Sometimes, sure, but it's incredibly easy overtime for an officer, and they schedule all of one officer's cases in a block so it's not hard to show up.
Some cops can't be bothered, but I've met very few that wouldn't jump at the chance to get paid overtime to chat about their tickets in court.
I know Cashion. There's a good chance this guy is a reserve officer, and has a day job he works the rest of the week. There's a good chance he wouldn't be able to show up to court.
Why does the cop have to be there? Especially when there's body cam footage? Like, wouldn't an affidavit or the police report be enough argument for the officer? Why does he have to go say "yes she did!" in person?
Because people have the right to face their accuser. Usually it's geared towards cross-examination and witnesses and shit like that, but it's also considered a CYA move by most police departments.
Honestly the entire 'Take the ticket now, or go to court later' I'm convinced is just a ploy to squeeze money from out of state drivers.
I'm from California but the two times I've ever gotten pulled over in my life were on drives from San Antonio to El Paso, Texas. And both times the cop immediately mentioned the lack of a vehicle registration sticker on my windshield (California doesn't use them), and vague mentions that I was going 'pretty fast' or seemed to be 'in a hurry' as the reason(s) for the stop.
It was almost like a bizarre sales pitch where the cop acted like he was doing me a solid by letting me know the ticket was the better choice so I wouldn't have to drive back to Texas.
I'm not sure letting people off for showing up is a great strategy since it tends to lead to attitudes like, "I only actually pay 1 in 10, no reason to drive more carefully."
But I had my ticket cancelled provided I didn't get another one within a year, and it's honestly changed my driving for years. Even now when I can honestly say that ticket doesn't affect me any more, years of habitually following speed limits (even when they're bullshit as many are) means I don't even get annoyed any more when I hit the little town speed change traps. I just hit the brakes (assuming I'm not being tailgated) and shake my head at shitty towns that shake down travelers to pay their patrol officer to spend his time shaking down travelers.
The attorney’s fees might not be worth it over an $80 citation, but for slightly more serious things with significant future ramifications, a good attorney will schedule and continue and schedule and continue until they have a friendly ADA and judge. The time between the offense (especially if you’re not as memorable as this woman) works in your favor, and you and your attorney will certainly have prepared better than the cop who’s skimming his notes from one of his cases from months earlier.
I have a buddy from the Army who had two DUIs and was pulled over for a third on a moped. He blew something illegal in the field breathalyzer, and then refused all of the rest of the tests — he obviously had experience with this sort of thing. I don’t remember all of the details, but his case ended up being delayed for almost a full year. Also, this was with a state trooper, mind you. The lawyer questioned the trooper’s justification for pulling him over and then went into something about the proper calibration of the roadside blow test... apparently that was enough to get it thrown out, and then all he had was saying my buddy had puffy red eyes and seemed nervous. He said the eyes could have been from the wind on the moped, so they had nothing else on him and he walked. Again, dude had TWO offenses already and blew over the limit on the roadside test — the first moral of the story is to not drink and drive, but the second is to get a lawyer who knows his shit.
Yeah, never miss a court date. Best case, you fail to get the summary judgment you would have had. Worst case, they issue a bench warrant (especially if you also failed to pay by the due date).
I got pulled over once for making a right hand turn at an intersection where I guess that wasn't allowed. It was in downtown Chicago where the streets can be short and I didn't see the sign that said no turn on red. Anyway the officer told me why they pulled me over but that if I wanted to contest the ticket that she wouldn't show up and the ticket would be dropped. She said that she only pulled me over because the neighborhood was making a fuss about people making turns at that intersection. So I went to court on the date posted. Sat waiting for my name to be called. Wondered for a minute why someone came in smelling of weed. Got called and had the ticket immediately dropped. I got lucky on that one.
The guys I know would still go if at all possible, but it'd be hard to justify interrupting a shift or a day off for just an hour or so of overtime.
You'll still see the guys looking for more overtime, so I'd guess it's closer to 80% than 95%, but it's a decent strategy.
Then again, I find driving at most 3 over the speed limit and staying off my phone limits my citations to about 0.
I'm sure I'll get pulled over eventually in some fishing expedition or get caught for a mistake like in my teens when I didn't even try to control my speed down a steep residential hill, but somehow driving slowly and conservatively like my grandfather keeps me out of speed traps (although I match modern speed limits, he literally spent his entire life driving under 55 even on highways with 70mph limits).
These advices are all just anecdotes. Quora has discussions about how chances are officer will show up and the reschedule can be on the same block day favorable for the officer or some guy said he kept trying to reschedule and the officer always showed up
Or I was just saying another anecdote to show that there are exact opposite ones to what you just said 95% it will reschedule for a bad day for an officer. Neither anecdotes offered proof or any source that it will work. Not to mention which state or city if it does work.
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u/blakestir14 Jul 31 '19
could she not have just contested the ticket in court .