xsboost90

1. if you dont have insurance, dont drive. There is no excuse, if you cant afford it or your car isnt ready then ride the bus or something.
2. playing dumb will get you a ticket every time. Get an attorney and maybe he can get you a lowered sentence, like community service and a fine or something.
3. if your going to streetrace, be smart enough to not get caught.

hacker-pschorr

WTF dude? Your in my hood and no call? No x-mas card for tifo this year. Unless you were really lost (or went through Michigan) you couldn't have been far from GB.

tifosiman

Man, I'm sorry 'bout that. I actually thought about you when I was out there, but it was last-minute and basically an in/out surgical strike. I guarantee I will be out there again though in the next 6 months or so.

SBeach

I don't like talking business, I came to this board to learn about my car and get away from the cop bashing and threads going up in flames as is common on many boards. In an instance such as this I'm glad to see the rational and well thought out responses and because of that and the fact there is really a good bunch of folks that frequent here, I'm inclined to respond. For those of you that haven't guessed by now, I'm a cop. Yes, I love donuts, but we'll save that for another time. Onto Trolls issues: Your in a bit of a bind. From the sounds of things the cop sat back and watched the whole thing which makes it tough to argue a defense in other areas like "he clocked the wrong car" or "it wasn't me driving". Some thoughts; If you haven't dome so already, get a lawyer. Get the most lawyer you can afford. If your facing 30 days in the clink, nows not the time to save $. Given that the one charge is a misdemeanor I would guess you've been offered a coourt appointed attorney. If you have to, take it. As had been pointed out earlier, you need to work on getting a reduction.
Trying to get the charges tossed on a technicality is a huge risk
and to be honest isn't that likely. Possible yes, likely no...and if you do lose, you can be rest assured you'll do the 30 days.
I'm kind of curious as to why they want 30 days. Granted I'm here in NY where things are different and speed contests, at least in my neck of the woods are not a major issue. I know they are in other areas so as your seeing the punitive measures
taken against those getting caught are a tad worse than your typical parking violation. How is your driving record? If your a "persistent offender" your going to have a lot harder time getting a reduction. If your records good make sure and play that to your advantage (or make sure your lawyer does). Being a student is a good thing. Judges don't typically like to lock up viable members of society. Again, use the student
thing to your advantage. If your records been fairly clean AND your a student I see no reason why you should be able to work out something better than 30 days. If that was an initial offer
from the prosecutor I would think theres some room for movement. If the initial offer was 6 months and you've already whittled it down to 30 days, you may be stuck. Hopefully thats not the case. As for the cop writing that you admitted to driving/taking part: Not too hard to do. If you had any kind of conversation with the man (or woman) you undoubtedly would have said something that would suggest you drove. When we pull people over we don't talk about the weather. No, you may not have said "You got me officer, I was driving 65mph and I'm uninsured" but you may have casually mentioned "Damn, I didn't think I was going that fast" (indicates you were driving)
or maybe the cop said "You know how fast I clocked you? 65..."
and you responded "Yes". One word isn't much but it is a verbal acknowledgment. About the only way you wouldn't have incriminated yourself in some way would be to say nothing, which would land you in even hotter water. I wish I could offer you some secret tips on how to make this disappear but unfortunately there aren't any, you need to get the best end result out of what you have to work with. Your post makes no mention of an attorney. Log off and call one,now. If you have any other questions feel free to ask, and good luck.

Clowd

Wow, jailtime for that? That's ****ty, I got pulled over for "85 in a 55" according to the state trooper, $200 ticket.. still not sure if I'm just going to pay it, or go to court. If I pay it, I lose my license for 20 days, because I'm under 21.. if I fight it and win, it might get thrown out and I save $200 and keep my license..

I don't know what these guys are talking about, but when I got pulled over, the cop asked me "where you behind that other guy?" I made the stupid mistake of saying "yes." If I didn't say that, I know I could have taken this to court and owned the state of New Hampshire. Too late now... but it isn't for you, take the fact that you're denying it and run with it for as long as you can.

theedge

Only a 1 mill liability?

Guess it depends on your area... I went with $3 million

Don 944 LA

SBeach,
Thats a great post.. sound advice from someone more than knowledgable about this type of situation.
I would also add that it was not 100% cop view either, but a true reality check for him.

welcome to the board, 8 posts in 4 months .. live a little

Don

SBeach

Thanks Don. I was doing some reverse police thinking (how to get Troll OUT of the tickets...). With regard to the insurance;
2 possible routes to a reduction or dismissal. If Troll can point to some kind of mix up, ie., he changed companies which caused a lapse or he wasn't notified of an impending lapse (and can prove via paperwork he brings to court) he could get a dismissal. The other way of looking at it is that believe it or not its good to have been charged with two things. It allows
an out of sorts, specifically you plea guilty to one count in satisfaction of the other(s), something commonly seen in DWI cases where the defendant gets a fistful of tickets. In this case the no insurance charge could be used as a bargaining tool when trying to work out a deal. The speeding contest is gonna be a tougher sell. As many folks are aware, street racing is a
bonafide "problem" in California. That creates an inherent problem for Troll who was unlucky enough to have the officer apparently sit and watch the event in full. No one likes to be made the example, but in cases like this you almost have to expect it. I would say that he should NOT try and claim his speedometer wasn't working (which may be a violation in and of itself). If by chance they were on private property (ie., a large parking lot) there could be some room for debate.
Keep in mind cops can still write traffic tickets on certain kinds of "private" property, specifically, large parking lots such as shopping malls. Yes, jail time seems ridiculously harsh considering many DUI's never see the inside of a cell, however
changing the judges evidently tough stance on speed contests isn't likely to happen. My suggestion would be counter offer a plea of guilty to the speed contest in exchange for a dismissal on the no insurance and (most importantly) no jail. Some other bargaining chips can include being gracious (as painful as it may be) in offering to take the points, high fine, community service, maybe even a license suspension to avoid doing time. That is where an attorney can best assist you, and again, good luck.

TheMAXX

But that’s 3million Canadian.

Now back to Troll –you don’t want to be flamed. You need a good slap on the wrist. I assume that in the process of this whole thing you will also lose your drivers license for a period of time.

I don’t know how insurance companies work in California. My insurance company never asks me for registration information they just want the VIN and they insure the car even before I register it. As a matter of fact I need the proof of insurance before I can register the car. So I can have a car that isn’t registered but does have insurance.

Maybe your defense can be “please don’t make me miss school because as you can see how stupid I am to be driving an unregistered uninsured car and racing. I must really need an education.” Partly meant as a flame partly meant to be funny.

See if an Attorney can work out an alternative to incarceration like volunteering in a rehab center, were they care for people hurt in car accidents, for more time then the jail time.

testarossa_td

No help here just sarcasm.

Offer to write an article for a local newspaper(about the series of events that led to your life lesson) after you get out...maybe you will get less days.

Here I will get you started.

Insurance...love it or lump it or I fought the law and the law won a story of street mistakes that does not end in a fatality.

jgrant

Ditto.

tifosiman

I was thinking of a song. Something along the lines of:

"Making their way, the only way they know how. That's just a little bit more than the law allows. Done all you ever saw, been in trouble with the law, since the day they were born."

Geo

Is it? Since when do those breaking the law get to determine their own sentence? It does seem a bit excessive to me, but then so does the street racing problem in some places (any is too much, but some places it's just ridiculous). I've heard some places crush your car if you're convicted. I can't say I have a problem with that either.

Sometimes I think harsh penalties for street racing is what it will take to get people to stop.

MrZir

Most universities have a student lawyer to handle such things for students free of charge. Though you may get what you pay for. (like the school's free doctor)

Peckster

What???

For a moderator you seem to have poor reading comprehension skills.

This guy sounds like a complete moron, he deserves whatever he gets.