Every day, thousands of people plead guilty and pay their fine without ever asking a traffic ticket attorney for advice. Why? Or, the better question is why not? Why not ask an attorney? When many even offer a FREE initial consultation? There are several very good reasons a court will dismiss that ticket, you just don’t know what they are.

California Vehicle Code (CVC)

Many people pay their ticket without ever even looking up the CVC they were ticketed for and have no idea what the law states. What are the elements that must be proven to find you guilty? Take for instance, driving while your license is revoked or suspended (VC 14601.1, VC 14601.2, and VC 14601.5). The State must prove that you did drive your vehicle on a public road and that you were aware that your license was suspended or revoked. This must be proven “beyond a reasonable doubt.”

If you stop for gas, fill up, go in to pay, and when you come out there is a law enforcement (LE) officer standing by your car with the lights flashing, can he ticket you for driving while under suspension? Yes, of course, he can if your license was suspended it is his duty. Can the State prove “beyond a reasonable doubt” that you drove that vehicle there? Only if they saw you drive up, waited around for you to fill up, go in and pay, and waited for you to come out.

Similarly, if you moved and did not update your new address with the DMV, proving that you knew your license had been suspended will be difficult, particularly if the notification from DMV was returned for an incorrect address. You may be guilty of not updating your address but quite possibly not knowing your license was suspended. Both scenarios have played out in California courts.

Grounds for Dismissal

The grounds for dismissal are as varied as the laws themselves. That’s why it is so important to hire a traffic ticket lawyer. A traffic ticket lawyer knows the system, what has worked, what has never worked, the judges, the court clerks, and many of the LE officers that write tickets.

A traffic ticket lawyer knows that because your name was spelled wrong on your citation or your date of birth (DOB) was wrong is not grounds for dismissal, but it may be more difficult for the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to get the ticket placed in the right motor vehicle record (MVR) if the information is not corrected. So, why bring it to anyone’s attention? However, if you went into court unrepresented that might be your only defense.

Even though all lawyers know the difference between evidence and mitigating circumstances and when to use each, a traffic ticket attorney knows what evidence may prove innocence and get your case dismissed because the elements to prove guilt were not met. They also know when found guilty, what mitigating circumstances the judge will allow to reduce the fine or change a suspension or jail time to probation. This knowledge is very important to truckers and other commercial motor vehicle (CMV) drivers who depend on their license to feed their family.

Bigger & Harman, APC – Traffic Ticket Defenders

Traffic ticket defenders also know when to tell their client just pay the fine, ask for traffic school, and move on. Not every ticket is worth fighting, but when you are faced with a driver’s license suspension, jail time, heavy fines, or a criminal record, particularly for truckers and CMV drivers, you need a professional traffic ticket defender.

Many attorneys handle a varied workload of law areas, such as divorce, personal injury, breaking & entering, and other criminal charges. At Bigger & Harman, they handle traffic law exclusively. They know traffic law and practice it every day in a variety of courtrooms throughout SoCal, in Porterville, Tulare County for clients who got a ticket on highway 65 or 99 or Visalia on highways 198 and 99. They defend truckers whose truck was overweight, had bad equipment, or without the proper permits. In Kings, San Bernardino, and other California counties they are there defending traffic tickets in traffic court. When you need a traffic ticket defender in SoCal, call Bigger & Harman, 661-349-9300. Or, send an email: attorney@markbigger.com

En español, llame al 661-349-9755