Atlanta Traffic Court (appointed, city hall, lawyers)

[karmasimonregis]

Hi, I have been looking everywhere for Atlanta Traffic Court experiences and I haven't found a single one. I plan to post my experience in court here after it happens, but if anyone has any advice please let me know!

Here's what happened:
I was driving home from GSU and I got on I-75 S at the MLK drive exit. It was gridlock traffic, so I got off at the next exit and went under the overpass. I was driving about 30 mph down a street that was paved with brick/stone, no lines painted or anything, looking straight at the road. At the last second I looked up and realized that there was a traffic light, and that it was red. Since there were no crosswalks or lines to stop behind, it took me a little by suprise and I slammed on the brakes, my tires squealing a little but ultimately stopping before entering the intersection. That's when I saw the cop sitting adjacent to me at the intersection. He turned right ahead of me, and I sighed with relief, thinking how glad I was that I stopped in time. He drove ahead of me briefly, then pulled over. I passed him. He pulled back into the lane and followed me. I turned right onto Piedmont Avenue, and he followed me for a little bit down that road, then decided to pull me over right there in the middle of the street. Piedmont is a one-way, busy three or four lane street. I couldn't believe he pulled me over there. He came up and said, "I guess you know why I pulled you over." Still confused, I said, "Yes." I thought he was going to warn me to be more careful next time, but he wrote me a ticket for "Failure to obey traffic control device." I didn't run the red light. I stopped. If I had run it, there would be no reason for him to pull over and get behind me to pull me over. I was not in the intersection when I stopped, because it is a tiny intersection and he would have had no room to pull out in front of me. There was no line to stop behind, so he could not say that I was over the line when i stopped.

I plan to contest this in court. This is what I am going to do:

-There is no trial by mail in Atlanta, but I am going to request a continuation of my court date because I have a final exam review at that time. Is this something that they may postpone my court date for? I have written a nice letter that I plan to deliver today.
-I will go to the intersection to take pictures from my position, the cop's position, the light, and the street. Also, I will take pictures of where he pulled me over.
-I am going to make a diagram of the entire thing from me stopping at the light to him pulling me over.

What else can I do? I am very worried because I received a speeding ticket (that I deserved) last summer and two years ago when I was seventeen I got into a minor accident with one car which involved a cracked headlight and some paint scraped on his car, but he still called the police and I got ticketed. Should I bring up the fact that I deserved these tickets but that I am contesting this one because I do not deserve it? My court date is Tuesday for now, hopefully I will be able to change it but the clerk said they hardly ever honor requests for continuations. I am extremely nervous.

Sorry for so much text, but I wanted to thoroughly explain.
Thank you!

[kayumochi]

A couple of years ago an ambulance (siren/lights not on) on Ponce de Leon near City Hall East clipped my side mirror, knocking it forward. As I looked for a place to pull over to get out of the traffic the ambulance driver went ballistic, sped up, cut in from of me and stopped at an angle, blocking both lanes. A big ol' dyke jumped out of the ambulance waving her beefy arms in the air screaming, "Look at your mirror." The police weren't long in arriving and as I politely stayed in my car the butch ambulance driver ( I forget how many teeth she was missing) had her way with the hapless police officer. Then a representative from the ambulance company showed up and interviewed me. She was curious as to why the ambulance driver had gone on the offensive and cut me off as she had as if to block my escape. I could only shrug. Maybe she wanted to block my escape, I answered cynically. Naturally the police officer took the ambulance driver's side (the bond of the uniform, I suppose) and I had to appear in traffic court.

On court day I was the only white person there to stand in front of the judge. When my name was called not only had the officer not shown up (not unusual) it was mentioned that the ambulance driver had died . That I didn't believe but wisely kept my mouth shut and walked out with a smile on my face and a free man.

I'd be surprised if your officer shows up. If he doesn't you may be able to get out scot free. Simply raise a fuss if you are asked to reschedule emphasizing that you showed up at the appointed time.

By the way, I snooped around and found out the ambulance driver had been fired for cutting me off in traffic and hadn't died. I suppose she is working for some other ambulance company today.

[karmasimonregis]

That is insane. Seriously. They told you she DIED? Why on earth would they do that?

Yeah, I'm hoping he won't show up. But when I asked him about the ticket he said "They last guy I took to court, it ended up costing him about $200 with court fees." He seemed like the kind of guy who enjoys taking people to court and getting paid overtime for doing it.

[kayumochi]

Originally Posted by karmasimonregis

That is insane. Seriously. They told you she DIED? Why on earth would they do that?

Yeah, I'm hoping he won't show up. But when I asked him about the ticket he said "They last guy I took to court, it ended up costing him about $200 with court fees." He seemed like the kind of guy who enjoys taking people to court and getting paid overtime for doing it.

After she was fired for playing policeman with her ambulance I suppose "someone" contacted the court regarding her summons and told them she just couldn't make it to court that day due to her untimely death. What is the court going to do? They don't have the resources to launch and investigation and left it at that.

Your officer sounds rather smug. Let's hope he doesn't show up. What county were you in? That is Fulton where you were, right?

[UnincorporatedResident]

It pretty much sounds like you have covered your bases. When you go to traffic court for the first time though the judge is asking only for a plea..guilty or not (or nolo).

Write or go down and talk to the solicitor. Explain that you have a case coming before them and have Finals at the same time. If it was one of the clerks at the window, they don't have the final word. The Clerk of Court or the Solicitor does.

*PLEASE do not bring up your previous tickets unless asked. You will only be opening the door for stereotyping (young drivers), and your admission may be seen as proof positive that you were in the wrong.

[karmasimonregis]

Thanks for that advice. Today I went to the Municipal Office and gave the clerk a letter requesting a change of court date. She asked if it was for school and I said yes, and she shook her head sadly at me and said that they usually don't honor those.

Yes, it was in Fulton county.

The clerk also said that my request won't even be LOOKED at by the judge until the day of the court date, an hour or so before. So looks like I'll have to miss my review no matter what. If I get there and the cop hasn't shown up and they say, "Sure, let's reschedule," here's hoping I haven't screwed myself over...

[kayumochi]

Originally Posted by karmasimonregis

Yes, it was in Fulton county.

[karmasimonregis]

Oh no...what is it? Do Fulton cops always show up or something?

[herr bear]

I spent a lot of time in a lot of traffic courts when I was younger.
Always go to court. You have a 50/50 chance that your cop won't show. Most areas dismiss the case when this happens.

Most judges will give you a run down on the flow of their court room at the beginning of the session, so pay attention to what he tells you and follow the directions.

Some traffic courts offer you the option of pleading no contest. This usually gives you the ability to tell your story and any extenuating circumstances. Many times if the story is good they will reduce the fine and waive the points. I have gotten off with just court costs. This is usually faster than going the whole not guilty route.

You sound prepared so don't be nervous. You're innocent until proven otherwise and cops are human and do make mistakes.

Good luck

[MisterNY]

Question???

Are there ticket attorneys that fight these cases? I know in South Florida, there are ticket lawyers, that would fight for you for about $45-$89, for what usually ends up in a no contest plea. Then you pay the court fees, but no points on your license and no traffic school.

(The county still makes its money in court fees, but no points on the license, and no traffic school= Sweetness ). Please tell me there are ticket clinics/offices (in the Metro Atlanta area) as they call them in South Florida.

They're priceless. They save you time, you don't even have to show up for court, and the best part, no points on the license.


Example of a firm that handles these matters:

Law Offices of Alexander B. Ramey, PA - Miami, FL

Please tell me there are similar firms in Atlanta or the Metro Area that handles these cases, at fees similar to theirs. Please post them here, or send me a PM, if possible. (I want to save them for future references).