued to the wrong address, etc., and you COULD later find that you have a change of the court date without knowing it. Then it becomes a hassle for you to try and prove that you were never notified.

You can always try to get before a judge and see what they can do. But, the judge might also schedule you for a trial appearance and then send a subpoena for the officer to appear then as well. There is no guarantee or requirement that the judge drop the matter because of the incorrect court date.

And the procedural error is what a demurrer can deal with - though I have no real idea how to properly use the process.


- Carl