Wife has warrant for fix it ticket?!?!?!

[Lancear15]

I could really use some advice right now. My wife who has never gotten a ticket in her life got a fix it ticket in our 2011 toyota sienna for no from license plate on 4-2-12.

She got it written off on 4-23-12.

She says the officer told her all she had to do was get it signed off. I have never gotten a fix it ticket so I didn't know that she had to send the signed ticket in(until now). We never got any notice what-so-ever from the court on what fee to pay, where to send it ETC. Until today when we get a warrant notice for her arrest, asking for a check to be sent for $660.

This disgusts me to no end. We are literally ideal citizens.

Can someone in the know please advise on the best (hopefully cheapest) way to take care of this situation ASAP.

Thanks!

[IrishJoe3]

On the front of the "notice to appear" is a court date, address, and phone number to the court. Did your wife appear on or before that date to the court as she promised when she signed the document? I'm going to guess no, hence the scary letters from the court.

Getting the citation signed off is only half the battle, if that proof of correction wasn't provided to the court, then the the court has no idea if the violation was fixed.

She needs to take her copy of the citation WITH the dated proof of correction in to the court, show the date it was fixed and explain the oversight. Or call the courthouse immediatly and explain the same.

I'd be surprised if they do anything other than dismiss the violation with a processing fee, but I don't work in the courthouse so your milage may vary.

[Jason.t.bautista]

Well i myself am not a LEO but had my experience with a warrant. From what you have stated it looks like your wife has a "warrant to the bench", meaning that she will need to speak in front of a judge. When i received mine a couple years ago i had my local sheriffs come to my house and look for me. I was at work so they did not have the chance to "bring me in". Officer left his card with my father and basically told my dad that i need to either call or go to the court house or he will be on his way back. Called set up a court date.
Come my court date, all the judge asked why i wasn't going to class (got arrested for DUI) and told the judge that i couldn't go because my license was suspended. He than told me to wise up and stop making excuses, he mentioned there are other means of transportation. Long story short, have your wife do everything she can to get a hold of your local courthouse and to show initiative that she wants to take care if it, cause if you lag on it or brush it off she may have local authorities knocking on your door.

[Spanky8601]

1st get the violation corrected and signed off.

Then she goes to the court and asks the clerk to be put on the docket so she can speak with the judge. Explain to the judge what happened.

Have enough cash to pay everything.

Most likely the judge will be reasonable and reduce the fine a little.

Good luck.

I am not in the legal profession, so this is not legal advice.

[Lancear15]

Thanks for the replies guys. I was hoping for a non-appearance solution. Looks like she will have to appear in Sacramento, 75 miles away...

Got to love our "justice" system.

[Sacmedic]

While I understand it is inconvenient, she did have a vehicle code violation. She acknowledged when signing the ticket that she would either appear or pay a fine/fix the deficiency. Since she did not send in the correction proof she didn't fulfill her end of the bargain. There is no "injustice" in having to go to Sacramento to clean this up.

[BigStiCK]

There will be instructions on the back side of your copy of the ticket which should explain the process. Its always a good idea to completely read (several times) all documents issued to you by the Officer/ Court.

If there's ever ANY question in your mind, best to just call or see the court clerk in person.

I've stood in front of a judge many times while the defendant complained that I did not adequately explain the citation correction process. On EVERY one of those occasions the judge merely directed that individual to READ the back side of their copy.

Sorry, but you picked the hard way to learn that lesson.

-Stick

[9mmepiphany]

Don't want to pile on, but you really can't blame someone else for you not having read the ticket and being aware of the:
1. promise to appear
2. court date
3. procedure to follow to have the correction filed.

The non-appearance solution is to send in the check for the full amount of the fine

[Lancear15]

If it had been my ticket and not the wife's it would have been taken care of because I would have followed up on it. All I knew was she told me it was taken care of...

Anyways I don't see how anyone could find it reasonable that the first notice we get in the mail is a "warrant" demanding a $660 bail.

[IrishJoe3]

If it had been my ticket and not the wife's it would have been taken care of because I would have followed up on it. All I knew was she told me it was taken care of...

Anyways I don't see how anyone could find it reasonable that the first notice we get in the mail is a "warrant" demanding a $660 bail.

Your, (or your wifes...) first notice was the notice to appear with the violation section, court info, phone and address, and option to correct the violation with the instructions on the back.

A courtesy notice is just that, a courtesy. Its on the violator to make sure the cite gets resolved one way or another. All the info and instructions a violator needs in on the citation. I don't know what else to say.

In your case it sucks such a simple fix it ticket turned into something so much bigger....but, they don't go away if they get ignored.

[rt66paul]

I would suggest that you do this at the courthouse and keep any and all paperwork and receipts to do with the court. I was arrested 3 times on the same warrant. I mailed everything in and everything was in a file, but the warrant was never taken down. I finally had to get a court order to take it down.

[Baconator]

Just make sure she grows out her side burns before she gets to jail. Helps her establish the dominant role on her cell block.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

[9mmepiphany]

At least you won't have to go to the downtown courthouse. Traffic is handled at the Carol Miller court house, off Hwy 50/Power Inn

[Notorious]

Yep, sure can happen. It happened to me when I was a teenager and I didn't know I had to go to court to show proof of correction after I got it fixed and signed off. So my license got suspended and I had a warrant. Had to go to court with mom to get it straightened out. Judge was cool about it and just dismissed the whole thing after I explained it and showed that my car was fixed.

[orangeusa]

Yup, my wife too. Go to night court. She had a tag that we had paid for, but didn't put on the car.

She didn't pay a penny. Worst case - she pays night court fees - $160? Not fun, but when everybody in front of you has :
1. No license.
2. No insurance...

The judge is pleased to see somebody who HAS a license and INSURANCE.

It works. Don't put it off.

EDIT: I remembered that I did the SAME thing many, many years ago. I had some kind of ticket and blew it off... Judge had fines removed, but I had to pay the night court fees. But that was better than the insane amount they wanted. Judge asked me why I didn't pay my ticket, and I said that I had just forgotten about it. Tell the truth, don't lie and the judge will be fair.

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