mitigation hearing for driving on curb

What is the name of your state? Washington

Hello all. First time poster.

I was hoping someone with experience with traffic court could tell me what to expect in my upcoming mitigation hearing for a moving violation.

My objective is to get a deferred fine, which will keep my driving record clean and allow me to avoid paying the fine if I have a clean record for one year.

Background:

I was cited for driving on the curb. I was driving on a freeway that was congested with construction work, and after some time of stop and go traffic my exit was finally coming into sight.

Stop and go traffic continued. We were barely moving. To my right was the median that separated my lane from the rightmost lane -- an on ramp that doubled as the exit lane. I did not cross this portion of the median as there were reflectors and it was quite wide and had diagonal white stripes on it.

Eventually, I creeped my car up a couple dozen yards and stopped again. I checked my mirror and saw a police car sitting on the median. Traffic was barely moving. The median had collapsed down to nearly a solid white line. When traffic began to move again I signaled and moved into the exit lane.

I was aware of the patrol car but given the road conditions I was sure that grace would prevail above law, but I was wrong. He was waiting for someone just like me.

The officer explained the logic of the law to me and it makes sense. He said he could have come down that ramp at 80 mph and there I would be crossing that line into his lane. Still, he said he was sympathetic because the traffic was terrible and because I had a clean record (15+ years and no tickets!) that I should get a mitigation hearing to see if the judge would let me defer the fine.

This brings me to my original question: I don't know what to expect at a mitigation hearing, so I don't know how to conduct myself. The officer said it was my good record and rotten road conditions that gave me a chance, but as far as I can tell, in the eyes of the law I broke the law, plain and simple. The line was white and solid and I crossed it. If I tell the Judge "Yep, i'm guilty, but golly aren't I cute?" isn't she just going to double my fine and make me do pushups or something?

My current strategy is if i'm given a chance to talk (I don't know the scope of what i'm expected to say), i'm going to say that the officer that pulled me over recommended that I get a mitigation hearing based on my good record, and that I promise to be exceptionally careful to ensure I don't have any moving violations in a years time. If the judge is still staring at me at this point waiting for me to go on then i'll then mention the officer also said that the traffic conditions might be a mitigating factor, and i'll find out how much weight "I probably wouldn't have crossed into the exit early if it wasn't for that traffic" will carry.

My date is mid august. Thanks for any feedback. Apologies for being long winded. Guess i'm trying to get it out of my system here instead of the court room.

[HomeGuru]

Originally posted by Otyug
What is the name of your state? Washington

Hello all. First time poster.

I was hoping someone with experience with traffic court could tell me what to expect in my upcoming mitigation hearing for a moving violation.

My objective is to get a deferred fine, which will keep my driving record clean and allow me to avoid paying the fine if I have a clean record for one year.

Background:

I was cited for driving on the curb. I was driving on a freeway that was congested with construction work, and after some time of stop and go traffic my exit was finally coming into sight.

Stop and go traffic continued. We were barely moving. To my right was the median that separated my lane from the rightmost lane -- an on ramp that doubled as the exit lane. I did not cross this portion of the median as there were reflectors and it was quite wide and had diagonal white stripes on it.

Eventually, I creeped my car up a couple dozen yards and stopped again. I checked my mirror and saw a police car sitting on the median. Traffic was barely moving. The median had collapsed down to nearly a solid white line. When traffic began to move again I signaled and moved into the exit lane.

I was aware of the patrol car but given the road conditions I was sure that grace would prevail above law, but I was wrong. He was waiting for someone just like me.

The officer explained the logic of the law to me and it makes sense. He said he could have come down that ramp at 80 mph and there I would be crossing that line into his lane. Still, he said he was sympathetic because the traffic was terrible and because I had a clean record (15+ years and no tickets!) that I should get a mitigation hearing to see if the judge would let me defer the fine.

This brings me to my original question: I don't know what to expect at a mitigation hearing, so I don't know how to conduct myself. The officer said it was my good record and rotten road conditions that gave me a chance, but as far as I can tell, in the eyes of the law I broke the law, plain and simple. The line was white and solid and I crossed it. If I tell the Judge "Yep, i'm guilty, but golly aren't I cute?" isn't she just going to double my fine and make me do pushups or something?

My current strategy is if i'm given a chance to talk (I don't know the scope of what i'm expected to say), i'm going to say that the officer that pulled me over recommended that I get a mitigation hearing based on my good record, and that I promise to be exceptionally careful to ensure I don't have any moving violations in a years time. If the judge is still staring at me at this point waiting for me to go on then i'll then mention the officer also said that the traffic conditions might be a mitigating factor, and i'll find out how much weight "I probably wouldn't have crossed into the exit early if it wasn't for that traffic" will carry.

My date is mid august. Thanks for any feedback. Apologies for being long winded. Guess i'm trying to get it out of my system here instead of the court room.

**A: guilty.

This brings me to my original question: I don't know what to expect at a mitigation hearing, so I don't know how to conduct myself. The officer said it was my good record and rotten road conditions that gave me a chance, but as far as I can tell, in the eyes of the law I broke the law, plain and simple. The line was white and solid and I crossed it. If I tell the Judge "Yep, i'm guilty, but golly aren't I cute?" isn't she just going to double my fine and make me do pushups or something?



The judge can reduce the fine, but not increase it. If you proceed with a mitigation hearing, you must state your case (road conditions, etc., you had already started crossing the line when you realized you had made a mistake and could not get back into traffic at that point - or whatever the case was). Add your good driving record and hope for the best (or plead for mercy). The judge may reduce your fine, dismiss the ticket (with or without a reprimand), or make you pay the ticket as is. Good luck.

[lwpat]

Obtain a copy of your MVR to take to the hearing. You will probably be offered the opportunity to mask the ticket. In other words pay the fine and the ticket will not go on your record. If this is offered then take it. If not ask if you can take traffic school.

This is just a minor traffic ticket so don't be worried. The worst is that you pay the fine.

Thanks for the comments.

Yesterday I received in the mail a letter saying in order to reduce costs the fine would be lowered by nearly 50% if I would just pay it. Since this didn't give me the option to "mask the ticket" I still intend to show up for my court date.

Great suggestion to bring a copy of my MVR Lwpat. It will at least show i'm trying to be prepared.

[abezon]

You have a few options: (1) you can contest the ticket & maybe get it dismissed. I doubt this would work, since the cop saw you cross the line. (2) You can mitigate the ticket. You admit guilt but ask for a reduced fine. Mitigation is pretty much automatic unless you have a bad record. (3) You can request a deferment. You pay the full ticket amount or $75 as a deferment fee, whichever is greater, and admit guilt. The finding of guilt is delayed for a year. If you receive no tickets for the year, the ticket is dismissed and stays off your record. If you get another ticket, the guilty on the 1st ticket is entered and you owe the ticket amount. You do not get credit for the fact that you already paid the ticket amount -- that was a fee for the deferred finding. You cannot then go back & contest the 1st ticket or request mitigation. You can still request mitigation (and maybe deferment) on the 2d ticket.

Definitely look up the code section the officer cited on the ticket and see if your conduct really violated the law. I'd focus on the definition of "curb". The only section I see that seems to apply is RCW 46.61.155, regarding entering & exiting a highway. I'm not sure you violated it. You could argue that "exit" refers to the entire off ramp area. 46.61.606 says you can't drive on a sidewalk, but there aren't any sidewalks along I-5.

Also, request a copy of the ticket and officer's report. You'll need to do this immediately to get it in time for the trial. If the officer's report includes anything that the officer didn't see/couldn't have seen, or there were 2 officers in the car, post again & I'll expound on hearsay objections.

I had my day in court today.

The process amounted to sheep herding by the Judge. To a room full of 60 people he laid out options:

-contest the ticket and come back another day since everything that day was for mitigation only (thus acknowledgement of committing the infraction)

-explain to him what happened and possibly get your fine reduced and certainly get the ticket put on your record

-take advantage of the delayed finding agreement, pay $100, do not get the ticket put on your record unless you get another ticket within a year

He went down the list of names on the roster and people placed their order. That was pretty much it. Pretty anticlimactic.

Now that everything is over I realize I spent too much energy wondering/worrying how I was going to finagle the judge into letting me get a deferment (bragging about my clean record and so forth) -- it was all for naught. Apparently others did, too -- they still felt the need to talk to the judge, despite him repeatedly explaining "It doesn't do anything to explain the details to me. All I can do is reduce your fine, but then the ticket goes on your record!"

amusing stuff:

-so many people wanted to have their say despite having only one logical option, which was deferment. "I was speeding your honor, but it wasn't as fast as the officer said!" "Yes, but you were speeding, so do you want to talk about lowering the fine, or do you want it all to be as if it never happened if you don't get a ticket for a year?"

-a cell phone went off while the judge was talking and he got stern, threatened to confiscate any ringing cell phones

-another cell phone rang. it was in the judge's pocket.

-the clerk couldn't read a name on the sign in sheet so everyone had to get up to see if it was theirs

-the judge told us a story about a woman who got a ticket on the way to the court house -- he still gave her a deferrment of course, but said anyone getting one after they left would be SOL


I'm glad I had a somewhat untraumatizing court system experience. I have a new respect for the rules and structure of the system; it was efficient in dealing with the multitudes. All of the people I interacted with were very professional and helpful. I expected cold, ruthless war camp soldiers, I instead found warm, considerate and compassionate people, from the officer who pulled me over, the person who scanned me as I entered the courthouse, to the clerk of the court, to the judge.

The only bozos were the people who got tickets. Overhearing how so many of them talked during the recess (and in session, too -- the judge had to tell people to quiet down twice) I was ashamed to be amongst them. Imagine stereotypical prisoners in conversation about how they are innocent and wrongly imprisioned and you'll have an idea what these people were like. (so many people wore blue jeans, too!! I nearly ironed my slacks that day.. imagine that and sitting next to a guy with a blue bandana tied around his head!)

Abezon, it would have been really educational to get the officer's report and discuss with you the details of it. I probably dropped the ball here and could have contested the ticket had I focused on any errors on the citation. Now that i'm a veteran of the court system perhaps i'll be braver next time and try contesting rather than mitigating!


Thanks again to everyone for help in answering my questions.