HELP! w/ trespassing ticket!

[Joffa]

Need some advice! I wanna know if I should show up in court to contest the summons, also any estimates on the fine / points. Some nights the sign says "Sports Complex" other nights it says "Ramp Closed". No matter what it says, I usually just take the exit b/c it connects easily and toll-free to the highway. There happened to be two state troopers waiting for me down the road a ways. They were blocking the road completely so I had to slow down to inch around them. I decided to play it cool, and turned and gave them a nod and a wave as I drove past them, hoping they would assume I was an employee of the sports complex and wouldn't bother with me. Turns out I was wrong. Pulled me over about 10 seconds later. I played dumb at that point and claimed I was just looking for Route _. He asked why I waved at them then; I responded "I had to slow down to go around you guys. This isn't the way to Route _ ?" I handed him all my documents; he asked me if they were valid, blah blah... He gave me a summons stating "failed to obey TP signs", there's no dollar amount or points listed. Should I contest this? Alot of people tell me, moving violations should always be contested, b/c usually they will just drop the points for you to plead guilty so they don't have to be bothered with paperwork. I don't know if I have much of a case. It is somewhat confusing that some nights the ramp is open, some nights it is closed. It was also late at night, so I could claim I was tired and confused. Not sure if this is a good idea cause maybe they could slap me with something else for driving while tired? I would really like to contest this, just to make the officer show up in court, plus get rid of points. I was very polite to him; he could have let me off with a warning b/c it's an innocent mistake I'm sure some people make. Any advice Karch or others???

~Joffa

[Joffa]

I found the statute that he wrote down on the ticket. He wrote 19:8-1.13c.
I looked it up online for the turnpike and found:

19:8-1.13 Failure to obey traffic control devices $81.

I'm just wondering how many points I'm gonna get for this, 2? Does it pay to plea bargain or just take the hit of 2 points?

One other thing I noticed is that he failed to write down a "Court No." on the ticket. I tried logging into the website and punch my ticket in, but without the court code, I can't. Is he forgetting the Court No. enough to invalidate the ticket?

~Joffa

[Grizzly]

LOL, you and Thick should just stop driving. I find your post kind of interesting, though. On outlaw a guy posted that his cousin the State Trooper says to never wave to them because they always figure you are hiding something. Looks like he might have been telling the truth from reading your post.

sorry for posting stuff of no value whatsoever.

[Joffa]

Originally Posted by Grizzly

sorry for posting stuff of no value whatsoever.

LOL. Ya got me all excited...

~Joffa

[mranak]

If there are points involved, then I suggest that you contest it. They may be willing to drop the ticket and let you pay court costs rather than pay the ticket or something similar. But this is just my inexperienced opinion. I don't usually get tickets.

[Joffa]

Had dinner with a cop friend tonight. I showed him the ticket. He said I should pleabargain it, and that a pleabargain will cost me around $500 now but he said that's better than the thousands I will pay in insurance cost for future years. If the state removes 3 points a year from your license, and these go away 1 year from now, will insurance continue to charge me more in future years?

~Joffa

[Joffa]

Thanks Karch.

~Joffa

[Chrisgj2]

It it were me, I would consider asking for Traffic School (could be two 4 hours nights, court doesn't have to grant your request though), but more likely I would take to a traffic lawyer to have the ticket fixed. Basically the lawyer gets the ticket amended to non-moving and points are waved, but you still pay the ticket and court costs. Here in St. Louis a lawyer fixing a ticket costs around $75, but is well worth the price considering what insurance premiums good go to if your insurance finds out. Good luck.

Chris

[Chrisgj2]

I should have mentioned that traffic school can cost around $60 or at least that is about what it is here in St. Louis. But if you are going to do that, you might as well get a lawyer to fix it anyway.

Chris

[Joffa]

Thanks, Karch. I called the court last week, but they didn't have the ticket in their system yet. I'm gonna call this week, then I may hit ya up with some questions. Thanks.

~Joffa

[Joffa]

Aight. The court finally got my ticket in the system. It's an $85 fine. She said she can't tell me the points and to look it up with DMV. From what I've read, it looks like a 2 point summons. Does anyone know if insurance companies in NJ have any tolerance for points? My friends are telling me that insurance companies won't raise rates for just 2 points. I have NJM, which I hear is strict. I'm wondering if I should just eat the 2 points and pay $85 or contest it. I've also been told by my friend, who is a cop, that the plea bargain fee is now around $500 in NJ What should I do? I needed the $500 to put towards my school bill, b/c I have a hold and they won't send out transcripts for me (which I need in september) until I pay my bill

~Joffa

[Joffa]

back at ya.

~Joffa

[Joffa]

Ok, I called my insurance company. They do not raise rates based on points or accidents; however they do re-examine your driving record each year and you can get dropped during renewal period. For 2 point violations, the guy said not to even worry about it.

Here is where I need a little advice. If I take the 2 point hit, I will now have points on my license. If I get another ticket down the road while these 2 points are still on my licence can I plea bargain out of the new ticket? Or do they only allow plea bargains to those who have no points on their license? Cause right now I don't really have the money for the plea bargain, so thinking of taking the hit, but wondering if it will catch up with me later down the road. If I can, however, use a plea bargain for the next ticket, then I don't have to worry

~Joffa

[Joffa]

All right, I called the municipal court and my date is set in September. Any tips on when I go? This is my first time ever going before a judge. If the cop doesn't show, is that grounds for dismissal? Any other tips I could use to my advantage?

~Joffa