One legit, one questionable....

What is the name of your state? Michigan

I was given 2 tickets within five weeks of each other and frankly can't afford either of them...

Here's the deal: First ticket- Yes, I was speeding. He gave me a ticket for 5 over and told me I might be able to get it taken under advisement (or for "probation"?) because my record had been pretty clean. OK, fair enough. Do you have any tips for how I get this to happen? I've been reading a lot online and they all say to not admit that you did anything wrong. What if they ask? Obviously I can't lie?!?!

Second ticket... After receiving ticket #1, I vowed NO MORE SPEEDING. How novel, right? So, being a good little citizen, I hadn't been speeding. So I get nailed for "improper turning" instead. What happened was that, in the middle of morning rush, I was making a left turn at a light. All the cars in front of me (going straight) were stopped, so I entered the turn lane early (apparently 8 car lengths, according to the officer). Cop pulls out behind me with sirens blaring and gives me a "warning" on the improper passing. Instead, he "does me a favor" and gives me a ticket for no seatbelt. Which, I WAS wearing at the time. Says that he's saving me 3 points on my record. On my ticket, it is marked that he gave me a warning for the improper passing. Question is: Can he give me a ticket for not wearing a seatbelt even though I was? Second, if I go to court regarding this and say I WAS wearing my seatbelt, can he turn around and take away the "warning" and make the "improper passing" a legit ticket??

Sorry for the lengthy message. I have been looking all over the web for advice and I'd like something reliable.

Thanks in advance,
Duke

[lwpat]

On the first ticket pay the fine and take the deferment. Check to be sure that the seatbelt violation will not count against it but normally it does not, only moving violations.

On the seatbelt pay the fine and quit whining. The officer did you a favor and saved your deferment for the first ticket.
Entering a turn lane early can easily cause an accident and is illegal even though it is done all the time during rush hour. How do you know all of the cars in front of you are going straight? You don't and if they enter the lane properly and don't see you coming crash boom bam.

[Bravo8]

In ref to the 2nd citation:

I know of case law (but forgive me, I can' find the case cite so I am unsure if it was a local case or a national case) that states a defendant has a constitutional right to due process, and withdrawing a charge and filing another charge in an attempt to punish the defendant for exercising this right is illegal, and a deprivation of civil rights.

If you read the first part of my original message, you see that I haven't gotten the deferment yet. I was asking how to make that happen. IF I get that, I will gladly just pay the seatbelt fine (as long as it doesn't count against it).

Thanks for the dissertation on why what I did was wrong. However, you were not there and don't know how I made my decision to go, so back off. I was asking for advice and wanted to know if it is legal to write a ticket for something that he knows is not true (even if he was saving my ASS). You can leave your commentary out.

Otherwise, thanks for the advice...

duke816

I believe your question has been answered, but I'd like to add my own bit of advice.

If you succeed in having the seatbelt ticket thrown out, be prepared to have this Officer looking in your direction for some time to come. As already pointed out it appears the policeman was trying to help you and will be very unhappy should you expose his actions on that day. (That you presumably concurred with at the time).

While he will be careful not to make up an offense, he'll hold you to a higher standard than they normally do by choosing not to overlook minor traffic offenses such as signaling lane changes, complete stops at stop signs, etc....

Beware!

That's what I was afraid of, WISHIN. Thanks for the info. Hopefully I can get past these two offenses and move on without further incidence. :-)