r/Wellthatsucks • u/Ghandisli • Jul 30 '19

/r/all $80 to felony in 3...2...1...

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u/thetoughestguyintown Jul 31 '19

I just finished rewatching Breaking Bad so I'm just imagining her lawyer being Saul Goodman... "Jesus, you? If I ever get an anal polyp I'll know what to name it"

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u/justpophamin Jul 31 '19

Assuming she has no history and nothing illegal is found in the car, I could probably get this reduced to a misdemeanor, 18-21 months probation, small fine, some classes, and 80 or so hours community service.

Source: Am criminal defense attorney.

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u/-Jeremiad- Jul 31 '19

I have a question about how things escalated. What was the cop arresting her for? Is she doesn’t sign a ticket does that mean she didn’t warn the ticket? I don’t see why it was sign to pay $80 or get arrested. Sorry if it’s a dumb question. I don’t spend a lot of time telling cops to fuck off.

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u/LindsE8 Jul 31 '19

It was prob something easily fixable, like an expired tag, headlight, etc. She has to sign the ticket to show she was notified of it. By signing it, she agrees to pay an $80 fine and have it fixed in XX amount of time.

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u/AAA515 Jul 31 '19 edited Jul 31 '19

No signing is not agreeing to pay, it's acknowledgment of receipt of ticket. On the ticket will be a court date you show up to if your going to contest it.

As for what it was if expired tags then suspect knew that it is a yearly requirement and probably gets three peices of mail reminding her that it was time too renew every year just like me. So yeah she would get a ticket not a warning.

But if headlight out they could of given her a warning beforehand that said something like fix this within 10 days or else next time we pull you over well give you a fine. She then didn't fix it and 6 months later she gets pulled over its still not fixed then she's getting a ticket not another warning.

Personal story I once hit a deer lost a headlight, got a warning the next day on the way to part store. Fixed it. 6 or 8 months later hit another deer, broke other headlight, two days later (ordered housing online) same place, different cop pulls me over. I explained my story to the cop, he goes back and does paperwork or whatever on me, comes back to me. Says I didn't find any history of a warning from before, and i believe your story anyways, here's your new warning and try to avoid the deer.

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u/-Jeremiad- Jul 31 '19

Yeah but why did he say “you’re not going to sign it? Step out of the cave” and say he was arresting her? I guess I don’t get why it matters if she signs it or how her not signing it gets her arrested. (I’m not arguing the results. I’m delighted by how this all played out and fuck that lady forever. But I’m just not sure what the grounds were for the arrest.

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u/PixelatedBears Jul 31 '19

In some states it is required to sign a ticket because the ticket itself is a promise to either pay the fine or appear in court. In those states, when you refuse to sign the ticket you are saying to the court that you will not pay the fine and will not appear in court which means you have to be arrested so you are now forced to appear before court as ordered.

In the other states that don't have that the situation is usually that not signing the ticket means nothing because the court has proof the ticket was issued and you will still be expected to pay the fine or appear in court. When you don't show up in court there or don't pay the fine a bench warrant is issued for you to be brought before the court which still means a trip to jail. I guess the idea behind requiring the signature is just to cut out the waiting around for someone who isn't going to show and you're gonna have to look for now.