But ossifer, I was only...

February 22, 2005 8:16 AM

"It is stand-up improv at its most creative, with an occasional James Bond-like tale or even a violent plot, all in search of that one shimmering, often elusive dream, the dismissed ticket." (Yes, I know, it's NYT... tell it to the judge, man.) Maybe some of these folks should've read the previous traffic court thread on MeFi, or... (More Inside)
posted by soyjoy (10 comments total)

... or one of the many "fight traffic tickets" pages that turn out to be ads for books, or a more useful state-by-state resource. Then again, there's always the option of winning over the judge by making a complete pain in the ass of yourself.
posted by soyjoy at 8:17 AM on February 22, 2005

i read the NYT article (i saw it on themorningnews.org this morning) and i have to say i was really disappointed. it was a really good idea, but poorly executed. the writing was disjointed and it didn't flow well.
posted by mawlymawnster at 8:42 AM on February 22, 2005

Yeah, I liked the idea too, but the story looked like a victim of some bad editing, especially the one odinsdream mentioned. That's why I went and found the additional stuff, in which there are some gems here and there.
posted by soyjoy at 8:50 AM on February 22, 2005

The show, which includes a total of 50 judges, plays weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., and later on Thursdays. Each trial takes about 10 minutes, and judges hear from 50 to 100 cases a day. In all, the courts process about 1.3 million traffic tickets a year. Police officers who testify talk as fast as auctioneers.

damn.
posted by three blind mice at 8:51 AM on February 22, 2005

The joys of court. On numerous occasions, I have been in court waiting to do my business and overheard hilarious defenses. One of my favorites was a lady who got caught doing 55 in a 30. Her defense was that she thought she the speed limit was 40. Priceless.

People come up with the weirdest defenses. There was a guy who got caught with a metric ton of pot. Yes. 2,000 pounds of pot. He had it sitting in a UHaul in black trash bags in front of his house. This was in the middle of the hot north Texas summer. Apparently, the police officers where far away and stumbled upon the stench and were able to just find it by driving through the neighborhood. I can only imagine the smell. Anyhow, the guys defense was that he was tricked into driving the truck. He argued that the evidence of how he stored the drugs in the 100 degree heat is evidence of how stupid he was. So, if he was that stupid, then he was dumb enough to be tricked into driving the truck. Brilliant defense.
posted by dios at 9:10 AM on February 22, 2005

This guy won in traffic court (and tells a good story, as well).
posted by TedW at 9:22 AM on February 22, 2005

I had a ticket for public intox once, and The guy before me lost his case. His plan was to basicaly nit-pick at the cop's statements, and it didn't work very well (For example, the cop asked him to count to 1000 and stopped him at 900 or something)

The judge explained his resoning, and gave the guy a $100 ticket. By hearing that resoning I was able to build my case to prove that I shouldn't be charged, and it worked.

I didn't submit to a feild sobriety test, or a BAC test, so they had no evidence, and I basicaly said I was acting the way I was because of "girl problems" and I would have been just as bad without booze.

Never gotten out of a traffic ticket, although a friend of mine actualy got lucky and the cop didn't show. According to this friend of mine, a broken spedometer is actualy a valid reason not to get a ticket... But you have to *prove* it's brokent.
posted by delmoi at 10:53 AM on February 22, 2005

I was acting the way I was because of "girl problems" and I would have been just as bad without booze.

Err, by girl problems I mean problems in my relationships with girls (or my spesific relationship with one girl) not that I was having a period. I am a guy :P
posted by delmoi at 10:57 AM on February 22, 2005

This guy is a traffic judge in the Bronx. (Also a professional acquaintance off mine and the beneficiary of my web skillz for his site.)
posted by Mo Nickels at 4:08 PM on February 22, 2005

I had a parking ticket dismissed in court. The cop had noted the meter number next to the "expired meter" check box, but didn't actually check the box. The judge wasn't happy with me, but he let me off. Out of the 15 or so people whose cases I saw, at least 12 of them either had the ticket dismissed or the fine reduced. It's worth fighting, if you care to spend the time. But, gawd damn, don't get me started on small claims court.
posted by MrMoonPie at 7:13 AM on February 23, 2005