Can a Texting ticket me reduced?

[TheOriginal]

People v. Spriggs (2014) 224 Cal.App.4th 150 was the decision from the 5th DCA that held that VC23123 only prohibited talking on the phone while driving, not all handheld usage of a phone. Spriggs is binding law across the whole state. Under the doctrine of stare decisis as explained in Auto Equity Sales, Inc. v. Superior Court (1962) 57 Cal.2d 450, all trial courts in California must follow the decisions of any of the Courts of Appeal, unless there is another Court of Appeal decision that conflicts. This is different from how stare decisis works in federal courts, where a decision in the 9th Circuit is only binding on federal courts within the 9th Circuit.



It should be somewhere in the range of $162, assuming you're paying it all at once. Base fine of $20. State penalty assessment of $20. County penalty assessment of $14. DNA penalty assessment of $10. Court penalty assessment of $10. 20% surcharge of $4. EMS penalty assessment of $4. EMAT penalty assessment of $4. Court operations assessment of $40. Conviction assessment fee of $35. Night court fee of $1.

+1

i show up to court for every ticket. the leo shows up half the time.

doesnt matter if you checked the time, your phone caused you to be a distracted driver.

Either way im still going to fight it. Call me stubborn. I was not distracted, by plugging an aux cord, and checking the time especially at a red light.

[AAShooter]

Go to court and ask for community service instead of fine.

[robocop1051]

12 yrs LEO. Motor Unit

You can go to the traffic court ANY time before the date/time on your cite. Otherwise you have to show up on that date and time. It's more of a deadline than a meeting time.

There is no "guilty" plea in traffic court. There is only to "contest" the citation or plea "no contest". At that first visit, you advise the court if you want to fight the ticket. If you do, they assign a new date and time. The officer will then be subpoenaed along with any additional terms you request. If you choose not to contest the citation, you must make payment arrangements before leaving. You can also request traffic school at this time. Each county has special rules for traffic school.

If you contest the citation, the judge can refuse to authorize traffic school.


****
For the junior lawyers who are giving advice about the "GPS Defense".... and for those of "us" who get to write said cites...

22350 VC - Unsafe Spd (I usually write "distracted drvr" under the violation)
Mark the "safe speed" as 0 and then note the approximate actual speed. The judge will hit them with a moving violation instead of the cell phone. Make sure you detail the level of distraction in your notes. Judges want details and explanation.
In the case of the vehicle stopped at the light. I write the exact opposite ticket for 22351 VC - Unsafe stopping or slowing. I also reverse the speeds. "Safe speed" is now the posted limit and "est. actual speed" is 0.

[????? ????]

There is no "guilty" plea in traffic court. There is only to "contest" the citation or plea "no contest".

For the junior lawyer who is telling people how to plead in traffic court, as with any criminal case (a traffic ticket is indeed a criminal case), the first court date is an arraignment, and the defendant enters a plea. The six types of pleas are listed in Penal Code section 1016: guilty, not guilty, nolo contendere aka no contest, previously convicted or previously acquitted, double jeopardy, and not guilty by reason of insanity. For felonies, a no contest plea is exactly the same as a guilty plea, so it's not commonly seen. For infractions (most traffic tickets are infractions) and misdemeanors, the difference between guilty and no contest is that no contest can't be used against you in a civil suit. So if the judge or prosecutor permits no contest pleas, people will often plead no contest instead of guilty. There is no downside to pleading no contest instead of guilty.

As stated in the Judges' Benchguide on Traffic Proceedings, which is the book used to instruct judges:

Once a defendant takes his or her place at the podium, the judge or commissioner informs the defendant of his charges and asks the defendant how he or she wishes to plead. The defendant may plead guilty, not guilty, or no contest. A no-contest plea has the same legal effect as a legal plea, except it may not be used against the defendant as an admission in any civil suit based on the same act. A no-contest plea is subject to the court's approval. In traffic court, defendants sometimes plead guilty with an explanation, hoping to receive a reduced or suspended sentence. Such a plea has the same effect as a guilty plea in that it constitutes an admission to each element of the charged offense.

If you contest the citation, the judge can refuse to authorize traffic school.

Setting aside whether traffic school is even relevant to this conversation (per VC12810.3, VC23123, VC23123.5, and VC23124 are zero points), Rules of Court rule 4.104 says: "A defendant who is otherwise eligible for traffic violator school is not made ineligible by entering a plea other than guilty or by exercising his or her right to trial. A traffic violator school request must be considered based on the individual circumstances of the specific case. The court is not required to state on the record a reason for granting or denying a traffic violator school request."


If the original poster is sincere about fighting the ticket, I would recommend reading David Brown's book Fight Your Ticket and Win in California. You can find it at your local public library or local law library. Sometimes, the library will have a subscription to Nolo so you can even read it online for free at home.

[gl0ckc0ma]

Non-LEOs; have a questions for a cop?

Get lots of answers from cops other Non-LEO's!

Good for him, cause then he'd be getting advice like the post from the 15 year moto cop here that advised how you can only plead "contest" the citation, or guilty.

[North Bay Guy]

I got one of the texting tickets for looking at my phone GPS. I researched it and finally just paid the fine and pleaded no contest. I think the problem is with the way the law is written you can not touch a handheld communication device (phone) period while you're driving. It doesn't matter if you're texting, picking a song to play, reading something, talking on the phone or what ever, plain and simple if it's a phone you can't touch it while you're driving. I'm not a lawyer but that's what my research has led me to believe and after reading about many people trying to fight it and losing I just payed up.

[robocop1051]

Good for him, cause then he'd be getting advice like the post from the 15 year moto cop here that advised how you can only plead "contest" the citation, or guilty.

Ya got me there. It looks like in my haste to edit, late last night, I erased a large portion of a paragraph. Definitely put egg on my face with that one. Only one sentence of the paragraph survived. Adding the info now would look silly and redundant, as the missing content was immediately addressed in the next post. I was trying to keep my info as layman and general as possible, as legal jargon can confuse almost anyone. I own up to my error.

[TheOriginal]

I got one of the texting tickets for looking at my phone GPS. I researched it and finally just paid the fine and pleaded no contest. I think the problem is with the way the law is written you can not touch a handheld communication device (phone) period while you're driving. It doesn't matter if you're texting, picking a song to play, reading something, talking on the phone or what ever, plain and simple if it's a phone you can't touch it while you're driving. I'm not a lawyer but that's what my research has led me to believe and after reading about many people trying to fight it and losing I just payed up.

Ya got me there. It looks like in my haste to edit, late last night, I erased a large portion of a paragraph. Definitely put egg on my face with that one. Only one sentence of the paragraph survived. Adding the info now would look silly and redundant, as the missing content was immediately addressed in the next post. I was trying to keep my info as layman and general as possible, as legal jargon can confuse almost anyone. I own up to my error.

So can I just go there before the date of the ticket, plead no contest, ask if the judge can lower my fine since im a full time student and not working? Or go there plead guilty instead, and just ask if the fine can be reduced? That way I dont have to show up again?

[robocop1051]

What county are you in?

[MarinRange42]

Just pay it and penalize yourself for not having tinted windows....($35 dollars to remove if you get the fix it ticket) (Most police have tinted windows on their cars and understand if you tell them it's heat related. That way if you do pick up your phone it's less likely to arise in ticket number 2.
And if you are short on money you would be surprised how quickly you can create $150. Just place an offer out to friends and family and or neighbors to do a few hours of yard work etc. 10:47 am on Calguns...unless you are a Baltimore area teacher...

[????? ????]

So can I just go there before the date of the ticket, plead no contest, ask if the judge can lower my fine since im a full time student and not working? Or go there plead guilty instead, and just ask if the fine can be reduced? That way I dont have to show up again?

The date on the ticket is a deadline. You must appear in court by that date. No later. But you can appear sooner. Look at the courtesy notice that you probably got from the court. It will tell you how to appear in court. In some counties, you can just show up at the clerk's office and will be seen by the judge or the commissioner later that day. In other counties, you actually have to make arrangements with the clerk's office ahead of time. Once you see the judge or commissioner, you can plead not guilty, guilty, or no contest. There is little practical difference between guilty and no contest. If you're pleading guilty or no contest, you're not coming back to court for this case. You can ask for leniency in the fine based on your circumstances but $162 is determined by statute and probably low as it goes. You could ask for community service but there is usually a fee also assessed for doing community service. And the next time you get a ticket for this, the total fine will be $285.

[TheOriginal]

The date on the ticket is a deadline. You must appear in court by that date. No later. But you can appear sooner. Look at the courtesy notice that you probably got from the court. It will tell you how to appear in court. In some counties, you can just show up at the clerk's office and will be seen by the judge or the commissioner later that day. In other counties, you actually have to make arrangements with the clerk's office ahead of time. Once you see the judge or commissioner, you can plead not guilty, guilty, or no contest. There is little practical difference between guilty and no contest. If you're pleading guilty or no contest, you're not coming back to court for this case. You can ask for leniency in the fine based on your circumstances but $162 is determined by statute and probably low as it goes. You could ask for community service but there is usually a fee also assessed for doing community service. And the next time you get a ticket for this, the total fine will be $285.

Just pay it and penalize yourself for not having tinted windows....($35 dollars to remove if you get the fix it ticket) (Most police have tinted windows on their cars and understand if you tell them it's heat related. That way if you do pick up your phone it's less likely to arise in ticket number 2.
And if you are short on money you would be surprised how quickly you can create $150. Just place an offer out to friends and family and or neighbors to do a few hours of yard work etc. 10:47 am on Calguns...unless you are a Baltimore area teacher...

Thanks guys! I appreciate all the input!

[sbcolt44]

I fought one of these and won, just got my bill and showed that there were no texts or calls around the time the officer wrote the ticket.

[TheOriginal]

I fought one of these and won, just got my bill and showed that there were no texts or calls around the time the officer wrote the ticket.

how was the process? Did you just go to the judge, plead not guilty or no contest, showed proof that you were not using your phone? and he let you off like that? or did you have to set another date for trial?

[P5Ret]

how was the process? Did you just go to the judge, plead not guilty or no contest, showed proof that you were not using your phone? and he let you off like that? or did you have to set another date for trial?

If you are going to contest it you have to set a trail date. The commissioner can not dismiss the cite on the first appearance date.