Traffic Court Options

[Jill Allyn]

What is the name of your state? Live in Maryland ----Ticket received in New Jersey.

Last month, my husband, who drives a Tractor Trailer, was given a ticket in a small town in New Jersey ( we're from Maryland) for "running a traffic light" by one of the town's local police officers. According to my husband, he had already entered the "delima zone" when the light turned yellow, and since it would have been impossible to stop the truck in a safe manner, and not stay out of the intersection in any case, he entered the intersection on yellow. He didn't however clear it before it turned red. When the officer stopped him, David felt that the officer probably hadn't thought about the difference between the stopping time of a car vs. a tractor trailer and that if just explained the situation, things would be fine...Wrong. The officer made it quite clear that he couldn't care less...runnning a light is running a light whether you're in a Cooper or a 12 car Freight Train. A court date was set about 2 weeks from the incident date and David decided to plead his case in front of the judge. When he got there, he and everyone else who had a case on that day were taken into another room by the town court prosecutor to be offered a "deal". For several hundred dollars more, the ticket could be plead down to something smaller ( in this case --- unsafe operation of a motor vehicle......wouldn't THAT sound wonderful on a CDL driver's license??) and no points ( points, at the moment don't come back to MD for this offense). The prosecutor was very amiable until David said he would pass on the deal and would rather speak to the judge. At that point the gentleman became very angry and belligerant. He told my husband he would NOT speak to the judge and that he was wasting everyone's time. When he brought David back into the courtroom and before the judge he said "I explained to this gentleman how our system works, but he doesn't want to cooperate" .. At which point the judge now became very angry. He told my husband he would get a notice in the mail of a court date ( this WAS supposed to be the court date ) and when my husband questioned that fact the judge said "You are allowed a postponement and so are we"!!. Obviously the point of the traffic court in that particular town seems to be revenue as opposed to safety or fairness. But since it is the only traffic court in that town and only has that one judge and prosecutor, the chances at this point of my husband getting a fair hearing is slim to none. My question is --- Is there such a thing as getting a change of venue for a traffic violation? And if not, is it possible (allowable) to bring the media into a court proceeding. My thought being, if the public "eye" is on the procedure, they may have to play the game in a more fair manner THAT day, if on no other. Any advise or ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Thank You
Jill

[seniorjudge]

Originally Posted by Jill Allyn

What is the name of your state? Live in Maryland ----Ticket received in New Jersey.

Last month, my husband, who drives a Tractor Trailer, was given a ticket in a small town in New Jersey ( we're from Maryland) for "running a traffic light" by one of the town's local police officers. According to my husband, he had already entered the "delima zone" when the light turned yellow, and since it would have been impossible to stop the truck in a safe manner, and not stay out of the intersection in any case, he entered the intersection on yellow. He didn't however clear it before it turned red. When the officer stopped him, David felt that the officer probably hadn't thought about the difference between the stopping time of a car vs. a tractor trailer and that if just explained the situation, things would be fine...Wrong. The officer made it quite clear that he couldn't care less...runnning a light is running a light whether you're in a Cooper or a 12 car Freight Train. A court date was set about 2 weeks from the incident date and David decided to plead his case in front of the judge. When he got there, he and everyone else who had a case on that day were taken into another room by the town court prosecutor to be offered a "deal". For several hundred dollars more, the ticket could be plead down to something smaller ( in this case --- unsafe operation of a motor vehicle......wouldn't THAT sound wonderful on a CDL driver's license??) and no points ( points, at the moment don't come back to MD for this offense). The prosecutor was very amiable until David said he would pass on the deal and would rather speak to the judge. At that point the gentleman became very angry and belligerant. He told my husband he would NOT speak to the judge and that he was wasting everyone's time. When he brought David back into the courtroom and before the judge he said "I explained to this gentleman how our system works, but he doesn't want to cooperate" .. At which point the judge now became very angry. He told my husband he would get a notice in the mail of a court date ( this WAS supposed to be the court date ) and when my husband questioned that fact the judge said "You are allowed a postponement and so are we"!!. Obviously the point of the traffic court in that particular town seems to be revenue as opposed to safety or fairness. But since it is the only traffic court in that town and only has that one judge and prosecutor, the chances at this point of my husband getting a fair hearing is slim to none. My question is --- Is there such a thing as getting a change of venue for a traffic violation? And if not, is it possible (allowable) to bring the media into a court proceeding. My thought being, if the public "eye" is on the procedure, they may have to play the game in a more fair manner THAT day, if on no other. Any advise or ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Thank You
Jill

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