re: OT: I could sure use some help. Re: my son's speeding ticket in Jefferson County

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My favorite war story from ticket-lawyering' is a judge in Wilkinson County who makes offenders write an essay about the dangers of their behavior as part of their sentence. It's pretty effective.

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Are younger judges more likely to follow the book?

Old one came up with some pretty interesting solutions.

The worst is a short fuse judge on a bad day. I swear like 15 - 20 years ago a drunk driving arrest got turned into a 99 year sentence. (later greatly reduced, but offend was scared sober).

Anecdotally, I'd say younger judges seem less creative in how they operate. I've had some blow up deals only for me to bind them over to State Court and get the same deal I had worked out before. I've had others let me slide with some deals and then go ballistic over something like a shoplifting case.

One in particular I try to avoid, because every case is an opportunity for a lecture. And it never ends and never does any good. He's a great lawyer and person though, just the lecture schtick does nothing.

My adventures in Municipal Court also include being told I was incompetent and unprepared when I got a 18 year old pretrial diversion for possession of alcohol at a local high school. With a prosecutor who hadn't done a pretrial diversion in a couple of years. The Judge almost blew that one up but didn't.

I do think it is best for this type of offense to have legal representation and preferably a defense attorney who frequently handles such cases in that jurisdiction. While the judge can be important it’s been my experience that unless it is something illegal or way out of line the judge will go along with the deal reached between the prosecutor and defense counsel. A lot of clients will place too much importance on the judge when the prosecutor is typically the most important player in the grand scheme of things.

I like to deal with prosecutors with experience in that particular court regardless of age because they are normally easier to deal with. Some of the newer ones can be rigid and afraid to negotiate too much because they think they are doing something wrong and are being too easy.

In a lot of cases I’ll tell clients they are ok representing themselves for minor traffic violations including some of the lower level speeding tickets because it can be cost prohibitive to hire counsel and they may very well end up in the same situation as if they had retained counsel. But when the stakes get higher and you’re dealing with a major traffic infraction or someone who has a CDL and must drive for their livelihood, IMO obtaining counsel is a must. The potential collateral consequences can be severe even though any fine or costs might not amount to that much.

I’m always going to approach the case with the goal of negotiating a civil penalty or municipal ordinance violation to avoid it being reported to Driver Control and driving the insurance rates up as well as adding points to the individual’s driving record. Normally the case is a win if you can get it to that point.

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Speed reduced to 68, don't have to go to court, no super speeder, no points on license.

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That's pretty impressive. A 21mph drop on speed is crazy. Good on ya, though.

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Still have to pay the $1,000 fine

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Your kid does, you mean. At least I hope so. Don't be an enabler.

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Your kid does, you mean. At least I hope so. Don't be an enabler.

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Correct!

OK, my last post in this topic. I forgot to mention that he was on his way to Athens to join my wife and I for the MSU game when he got the ticket. He told the cop that he was trying to get to the UGA game, hoping the cop was a UGA fan.

Just got this reply from the attorney in Swainsboro who helped him after I told him what the public defender had told me, and that, of course, I still had to pay the fine...

"I know that's right. I'm glad he kept his license. If he has any other mishaps this way, send him to us. We are always glad to help out...especially Dawgs. He might be the 1st person I've ever seen with "headed to a UGA game" on a ticket".

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Speed reduced to 68

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Still have to pay the $1,000 fine

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1 more mph and you kid would have spent a grand to 69

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But when the stakes get higher and you’re dealing with a major traffic infraction or someone who has a CDL and must drive for their livelihood, IMO obtaining counsel is a must.

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You ever deal with a Florida CDL holder? They got some crazy rules down there. Have to do backflips to save those licenses when they get tickets in Georgia.

To the OP:

Good result. In line with what I would have expected if you had retained counsel. Only thing I would suggest you watch for in the next few months is making sure the clerk of the court doesn't transmit the ticket to DDS. It happens sometimes even when you have negotiated a deal and resolved the ticket. Less than 1% of the time, but it can happen. Just have your child check with DDS in a few months to make sure there isn't anything on his record. It costs, I think, eight bucks for the report but it is a lot better way to find out a problem than getting a ticket for driving on a suspended, etc.

Again, the likelihood of that happening is very small. I've only seen it happen once in five years of practice. It was pretty easy to fix, too.