Anyone have experience with a Reckless Driving summons?
 

As you can guess from the subject, I got pulled over tonight by local police. He says he clocked me at 90, and anything over 85 is considered "reckless driving" in CT (the summons/complaint code is 14-222). I have no excuse: it was a clear, dry night with no traffic, I was sober, I was driving my Porsche, and I was having fun and going a bit faster than I should have.

I'm scheduled to appear in court in two weeks.

Now, I know that this is potentially serious, and I'm not shirking responsibility: I was speeding, and I got caught. I am aware that the penalties range from not very severe ($100 fine) to very severe (30 days in jail) and everything in between (license suspended for 30 days).

The possibilities have me feeling anxious. I'm reading that a lot of people who have found themselves in similar situations are advised to appear alone in court the first time and see if the judge will give them a fine and/or reduce the charge. Others say to hire a lawyer, even if it's a first offense.

Some background -- I have no arrests on my record, although I have a vague recollection of having to appear in court for something speeding-related when I was in high school, which was over 20 years ago at this point. I remember having to pay a fine, and don't think I was formally charged with anything. I haven't been pulled over in about 12-15 years.

Have any of you been down this road before? What would be your advice?

How busy is this courts docket?

Your absolute best bet, get to the ADA before seeing the judge and make plea deal.

They tend to be far more "generous" than the judge.

Thank you for the quick reply. I'm assuming "ADA" means Assistant District Attourney? How would I even go about doing that? Just call their office?

I have no info for you.
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Here in the Phoenix Valley it's common to drive 80 in the fast lane during non rush hour.
I often hit 90 - 95. Virtually no highway patrol here.
I guess I ought to be more mindful.
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Good luck.

Call the court clerk your appearing in. Find out who the prosecutor is. Call them and tell them you’d like to discuss your case. They’ll tell you to meet at the courthouse early.

See what they offer. Don’t admit to anything just say you’ve got a clean record and want to put this behind you.

If you don’t like what they offer. Plead not guilty and get a lawyer.


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Thank you for the info. Do you think they'd be willing to meet ASAP? Or just the date of my first appearance? I'd really rather not wait 2 weeks if possible...

Likely not going to take a meeting with someone over a traffic violation but you could ask.


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Just get a lawyer and let him/her handle it.

Pay the lawyer tax.
I had similar ticket, low triple digits and got a minor fine and supervision. My attorney was a former DA. He took care of everything. I just paid the fees and fine, and it was worth every penny. A few years later a young co-worker got tagged for "drag racing". Same lawyer same result. The guy he was "racing" got the book thrown at him. ( no lawyer )

Pay the lawyer or pay the insurance co your choice

I suspect his young age and whatever he did or didn't say was the reason he got the book thrown at him. Rather then lack of lawyer.

Judges get lied and bull****ted to all the time.
By defendants, by accusers, by lawyers, by cops, by everybody.

In my experience, if you are somewhat of reasonable age, can speak coherently and can manage to offer a decent statement and apology for wasting the courts time, the judge will be lenient and just move on to more serious cases , I'm sure they have more then enough work with those.

"your honor,
I realize my speed was over the limit.
I have no excuse for that.

I accept whatever sentence you impose but humbly ask for your consideration because the circumstances do not indicate recklessness,

The weather was good, there was no traffic, my car was in good technical shape, i was not intoxicated , not racing, or showing off.
I am for the most part a sensible and responsible citizen who drove to fast.

I apologize for wasting your time.
Thank you"

Honesty and sincerity goes a long way

Unless there is a technicality in the law that needs to be found or used (which anybody else can do as well if they are willing to dig),
a lawyer will say the same things, at best with some more fancy wording and higher cost.

yep, i got a ticket for just over triple digits also on a deserted interstate hwy at 1:00am in North Carolina. Considered super speeder with reckless driving attached with mandatory court appearance. Googled lawyers in that county, paid @$285 in his fees and $305 for the ticket and didnt have to show up and it got reduced to 14 mph over.. I'll gladly take that...

lawyer.

In general, judges, prosecutors, court officers, etc. are not fans of pro se litigants. Ideally you should find a local attorney who practices in the court that you will be appearing. They will already have a relationship/rapport with the judge and prosecutor.

I was nicked for lane splitting on my motorcycle a couple years back (traffic was dead stopped). It was a 4 point ticket (in researching the "improper passing" violation, I learned that its fewer points to drive on the median or shoulder). I hired a local attorney and plead to reduced violation of "obstructing traffic" which was zero points and $80 fine. $300 to attorney was well worth the cost.

In NC....a 15 over (in any state) is technically "reckless", lose yer DL territory. I've never needed repesentation, just paid the "reduced" charge amount, and have for years. Not a lot, but it happens....;). Quit worrying, and talk to 'em....here, many times, you'll never see a judge or even an ADA...a migistrate might send you on your way...(after you pay ;)). Lawyers are another option, but not required....just $.....

In Va about a decade ago!

Story is on early S reg somewhere.

agree it's a tense thing to go through. short version for us was high dollar LOCAL WELL RESPECTED atty.

Seems to me your best advice is to contact a lawyer in your area who deals with stuff like this.

There's no charge just to get information on how he/she would handle it.

Then please feel free to share here what they say and recommended, if you want, for more input.

Plus we'll need to see a pic of the offending vehicle at some point. :)

How old are you? My experience is that cops, D.A.'s and courts are less harsh on older gentlemen, guys in their twenties and thirties have a harder time.

I was pulled over several years ago in my Porsche 928 accelerating from 110 to 120 mph westbound on I-70 at the Utah border. Or, more correctly, I saw the trooper, and just pulled over. He laughed and said "Thanks for stopping." So he looked at the car, we talked about it and the car shows on the western slope, and he said "Look, I'm going to write you for 94 mph. A huge break as it was only a $50 fine and 2 points...

Last time I did that!
(So I guess it worked). And these days, you couldn't do that because it's become too crowded here.

They typically will meet with people day of appearance before court.

These guys typically have a ridiculously stacked plate.

I've had 25 over posted limits reduced to failure to signal just by asking for a break.

All they want to do is get a conviction, for anything, collect some revenue, and get through their stack of cases as fast and painlessly as possible.

If you get no love from them you can always ask for a new date or plead not guilty and then show up with the lawyer.

Thank you for all the info. The consensus seems to be “pay the lawyer tax” if my goal is a reduced charge. My father — a retired cop — is in the camp of “show up on the court date, admit wrongdoing, and apologize for wasting the court’s time,” but I can’t tell if it’s because he think they’ll be lenient with me or if it’s just because he’s pissed off at me (he’s always been somewhat against my Porsche habit).

To answer a question from above, I’m 37, a teacher, and citizen in good standing.

And here’s a pic of the instigator, as requested.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1530797387.jpg

Similar around here.

You show up for court, speak with a clerk at a window.

Depending on circumstances they'll offer defensive driving or deferred adjudication which is plead guilty now and don't get another ticket in the jurisdiction for 30 days and the ticket goes away. It's not on your record and insurance is not notified.

That one seems to be mostly a money grab, it's a license to get a ticket every 30 days and just pay the stupid tax with no other penalties.

I don't get this about wasting the court's time. If you have a lawyer that takes care of things before even going to court, the court's time doesn't come into play. By going to court and pleading your case and trying to get a reduced charge, you are using the court's time, and possibly wasting it.

As for your father's thinking, that is probably his cop thinking coming into play, nothing to do with your Porsche habit.

Now, you really need to think if going to court to plead your case with the prosecutor is worth it. You take a day off from work to do that, and if you are not successful and plead not guilty, you will need to come back another day. If you are on summer break, no problem, but if on a year round schedule, it'll cost you. That would be at least 2 days of missed work vs. hiring an attorney to take care of matters.

I don't know about CT but in Va reckless (even by speed) is a MISDEMEANOR!

I'd say getting a lawyer is a good thing when it goes past points and a fine.

I've had the privilege of going to court a few times in my life. You'll be amazed at the offenses which surround you while you wait to be called. The amount of DUI's (multiple offenses), driving without insurance, tags, licenses, etc. followed by the amount of lies from the defendants. I usually state that I'll plead "no contest" and pay a fine. They'll search for your record and yours sounds like it will be a blank piece of paper. I've kept my record clean but I do remember having to do 4 hours of traffic school (what a waste and racket) for one particular healthy ticket.

Your mileage may vary ;)

Adrenaline junkie friend sent me this madness over the winter.
I hope he learned his lesson.

He had a court date 2 months later.

If it were 85, fine take your chances, it's just a ticket.
Since this is 90/reckless, if there is even a chance of jail time, I would not F around.
It could affect your job status.

You have a Porsche, you have a lawyer.
Get the lawyer, it will pay for itself.
Make a few calls and find out who the kingpin traffic lawyer is.

Thanks for the pic...she's a real beauty!

Good luck, man...it'll work out....no worries! SmileWavy

I've never accused a customer of wasting my time for asking me to do my friggin job.

Isn't that what "the court" is getting paid to do?
Oh that's right, they're MORE IMPORTANT than us mere peons.
Or at least that's how they acted when I had jury duty.
End of rant.


PS If i were you (and you're glad I'm not) I'd lawyer up and let him/her deal with it.
As long as they don't mind you wasting their time ;)

yep it ain't about the fine, and even the points are a temporary thing.

but the criminal charge...that's an entirely different matter!

guy before us in court got 3 days in the pokey...leading into Christmas Eve!

one of the 'witnesses' my co-defendant brought sees this and says 'fark this I ain't going to jail for him!'.

comical yet terrifying.

You're never wasting the court's time. If you lose, you pay court costs. If you win, then the state didn't prove their charges. No time wasted on the part of the court, and everyone in that room is on a gov't. salary, getting paid the same whether they're doodling on a pad or hearing testimony.

In VA a reckless was about the same as a DUI when I lived there - mandatory court appearance and, if you showed without a lawyer, you got a continuance and were told to come back with a lawyer. You simply had to pay the lawyer tax, no matter what.

I would call to get the court date pushed out as far as you can, but then still go to court on the originally scheduled date just to watch the proceedings. Chances are the cop who got you will be there, and it will be the same judge and ADA you'll have on your date. See how all that goes. It absolutely will not be boring and you'll learn something. You may be able to speak to the ADA right then and there. You may see the cop is total boob in court, disorganized, unprepared and gets chewed out by the judge. I have seen this before. And you may see people who are 110% guilty of serious offenses skate because the judge is easy. I've seen this too.

In the NJ Municipal Courts, the Prosecutor deals with any attorneys first, and any pro se litigants are handled last. Thus, here in NJ an additional advantage to hiring a lawyer is the judge handles your case at the very beginning of the session and wastes less of your time.

Yes, this. Going to court to have your day is never a "waste of the court's time", it's why they exist. That's their job. Any lawyer or judge claiming otherwise has no business being part of the judiciary.

The system is a racket designed to transfer money from the subjects (er... "citizens") to the elite lawyer's club and the associated support structure (law enforcement community, etc.) It's a game. Welcome to it. Pay an attorney to play your role. Good luck!

I was talking with a recent DUI convict yesterday. Taking his story at face value, he was somewhat railroaded, whereas, in the old days, he would have gotten a deal. PC for the contact (I say contact because he never moved his car from its parking space, so it wasn't a stop) was a bicycle cop hiding in wait and claiming he saw the subject stumbling toward his car from his apt. Again, taking it at face value ... sounded like a flimsy contact, but the DA and cops pushed this one to the wall, would not offer a deal at all. Subject told me the local cops and DAs are giving no quarter now for DUIs because Uber and Lyft have caused too big a decline in DUIs, causing the fine and other fee revenue to dry up.

And we can't have cities losing that revenue in exchange for safer roads.

I got one.... 92 mph. I was stupid and plead guilty, and was given a 550$ fine and misdemeanor. Think it was criminal speeding.
Didn't effect getting a security clearance.

If I was to do it again I would pay for legal representation, and get it pleaded down.

Everybody is entitled to legal representation...

Funny aside on cop mentality...a cute waitress once said: "My daddy is a police officer and I always side with the law." This explaining why she never sat on a jury. ;)

Good luck!

Location is a major consideration. Each state has its own laws. Years ago, in NC a clean record and pleading 1st time offense got me no points and pay court fees. I've been told that in TN that's not happening. I can tell you that in small towns around here they nail you to the wall for the income.
How much of a gambler are you? If you are risk adverse then ante up and get a local attorney who does tickets.

I had a misspent youth as a prosecutor and spent a fair amount of time prosecuting traffic violations. Since then I handle traffic cases on a friends and family basis. I can tell you very certainly from both sides of the courtroom that people who do not have attorneys in this situation do not not get the best deal. This is a serious traffic charge, second in seriousness only to a DWI. In fact, it is actually a misdemeanor criminal charge, unlike your basic speed violation. This can have implications on everything from your insurance to employment and your right to enter Canada. Seriously. Canadians stop anyone with a criminal record at the border.

Anyway, a competent defense attorney will give you your best result. There is a formula for handling cases like this but it's not a do it yourself project.

Wow, I don't doubt that the underlying premise (i.e. that "the system" is upset over a decline in revenue due to better / safer options like Uber and Lyft) is the law that you can't even go to your car to, say... retrieve something? Start the engine to keep warm / charge your phone / because your GF kicked you out? I thought "operating" a motor vehicle entailed putting it in motion on a public roadway but I'm curious to know how they busted someone for simply opening a car door whilst wasted...

I thought it was pretty common knowledge, if you are wasted and have the keys the second you touch the car you are fair game.

Personally I think that's BS.