Careless Driving – To Represent myself or Hire a Lawyer?
In January, as I was going home on the New Jersey Turnpike at 6:30am, I hit a patch of black ice, and my car spun, hitting the cement guard rails (whi...
In January, as I was going home on the New Jersey Turnpike at 6:30am, I hit a patch of black ice, and my car spun, hitting the cement guard rails (which weren't damaged) Luckily there were no other cars involved, but the cop who came 30 minutes later still gave me a ticket for careless driving. The offense is: 39:4-97 Careless Driving: Likely To Endanger Person Or Property
How hard is it to fight off this ticket? Is it worth hiring an attorney? Can I represent myself and simply explain the situation to them?
I have a clean driving record, and never received any speeding tickets.
When I called for a free consultation, the lawyers said that since there was an accident, if I represented myself, the judge would simply reschedule my court date and tell me to hire somebody.
Any thoughts/ideas would be greatly appreciated.
Hire a lawyer. When representing yourself your chances of being declared guilty are very high since you know nothing about how the Court works. If you have no money try to request a public defense lawyer.
Be realistic about the fact that is your word against the officer’s word and 99% of the times the Judge will go along with the cop if there is no evidence to corroborate your side of the story.
usually , if you tell the judge the truth he can hear it and accordingly proceed in a manner that is fair and impartial . sometimes though the ticket isnt for the act that incurred on the night of the accident , it could be for an act of crazy driving you did while messing with somebody’s head . correlation in life isnt always coinc=idental .
It works differently in different jurisdictions, but this is a fairly common scenario: On the date of your first appearance in court, you may be given the opportunity to talk to the DA, or County Attorney before seeing the judge. You can tell them your side of the story, and tell them that you are considering hiring an attorney, but that you would like to consider any plea bargain deal they may offer before making that decision. Normally, they will tell you what kind of a deal they are willing to make. If it’s acceptable to you, you can usually take the deal and wrap up the case right there. If not, ask for a continuance so that you have time to hire an attorney. It will be granted. Good Luck.
Edit: The judge is not going to laugh at you and make a fool of you.
The judge will laugh at you & make a fool of you. You were not in control of your vehicle. That is the basis of your ticket.
Pop goes your fantasy.
Not sure what state this is from, but in most states careless driving without injury is a Misdemeanor offense, and the Officer CANNOT arrest or cite you without observing it himself.
If you’re sure the officer did not observe the conduct himself, then the citation is no good. Go to court and get it thrown out.
However, it was careless driving because you slid on blackice. Not saying it was your fault, but in the eyes of the law, you could have been driving slower/with more regard/not at all.
Basically, your citation is valid, but the issuance of it is not.