Some people wonder, is there ever really any reason to try a traffic ticket case? Normally, the answer is absolutely not. Given the fact that typically the stakes are so low, the costs of actually trying a case are completely wasteful, both from the client’s perspective and from the justice system’s perspective. The high cost of a trial in attorneys fees are not worth the result that you could obtain. For the justice system, the judges and assistant district attorneys don’t want their time wasted with a traffic ticket trial when there are more serious violations of law to contend with. That is why almost all traffic tickets plead out. It is convenient for the defendant because they get less serious charges on their record, and get a lesser level of punishment. It is convenient to the State, because they don’t have to go through the serious hassle of trying traffic ticket cases cialis overnight.
However, there is a situation in which we would probably request a trial. This would be in a case where the tickets is from years and years ago. When a ticket is so old, the police officer that wrote the ticket may have moved on to work for a different law enforcement agency, or may have moved out of the jurisdiction. Calling the case for trial makes the State have to produce the officer before they can go forward on the prosecution of any defendant. If the prosecution cannot produce the officer, then the case cannot go forward, and the Assistant District Attorney will most likely dismiss the charges.
You have a right under the Sixth Amendment to be confronted with the witnesses against you- even in a traffic case. You should use this to your advantage to make the State prove its case against you. The good thing about the Assistant District Attorneys that serve in Mecklenburg County is that they understand that we could request a trial, and therefore will most likely dismiss old cases on their own initiative, saving themselves, the judges, and the defendant valuable time.
