Q: Got my first ever traffic ticket (speeding ticket) I was going 12 over so what's next? Court on 7-14-15 what to expect?

A: First, you will be fine. If this is your first ticket, you shouldn't have any trouble and truth be told, you shouldn't need a lawyer either. You will be given the option to plead guilty or not guilty. If you plead guilty, the judge will sentence you. If you choose this option, I recommend letting the judge know this is your first ticket and that you would like court supervision. This will help prevent your insurance rates from going up and keep it off your public driving records. The records of court supervision remain only on secured records.

If you plead not guilty, you will have the opportunity for a brief trial in front of the judge. You will have the opportunity to cross examine and ask the cop questions about the stop as well as testify to your accounting of the events.

Just a brief aside, court supervision is a form of deferred prosecution that avoids a conviction. It places you on a supervision period during which time you cannot receive new tickets for around 2-6 months. At the end of this period, if you complied with the rules (going to traffic school, paying fines, no new tickets), the case is dismissed against you and no conviction enters. Court supervision, unlike probation, does not require you to report back to the court in most circumstances. If reporting is required, it is ordinarily at the very end to verify you did traffic school if required.

Lastly, know that, as long as you don't blow off the court date, this ticket alone can not in any way result in a suspension based upon what you have stated. All the same, getting court supervision is very important because that will help you best in the long run.

Hope that helps!

Jason A. Wilkins

Attorney at Law

A: As to your question about the non-appearance portion of the ticket, that relates to whether appearance is necessary. Because this is a criminal offense, you have the right to notice and a hearing because of due process. That is why you are given the optional court date should you choose to appear. The appearance portion relates moreso to tickets whose appearance is not optional. Class A, B, and C misdemeanors as well as operating uninsured motor vehicles require court appearances. The misdemeanors do because they are jailable offenses and the insurance tickets do because it is required by statute.

In your case, you are charged with what is known as a petty offense. This means it is not a jailable offense and thus you cannot be incarcerated. Because it is only punishable by fine, you are given the option to resolve it without appearing in court. In this case, you have chosen court and thus must appear to address the matter.

If any of this is unclear, please feel free to reach out to me by visiting my profile and locating my contact information.

Sincerely,

Jason A. Wilkins

Attorney at Law