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New York- traffic court date

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GoIllini

Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? New York

Does anyone know how long it takes to get a trial date in Orange County, NY? This is just a minor speeding ticket, but I've retained a lawyer to fight it, and I think both of us are tired of me emailing him every month asking for an update. (We filed the not-guilty plea with the court back in early April.)

Also, just so I get an idea of the worst-case situation, if I'm convicted and points are applied to my license, does the 18-month surcharge period start from the date of the conviction or the date the ticket was issued?
 


HighwayMan

Super Secret Senior Member
If convicted the points stay on your record for 18 months from the date of violation.

I don't know why you're in such a hurry for a trial. What plea were you offered and why did you turn it down?
 

GoIllini

Member
If convicted the points stay on your record for 18 months from the date of violation.

I don't know why you're in such a hurry for a trial. What plea were you offered and why did you turn it down?
I'm not sure I've been offered anything yet. My lawyer says we've been waiting to hear back from the court for the past 2.5 months. We haven't even gotten a trial date, yet. My understanding is that plea-bargains usually happen immediately before the trial in New York, but I could be wrong.

I'm not in a hurry for a trial, and I'd like to take a plea if I can. The problem is that it was two separate police vehicles several miles away at night on a busy highway and they got my car possibly without positively identifying the guy who was speeding (the guy who got "my" speed thought my car was the wrong color when they were writing the ticket, and was straining to see the license plate number). I'll take a parking ticket with the same fine as the speeding ticket just to make this disappear, but the uncertainty of waiting for months on end is driving me crazy. I'm wondering if they're having trouble coordinating the two officers' schedules.
 
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GoIllini

Member
Good point, just don't want to get in the way of my lawyer on this. Was also going to check with him to see if I should call up the prosecutor and work out a plea bargain on the speeding ticket on my own.
 

I_Got_Banned

Senior Member
Good point, just don't want to get in the way of my lawyer on this. Was also going to check with him to see if I should call up the prosecutor and work out a plea bargain on the speeding ticket on my own.
I don't think you would be getting in the way of your attorney if you were to simply call and inquire about the court date (if any)... You would be getting in the way if you were to call in an attempt to plea bargain. I would leave the latter to the attorney.
 

HighwayMan

Super Secret Senior Member
Apologies to the attorney's here, but...

why on Earth did you hire an attorney before you even went to your pre-trial conference? You don't even know what was offered, if anything? Unless you were a dope, most officers will be happy to reduce the charge.

So you either mailed it in and pled not guilty, or you showed up on the arraignment date (return date) and pled not guilty?

What court is this??


The problem is that it was two separate police vehicles several miles away at night on a busy highway and they got my car possibly without positively identifying the guy who was speeding (the guy who got "my" speed thought my car was the wrong color when they were writing the ticket, and was straining to see the license plate number).


So you weren't driving the car? Color of the car doesn't matter.

What "guy" was straining to see your plate number? What are you talking about?
 

GoIllini

Member
I don't think you would be getting in the way of your attorney if you were to simply call and inquire about the court date (if any)... You would be getting in the way if you were to call in an attempt to plea bargain. I would leave the latter to the attorney.
Thanks. Called the court and I think there's a pre-trial conference in three weeks. Guess the obvious answer is easy for me to miss sometimes. :D

Apologies to the attorney's here, but...

why on Earth did you hire an attorney before you even went to your pre-trial conference? You don't even know what was offered, if anything? Unless you were a dope, most officers will be happy to reduce the charge.
That's a good point. The problem is that I work a two hour drive away (mid-town Manhattan). It's a lot cheaper to have an attorney handle this for me than to take time off from work to handle it. The attorney's also going to do a better job. I have an NJ license and it's going to get really complicated figuring out what's going to affect my driving record and my insurance if I try to settle, and I can't exactly trust the DA to give me advice on this.

So you either mailed it in and pled not guilty, or you showed up on the arraignment date (return date) and pled not guilty?
Mailed it in and pled not guilty on the advice of my attorney.

What court is this??
Chester village court.


So you weren't driving the car? Color of the car doesn't matter.
Yes, I was driving my car- but I don't think it was the car that was speeding. As I think another volunteer who posts here puts it, my defense is "You got the wrong dude." (YGTWD)

I think the color might matter if the police officer who pulled me over was different than the officer who got "my" speed, it was at night, and the place where I was pulled over was four miles down the road from where they caught *someone* speeding. It tells me the officer who got the speed might not have been able to positively identify the car that was speeding on a very busy highway. If they thought the guy who was speeding was driving a red car, why did they pull over a gray car instead?

I'm not suggesting they must have pulled someone over completely at random- I'm sure there's a good reason they thought it might have been my car that was speeding, but there's a lot of doubt here when they couldn't positively identify the vehicle and the stop was made several miles down the road by a different police car than the one that got "my" (or more likely, some red car's) speed.

Two different police cars, no positive identification by the police officer who caught someone speeding. There's probably a few things here that I don't know, but I'm not sure they can prove this beyond all reasonable doubt given what evidence I've seen so far. My lawyer also says he thinks there's a better than average chance he can beat this if it goes all the way to trial, but I'd rather just settle now if I can keep it off my driving record.
 
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HighwayMan

Super Secret Senior Member
I think the color might matter if the police officer who pulled me over was different than the officer who got "my" speed, it was at night, and the place where I was pulled over was four miles down the road from where they caught *someone* speeding. It tells me the officer who got the speed might not have been able to positively identify the car that was speeding on a very busy highway. If they thought the guy who was speeding was driving a red car, why did they pull over a gray car instead?
I think you're missing the point. At night it's sometimes very difficult to determine a car's color. That's one reason that the color difference is not particularly relevant. Stopping you "four" miles down the road is also irrelevant. You don't know how fast you were going but you know that it took four miles for them to stop you? That doesn't sound too believable.

Also, how do you know two officers were involved in catching you?


...but there's a lot of doubt here when they couldn't positively identify the vehicle and the stop was made several miles down the road by a different police car than the one that got "my" (or more likely, some red car's) speed.
And how do you know which car "got" your speed?

Two different police cars, no positive identification by the police officer who caught someone speeding.
The positive identification occurred when the officer walked up to your car and you produced a driver's license. You are making some pretty big assumptions about what the officer(s) observed and didn't observe. If your case hinges on that then I would say it's weak.

I am not familiar with Chester (I think it's a town and not a village, unless you meant Port Chester) or its court but I would think that you'll end up in pretty good shape with a decent deal at your pre-trial.
 

GoIllini

Member
I think you're missing the point. At night it's sometimes very difficult to determine a car's color. That's one reason that the color difference is not particularly relevant.
I KNOW! So how was positive identification made of my vehicle?

Stopping you "four" miles down the road is also irrelevant. You don't know how fast you were going but you know that it took four miles for them to stop you? That doesn't sound too believable.
Well, the officer who got the red car's speed got there five minutes after I did.

Also, how do you know two officers were involved in catching you?
Because both of them stopped- the officer who got the red car's speed radioed ahead to the other officer who pulled my gray car over. The officer with the radar gun showed up about four minutes later.



The positive identification occurred when the officer walked up to your car and you produced a driver's license. You are making some pretty big assumptions about what the officer(s) observed and didn't observe
True, but the second officer didn't observe me speeding. The first officer got *a* car for speeding four miles back on the road and the second pulled me over. I'm trying not to make assumptions yet, but I don't see how they've got a strong case when there were probably several minutes where neither officer could see either me or the person who they caught speeding.

I am not familiar with Chester (I think it's a town and not a village, unless you meant Port Chester) or its court but I would think that you'll end up in pretty good shape with a decent deal at your pre-trial.
There's also a village traffic court. That's what I hope. If I can keep points off my license and a moving violation off my driving record, I'm happy.
 
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