Contesting charges added to a speeding ticket.?
So I have a few questions regarding a speeding ticket that I received. I had gotten the speeding ticket on November 21st 2009.
That previous week I had gotten my wallet stolen so I had my license with me, but not in a wallet.
I explained to the officer that I had Irritable Bowel Syndrome, and I needed to use the restroom immediately and I coud not find my license (because it had fallen between my seats). I was willing to look for the license but the officer proceeded to ask me for my Name, date of birth, and address. He said that he would send me a ticket in the mail for 10mph over, and THATS IT. That was fine.
I went in on November 24th so that I could jus pay the fine, and be done with it. The clerk had said that there was nothing posted, and that the officer may not have filed the ticket yet. Okay...so I waited for the ticket which could be several weeks.
I waited and waited, and talked to a retired police officer, and he said that it coud take up to several weeks for a ticket to get sent in the mail.
Come January 11th, still no ticket but I received a notice stating that I have failed to appear for a court appearance on the 28th of December, and that I have a failure to appear, and my license will be supsended in 30 days unless I respond. I immediately go down there, to find out that I not only had a speeding ticket for 4, but another 4 unavailable license ticket, as well as a fine for late notice. So I filed for a hearing to contest the charges and penalties.
I have a hearing tomorrow, but will I be able to contest just each individual fine, or will it need to be just for ALL the charges?
I really feel like I got the crap end of the stick on this one, and I am not an irresponsible person when it comes to following up on scheduled court dates and fines, but I felt as if this was a VERY unneccessary/poor process for giving me a ticket.
What should I do?
I am in Washington state. I forgot to add that.
On the FTA status:
I had never agreed to appear in a court.
I had not gone in AT ALL and never received a ticket.
The Notice said that my account was delinqeuent, and I had charges that totalled 0.
On a ticket it usually says I have 1 days to respond, or I would automatically become guilty of the charge.
Apprently thats what happened. I never signed a document, nor did I schedule an actual hearing. Thats why I am so stumped on thei WHOLE thing.
February 27th, 2010 - 22:42
You appeal the entire issue, but they can adjust or throw out any individual part of the ticket. So even though the hearing is for the whole thing, you can put aside the speeding right away.
More than likely you’ll end up talking to the DA and they’ll automatically throw out the license charge since you had one at the time and plead the speeding to driving without proper headlights.
February 27th, 2010 - 22:42
You will be able to contest each line item.
February 27th, 2010 - 22:42
do you have anyway of proving that you didn’t receive a subpoena to appear in court because they have proof it was sent to you that’s why there was a FTA warrant; it is your responsibility to produce documents when asked for them and you didn’t so you were ticketed your appeal will be denied and you will have to pay the cost for that , usually $125 + $60 court cost plus $300 for tickets and fines and $250 FTA fine for a grand total of $810 plus whatever else the judge enters