Got pulled over...need advice badly...

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Pyrocket

New member
Hello everyone, I am hoping someone on here might be able to advise me what is going to happen, and or the best way to approach this situation. Heres the deal:



I am bipolar, and I got in a fight with my girlfriend. I was in a pretty low mood, and wasnt using the best judgement, and I wanted to get back to college to work things out with her as soon as possible. I am 19.



So yes, I was speeding, I wont dispute it, I was going 89 in a 65 on a straightaway 4 lane highway with hardly traffic around. Wrong? Yes.



So I get off at the exit, have a stop sign, stop, and turn left.



I get into the right hand turning lane to go to walmart to buy a card for her, which was at a 4 way intersection. I had my own lane for turning right, and a yield sign. I slowed down, saw no traffic, so continued turning right.



At this point I see the police officer behind me, and had nowhere to pull over immediately. So I turned on my 4 way flashers and went into the walmart parking lot, getting into the first space I saw. It took about 20 seconds from the point I saw him for me to pull over at the first available spot.



So he has ticketed me for:

1. reckless driving

2. not stopping a red light

3. not yielding to an emergency vehicle



Now the speeding yes, I was speeding. Reckless? I don't feel it was reckless, definetly should get a ticket for speeding, but it was safe no one was around, straight road. He apparently was on the other side of the highway and turned around to come after me.



Not stopping at a red light? Definetly not, I had a yield sign, no traffic, so I went, and I was in my own right hand turning lane.



Not yielding to emergency vehicle? Absolutely not, I did as soon as I could, and indicated that by my flashers.







I am a pennsylvania resident with PA license, and this happened in West Virginia where I go to college. I just met with the magistrate today, and pled not guilty to both counts. I have a meeting scheduled Nov. 4 with the prosecutor and the police officer.



When this happened I was very civil to the police officer. I apologized for speeding, but asked what light I didnt stop at, I did not say I did this. And I also explained to him I was pulling over as soon as possible. His response "you can fight that in court, I wont be offended by that, you might even win". I thanked the officer, did everything he told me too, and was very polite.





So now what happens? Can anyone tell me from experience whats going to happen, what I should do, any advice at all? Thanks guys, I really appreciate it. I should also mention this is the first time I've ever been pulled over in my life, or had any sort of ticket.
 
Here in New Jersey, I believe (fortunately, never have had to find out for myself) that it is common to write for reckless if you are 30 or more over the posted limit (which you weren't).



If this is normal traffic court stuff, you can probably plea bargain all the stuff down. However, I have a cop friend who would advise you to never go into court without a lawyer, but I have seen plenty of people bargain succesfully by themselves with either the cop or the prosecutor.
 
See if you can get deferred abjudication or traffic school for the speeding and fight the other two. Go back and take a picture of the intersection. If there is a yeild sign there, they will toss it immediately. If you stopped as quickly as you say you did, you should be able to beat that too. Demand your day in court.
 
What i would do is write a letter to the distirict attorneys office explaining the situation, see if they will dismiss the other charges if you plead guilty to speeding, there really just in it for the money, that would guarantee they make money and if would save you money at the same time. If that does not work, your best bet would be to hire an attorney, that is honestly the only way to get off. Because if you do take it to court they will believe the cop over you. That is all i can think of right now. best of luck. Im in a smiliar situation right now, i have been unfairly ticketed. and am hoping that w/ my evidence and my attorney i can get it dismissed.
 
sounds like he was being a ****....good advice aboive but FWIW, the last time I got pulled over for speeding I basically ddi the same thing and drove about a 1/4 mile to a plce where it was safe to pull over...The cop thanked me for being so considerate of his safety (still gave me a ticket, which I deserved)
 
go to court...you may want to get a lawyer to join you. Most states label it "reckless" if you are 20 mph over the posted limit. That's a fairly serious offense you want reduced or eliminated.
 
Get a lawyer to plea bargain everything down and maybe get some of those charges dismissed too. The lawyer knows how the system works and can best exploit it to your advantage. The goal is to keep the infractions from your record to avoid increased insurance premiums. The goal is NOT to save a couple of hundred bucks in the short term by attempting to represent yourself. Think twice about meeting with the prosecutor and the PO without a lawyer because they'll eat you alive without you knowing it. Ask your classmates for referrals. Good luck.
 
My advice is always the same...get an attorney. It's not cheap, but this is your driving record (and insurance points) you are messing with.
 
BoxsterCharlie said:
My advice is always the same...get an attorney. It's not cheap, but this is your driving record (and insurance points) you are messing with.
Click to expand...

Yes, very, very good advice. A co-worker was told by a judge he was going to loose his license and set a later court date. He approached a lawyer he saw at the courthouse, explained his situation and the lawyer said no problem. Cost him $150 and he didn't have to go back to court..... money well spent.
 
In NC, if you are >15mph over the limit, then the charge is Careless&Reckless Driving. Possibly similar where you are.



Best advice is to get an attorney. They actually do most of their work BEFORE the trial, working out plea arrangements, and convincing the DA to drop incorrect charges.



You made a mistake, and there will be consequences; but there's no reason to take a hit for the last two charges (unless they're true).



I personally made the mistake of not getting an attorney for a C&R charge when I was younger. I figured that it was a slam-dunk case, as the officer had obviously made a big mistake. Well, the court doesn't want to listen to you unless you work within their rules (entry of evidence, proper motion, citation of case law), so simply 'telling the truth' didn't count for much in my case. I'm certain that had I hired an attorney, I'd have paid his fees, but the C&R would've been dropped - and I wouldn't have had the points or the fine.



Don't be stupid like I was - go with an attorney.
 
Meet with the prosecutor. Plead your case and see if they offer you a plea. If they want to press the charges you're going to need a lawyer. I was in a similar situation but all I did was floor it up to the speed limit in the presence of a cop and he wrote a very much false police report containing all sorts of violations I didn't commit. I met with the prosecutor and she and I talked it down to a lesser charge. I guess it all depends on who's working your case. Good luck.
 
Yep, meet with the prosecutor but *watch what you say*. I'd get the attorney *first* and have him/her along, if it were me.



And I wouldn't automatically assume the LEO was being a jerk. It sounds like he was pretty cool about it and my guess is that he was just following the dept.'s policy. Different juristdictions have different rules for anything more than 20 over and sometimes it's considered quite a serious matter. Once they call it in a certain way they can't always "undo it" and write you up for something less. His "I won't be offended, you might even win" sounds like he's an OK guy and he won't be out to "beat" you in court, so I'd be cautiously optimistic. A lot of times you just get put through a huge hassle as part of the "teaching you a lesson". Might sound crappy, but it beats getting written up for something really serious and *not* having a way out of it.



Real lesson: never be a [person of questionable judgment] behind the wheel. And you seem to have learned the "real lesson".
 
Get a lawyer in the area. Usually you will get plenty of letters from the local ones who make their money handling these types of cases. And you are going to pay; either to the lawyer or probably more to your insurance company (usually as higher premiums for 2 or 3 years). He can probably get the charges reduced, dismissed, or (if you do not have a record) a "prayer for judgement continued".
 
I have the most horrible driving record(lead foot) I have freinds with more speeding tickets than I do and there records are not near as bad as mine. They said all they did was do deffered judification.
 
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