First time in court…
It was my first time in court too. I empathize with you. I can’t give you legal advice, but I can tell you what it was like in court for me on a personal level.
Not sure if you know or not, but you go to court twice. I had no idea about this. First is your arraignment. This is when you go before the judge (just you and “her” in my case) and plea guilty to suggested ticket offense, or request a trial date. [There is an automatic fee if you handle your case by declaration. I didn’t want to pay anything, because I was not guilty of my ticket accusation. I believe a trial by declaration is a written account of your defense case read and decided by the judge.] Back to your first court date… During your arraignment is not the time for you to argue your case. It’s not a big nervous event either, because the judge will pretty much lead you with questions, where your choice of answers are… guilty=you pay fine without argument. No contest=guilty=you pay fine without argument. Not guilty=you request a trail date set where you will argue your case against the very police officer who issued your ticket. The officer is called the prosecution during your trial phase, and you are the defense. Also a little side note: You have to be present at both dates… arraignment date and trail date if you choose a trial. Your ticketing police officer is not present during your arraignment date when you plea. But… if your ticketing officer does not show up in court on the trail date, your case is dismissed! No fine.
During both arraignment and trial… you will be called to come forward before the judge and instructed to stand to the left of table=defense. The officer as I said previously is in the prosecution role, and he stands to the right of table. Prosecution/police officer has the floor first during trial. He stands alone just as you do and explains the circumstances as he sees them. Then it is the defense’s turn. There are two phases to your side of argument.
1. First phase. It is your right to ask questions of the prosecution/police officer. Be careful not to be accusatory, argumentative, or make rambling statements. You will be instructed by the judge (who by the way is just a person like you and I) that this is your time to “ask questions of the officer concerning accusations” made against you which resulted in your ticket.
After you have asked your (should be limited and to the point) questions of the police officer, the judge will offer the prosecution/police officer time to respond if he has anything to add.
2. Second phase. Then you will be asked by the judge if there is anything you would like her/him to know about your case. This is where you can make a pertinent statement and/or add anything that wasn’t covered in the questioning phase of the trail. Another side note: Anything you say during this proceeding can be used against you in the judge’s decision. I would suggest not being over talkative, as particulars might slip out where you might have been relieved of ticket this could cause you to get stuck with the ticket. I saw this a couple times in cases that went before mine. I also saw several times where the judge’s decision went against the police officer.
My best advice from a novice… keep telling yourself this isn’t that big! Don’t be too relaxed or too nervous. Be serious, and yourself. Save your jumping up and down in relief for the court parking lot~~~ Have a few notes if you think you might become stage struck.
Hope this helped a bit. Good luck.
PS Something I didn’t know until after the fact… you have the right to “discovery.” This means, you can go to the ticketing officer’s PD and request a copy of his police report/information to see exactly what he wrote concerning your ticket and anything he documented that you may have said to him/her during the ticketing process so you are privy and able to argue knowledgeably on your behalf. I would think it is best to have a heads up and know what you are up against rather than wait for trail surprises, so you can form your case accordingly.