{ how to work the system }

" D I S M I S S E D! "

...did I just get out of paying a $400 ticket?

HELL YA I DID! Take that you sorry, egocentric police officer!

This morning I went to my court appearance and got out of yet another traffic ticket, which would have been a whomping  $400 fine! If you know my husband or I, you know how many FA-rikkin' traffic tickets we get! Honestly, it's ridiculous!!!! Once we got three in one week! ...but I swear we're not bad drivers! The cops here are just delusional and must see a huge sign on the back of our car that says "PULL ME OVER, PLEASE". And we just have a higher percentage of getting pulled over than the average driver because we're forever driving around all of Southern California on a regular basis.

So this ticket was the fourth one we've gotten out of...I think...honestly, we've both lost count now. (ya -there's been that many) We've pretty much been to at least one courthouse in each county (the farthest in Ventura County) So we could tell you how each courthouses' system works (because they're all different)

Now if you want to be like every other American who gets a traffic ticket you can:

A) get got and just pay the fine in full amount
B) fail to appear in court/pay the bail amount and get your license suspended/have a warrant out for your arrest
or
C) work the system

Now this is how you work the system (mainly for speeding tickets):
-once you get your ticket in the mail read the paper or go online and know how that courthouse's system works
-you want to postpone your court appearance as long as you possibly can-that way the officer hopefully forgets about your case or looses his paper work for your ticket (depending on the courthouse. you can extend the date to pay the bail amount and then right before it's actually due -schedule to make a court appearance -but again, check with the courthouse first because they're all different)
-when you go to the first court appearance -always plead not guilty  (unless it's for running a red light in an intersection with a camera -you'll NEVER win on those, or something like you didn't have your license or insurance) If you were driving while talking/texting on your cell phone, you have a fix-it-ticket, or other -those offenses are pretty black and white so it will be hard to win NOT GUILT, so plead GUILTY (if the judge is nice enough they'll lower the amount you have to pay)
-when you plead NOT GUILTY you'll be scheduled another court appearance on a different day because they have to subpoena the officer who issued your ticket
-your next court appearance (usually a couple months later-again, if you can postpone this for as long as you can) is a gamble! -if your officer doesn't show up to court your case is automatically dismissed (you don't have to pay the fine or your refunded it in 4-6 weeks and you get no point on your driving record) If he does show up -that's where you have to get kind of creative with your plea.(if you have a 'lawyer friend' this is where you should get their advise -not mine! lol)
-so far we've never had to state a plea because we postponed our trial months, almost a year later, that the officer never showed up -so a "no show" (of your officer) is what your hoping for.
-worst case scenario -if you plead NOT GUILTY and are found GUILTY, you will not be able to attend traffic school (which will give you a point on your driving record) and you will have to pay the original amount of your traffic violation.

Oh ya, and when you go to court, dress decently. Don't wear a hat, sunglasses, a white-T, basketball shorts, and Jordan slippers (like my husband -he learned the hard way lol)

...but I guess the best advice in how to avoid going through all the above -follow the law or don't get caught.



**disclaimer: if your dumb enough to think I'm some type of lawyer -I'm not! So don't take this info too seriously if it doesn't work for you. This is just what has worked out for us.