Traffic court need help.........

[84CJ]

Anyone know a good traffic lawyer? My son was home on emergency leave from Kuwait and was stopped for speeding in Charlotte NC. He had to leave Sun to go back and he will need to get someone to handle this. Court date is in late may. Anyone now a good lawyer in Charlotte that can do this? He needs a good one 97 in a 60.

 

[84CJ]

Anyone know a good traffic lawyer? My son was home on emergency leave from Kuwait and was stopped for speeding in Charlotte NC. He had to leave Sun to go back and he will need to get someone to handle this. Court date is in late may. Anyone now a good lawyer in Charlotte that can do this? He needs a good one 97 in a 60.

 

[GatorFarmer]

Check with the JAG people, I'd think that process might be stayed until he gets back. Otherwise, just pay the fine. Even if the fine is a grand, lawyers aren't exactly cheap.

 

[gunsmith11]

How about a letter to the court explaining the facts,you never know, they may dismiss it.,or at least postpone it until he returns

 

[CAJUNLAWYER]

Get hold of the local public defender & explain the situation to him/her. This sounds like one that can & should be "back channeled" and the PD is the one who knows best the labrynth and can give guidance-most of these guys have a private practice on the side and like making a little extra. FWIW when I do one of these long distance things I do not charge more than a couple of hours-as a general rule I probably wouldn't even charge in a sutuation such as you described. This involves a lawyer going to the DA and convincing him/her to do a plea to a non moving violation and pay a fine. Sometimes all it takes is a phone call, sometime you have to waste a couple of hours at the courthouse. DO NOT let some big d-ck criminal lawyer try to charge you a grand or something riduculous like that. A fair fee (what I would charge down here) would be in the $175-350 range depending on how many trips to the courthouse it takes-time IS time

Don't know what or how they do it up there, but I would suspect it is pretty much the same-you know the old motto-"to collect and to serve"

 

[84CJ]

Originally posted by GatorFarmer:
Check with the JAG people, I'd think that process might be stayed until he gets back. Otherwise, just pay the fine. Even if the fine is a grand, lawyers aren't exactly cheap.

There was no fine Just a court date.

Thanks caj that is about the same thing his command told him. Just needed to know where to start. I am going to foward your advice to him. Thanks again. He has full access to the web and phones 24/7. Military Geek Squad

 

[SmithEC]

If your son feels he just must talk to a North Carolina Atty, this guy was always good luck for my guys. I'm sure that he handles simpler traffic stuff like what you are talking about. A ways from Charlotte, though.

I decided that this guy has a strange kind of luck, and my guys got to lean on that luck a few times. This while I was in the USMC and had to go to court with my folks when they found themselves with a problem. He represented one of my guys arrested for DUI one time. The arresting officer testified that he had my guy walk an imaginary line, and that my guy stepped off it a couple times going out and a few times coming back in. Because of this imaginary line, my guy escaped with nothing but a speeding ticket.


.

 

[Bullseye Smith]

Under the Solider and Sailer Act they have to hold it without any actions till he gets back. Contact the local recruiter and they will give you the roadway to go with it, since he is serving our Country they should drop it. If they don't the local paper will run with it

. Tell your son Thanks and we will be thinking about him.

 

[shovelwrench]

I don't know if he'll work in Charlotte, but Greg Seibert, in Raleigh, always did good for me, and had VERY reasonable pricing.

http://www.seibert.com/

 

[perpster]

Be VERY CAREFUL about just paying the fine. That equates to a plea of guilty. That will put points on his driver's license. 97 in a 60 could result in a license suspension and insurance increase.

 

[AKAOV1MAN]

My suggestion; if you can, appear on the court date and explan the situation to the prosecutor, and if necessary, appear before the judge. Just state the facts as you know them-about your son's absence-not about the violation, and bring a copy of his orders with you.

 

[RightWinger]

First of all I do appreciate your son's service to our country, I was in the Marines for 5 years and was part of this war as well. I am now a Police officer in Nashville. I'm not an attorney however the best advice I can give would be to go talk to the DA or the traffic judge about the situation BEFORE the actual court date. They would normally dismiss it on cost or defer it for 6 months which means its dismissed but if he gets another ticket in 6 months he has to pay both. Worst case scenario would be pay the fine, YES, this does mean you are pleading guilty, but since when is manning up to something you did such a terrible thing? I can't speak for all cops, but if I stop somebody for speeding, then they were usually doing at least 15 over the speed limit. I am not fond of writing speeding tickets and the 4 years I have been on the department the only speeding tickets I have written were on felony drug cases where I wanted to show probably cause for the stop. Just my .02. Tell your son to stay safe!

 

[straightshooter1]

84CJ, I sent you an email with a suggestion.

Bob

 

[jimmyj]

Hi, 84CJ:
Was there a reason for your Son to be driving 97 MPH in a 60 MPH Speed Zone?
Was this on an open highway or in a city?
Just curious.
Jimmy

 

[truckemup97]

Originally posted by jimmyj:
Hi, 84CJ:
Was there a reason for your Son to be driving 97 MPH in a 60 MPH Speed Zone?
Was this on an open highway or in a city?
Just curious.
Jimmy

If he was on I-85, and it wasn't rush hour, he was likely just keeping up with traffic.

As for the advice, I'd go with what Caj said. I'd say go with straightshooter1, but I don't know what he suggested.

I'm pretty sure it was good advice, though.

 

[84CJ]

Yep. I-85. Trying to get over so he would not miss his exit. 97 sounds fast but not really so much on 85. I drive 85 every day and had to up the 98mph speed limiter so it would stop shutting off

Hopefully he can get this taken care of and not get hammered to bad SC insurance is high enough without a charge like this.

Thanks for all the advice. He is working caj's advice right now.

Thanks also straightshooter1.

 

[jimmyj]

Hi:
In this part of the World, if a Defendant has a "Clean" driving record often times the Traffic Judge will levi a "Fine" but will with hold "Judication" (no points on driving record)
Jimmy

 

[84CJ]

Sure hope it works that way for him. He will be working to pay for his insurance if NC reports it to SC. I think that qualifies for wreckless driving in SC.

 

[rcnixon]

He will get tons of mail from lawyers in that jurisdiction. Just pick one. It will cost about $300 for the lawyer and a small fine (+-$150), usually for "improper equipment". I can't remember the name of the pleading off the top of my head but the whole package is less than the increase in his insurance rates for one year. I just asked my daughter, we've each had one, it is a "prayer for judgement" and the lawyer will talk it over with the prosecutor. The seven or eight hundred dollars we spent have saved me about two and a half grand in insurance surcharges so far. Your milage may vary. I am not a lawyer but I have used one for a speeding ticket here in North Carolina. So has my daughter.

Russ

 

[Andy Taylor]

He was on that newly rebuilt motorcycle we talked about, wasn't he?

I do believe they have to defer it until he gets back, although I don't know the particulars. Take a copy of his orders and talk to the DA (about the absense, not the violation). that is where I would start. The local JAG office might be of help also.