So I have traffic court tomorrow. I am not to knowledgeable as far as this situation goes but I was told to plead not guilty(even though I was) and there is a chance I will be put on probation which sounds good to me. Now, what if I was found guilty, what is the worst thing that can happen? Just pay the fines and I get a point on my record. I haven't gotten any traffic violations for about 5 yrs now so I believe I have a clean slate.

Just curious as I definitely don't want to have a suspended license if found guilty. Oh yea, this is happened in Northlake, IL which is still Cook County if that matters. TIA.

 

What did you do

 

What's the worst that could happen? Well, I guess a long time in prison could be in store depending upon what you did but I doubt it if you are going to traffic court.

 

It was just for speeding. 51 on a 35.

 

here in Oregon you have 3 options:

Guilty - Pay the fine and deal with the ticket/points. Can probably still request diversion or traffic school.

Not Guilty - fight the charge - i.e. waste the court's time if you can easily be proven to be guilty, but if you can give reasonable doubt as to why the cop was mistaken, you can get it dropped.

No Contest - Saying you're guilty without admitting to it, basically throwing yourself at the judge's mercy to determin your fate.

 

Only reason I ask is because the cop that pulled me over told me to plead not guilty and most likely I will be put on probation. He was a very nice cop but I think they were just trying to get revenue being the end of the month when it happened. I wonder if he told me to say that because he was not planning on showing up in court and knew I would get away with it, but who knows. Anyways, thanks for the input. It looks like the worst it can be is pay the fine and it goes on my record. Hopefully, there is an option I can take traffic school school still if found guilty.

 

Talk to the prosecutor before going before the judge. You may be able to talk it down with them.

Note saying not guilty can *sometimes* get you more fines/punishment than if you plead no contest/guilty. If you have a valid argument then fight it.

 

Here in Wisconsin, I watched many others being dealt with in traffic court that were ahead of me. Most plead 'no contest'. Their fines were reduced only slightly, and points were sometimes reduced, again, only slightly.

I didn't take the day off to have my fine reduced, since I wanted NO points assessed against me. I plead 'not guilty'. You are then given the opportunity to speak with the district attorney to explain your side.

Long story short - they want your money. I was given the options, AFTER PLEADING GUILTY, to accept the original fine & points, pay a greater fine and have the points reduced, or pay the largest fine and have the points dropped. I took the latter option. The violation did not show on my record, thus my insurance co. did not learn of it, and my rates did not increase.

Yes, I paid a larger fine. That was OK by me, since the points & increases in insurance rates more than make up for a stupid fine.

Do what you want, but I will NEVER plead no contest if this happens again. Plead innocent. I think most people are afraid to do this. Don

 

If you really wanted to make an issue, if the cop TOLD you to plead a certain way, you could probably get a mistrial. It'd take a lot of hellraising to make it happen though.

The simple fact is, if you were actually speeding and got nailed, you're probably better off to just admit to the court that you were doing it and "beg forgiveness/leniency"

Like Sogno, I fought a ticket I got and I got it dropped, but I was pretty lucky. I spent weeks researching, drove 3 hours to the court for my arraignment and then home again, and then did a trial by written declaration.

But I *HAD* to try and win or I'd have been screwed on fees, insurance, possible license suspension, etc.

 

PROBATION?! For speeding? Did you just rob a liquor store and you were trying to get away?

In most states you can just go to traffic school for speeding unless you were speeding recklessly - in Illinois reckless speeding is 40+ mph over the limit.

A cop once told me to go to court and plead not guilty as he handed me a speeding ticket. Being the mistrustful soul that I am I assumed he was trying to trick me into giving up my right to traffic school (you can't choose traffic school if you plead not guilty). Cops in my city are pretty ####ed up like that. After all, he had me dead to rights on the radar gun and if he showed up in court with that evidence, my "not guilty" plea would go right out the window. I paid the fine and went to traffic school - I was guilty anyway.

BTW if you plead not guilty and the court agrees, you won't get probation. You won't get anything because you were found innocent.