Q: I have a must appear for speeding in a construction zone in illinois. Should I request court supervision? (50 in a 35)
I am required to appear in court. Is this a trial? meaning will I/the officer have to testify?
Also, would it be best to request court supervision? (my license was suspended while under 21 for speeding, but no tickets in the past 3 years)
I think I have a decent radar inaccuracy defense. It was raining with a 10+mph wind(marked on the ticket and i have a picture of the current weather at the time of the ticket) there were several cars in the same area as me. Also, the officer marked light traffic during morning rush hour and I have a picture of the traffic (apple maps) which shows a yellow traffic streak less that 1 mile away from where I was pulled over and there are no places for cars to leave the road (meaning there was more than light traffic)
Lastly there were several construction fence barricades and large orange garbage can sized construction barricades right near the officers car possibly obstructing the radar.
Any advice would be appreciated
A:
Hello Asker,
First, unless your case is in DuPage or Cook County, the first date is in most cases not a trial date. That said, even if you didn't want to go to trial right away, you are under no obligation to try the case on the first appearance if you don't want to. That said, you do have to appear in court because by statute these tickets are not able to be mailed in and require court appearances. Ordinarily, this requirement only attaches to misdemeanor and felony cases but some business and petty class offenses require court appearance by statute. This is one such case.
It would be best to request supervision particularly if you were under 21 when you received this ticket. The reason being that a conviction for this offense if you are under 21 will result in a 6 month suspension (See 92 Ill. Adm. Code 1040.29). If you do go to trial and lose, getting supervision may not be possible depending on the judge.
As for the radar inaccuracy defense, these arguments are not unheard of but uncommon due to the general acceptance of the technology. Given the risk of suspension, I think this argument is best left for cases you can afford to risk conviction on. As for the other comments about the traffic and setting, think before you make these points. Your argument is that you shouldn't be found guilty of speeding and that the presence of orange barricades/obstructions and heavier traffic than cited is good evidence in your favor. The construction obstructions are more likely to harm your case since it is evidence that you not only acknowledged the construction zone but sped in spite of it. The heavy traffic argument suggests that you were willing to travel at a high rate of speed in spite of heavier traffic. Not to mention you plan on providing a photo of the rainy weather as a defense that you were observing safe driving in a construction zone.
All of these don't paint a pretty picture and the value of securing court supervision in my opinion outweighs the desire to win at trial but risk conviction which would lead to suspension.
Hope that helps and let me know if you have any questions!
Sincerely,
Jason A. Wilkins
Traffic Attorney
(630) 445-2293
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