Can I change pleaing not guilty?

Question

I got a speeding ticket last week, and I sent a mail pleaing not

guilty. I wasn't expecting to fight against the police officer who

gave me the ticket, but I expected to talk to the judge or the DA

about lessening my charge since it was my first time traffic

violation. I thought I had to plea not guilty in order to go to court, but

someone told me that I can plea guilty and then talk to the judge

about the charge.

#1.Is it possible to plea guilty and then talk to the judge or D.A

about reducing the charge? I thought after pleaing guilty,

negotiating or compromising with the judge or the D.A was

not allowed.

#2. I plead not guilty already. Is it possible that I change it to

a 'guilty' plea and not go to court and talk to the judge or D.A

about reducing my charge afterwards?

#3. Is it possible to wait and then go to court and plea guilty

there? I assume it's gonna cost the court fee, but anyways...

Have a nice day.

Answer 1

ok--here's my experience.

you don't even need to talk to the judge. in fact, the judge is going to be so busy he won't want to talk to you about a speeding ticket. the only person you need to see is the prosecuting attorney---and you can do that anytime.

here in missouri the prosecuting attorney of each county is given a lot of leeway as to how he or she wants to proceed with each case. call the prosecuting attorney's office and either ask to talk to them or sometimes even the staff can help. explain that you were going too fast and didn't realize it, etc. don't start in about quotas of tickets or mean cops or any of that nonsense. you're in the wrong here and your best course is one of humility. you don't have to be obsequious, but a cocky attitude won't help.

most of the prosecutors i've talked to have been more than willing to cut my moving violation down to a faulty equipment violation. by doing this the overworked prosecutor's office doesn't have to try this case, they still get the full fine and court costs, and i don't get my insurance jacked up. its a win-win situation for everyone.

and use this as a learning experience---slow down.

Answer 2

They dont take your plea in the police station, you just denied whatever it is you are charged with at the police station. Your plea has not been taken yet, so you don't need to do anything apart from plead guilty when you go to court. The Magistrates might not sentence you though, if they think you should get a harsher sentence than they are allowed to hand down they will commit you to the crown court, that can be done for simply passing sentence. As for not being able to afford a solicitor, you get one free of charge, contact a solicitor that accepts legal aid you can definitely have one. If you are really not guilty then do not plead guilty just to get a lesser sentence, they always tell you to do that but since you dont have much money you will not get a decent solicitor, the solicitor will probably advise you to plead guilty but if you didn't do it, fight it. The discount is only a third off your sentence, do not fall for that carrot. Edit: In response to your foot note, I did not say that you have not been charged, I said your plea has not been taken yet as the police do not take pleas, that is a fact and don't argue with someone who works close to this field. When the police ask you if you did something or not and charge you, that is not taking a plea, you do not enter your plea until the court tell you to. Edit again: Honestly, what they mean is you need to plead guilty at the first opportunity AT COURT, it would only go against you if you enter a not guilty plea at court and then change your mind later on. Don't worry, you are grand, you need do nothing other than like I said, to get the early plea sentence discount, you plead guilty when it reaches court. The time scale is not different up until the plea hearing, it is exactly the same whether you admitted or denied at the police station. The time scale is only different after the plea hearing, if you plead guilty they have to set a date for sentence / committal for sentence at the crown court or set up a trial if you were to plead not guilty, it takes longer to set the trial up than it does to set a date for sentencing.. In short the time scale is always the same from when you are charged until it reaches the plea hearing and it only varies after that.

Answer 3

1. no, if you plead guilty, you are done, you plead not guilty to ask about reducing your charge, you plead guilty to the lesser charge and not guilty to the ticket

2. yes, you can change your pleading at any time prior to judgment, you talk to the judge or DA on your preliminary hearing date or trial date depending on their case load, sometimes you will get a plea bargain in the mail

3. yes, this should have been on your ticket, you pay the court fee regardless, you may have to take off work, but this can be worth it if the fine is high.

You will usually talk to the police officer himself. You can make up something like, "Your radar calibration is wrong" if you like. The cop will usually cut you a deal like "Failure to obey traffic control device". This will cut your fine in half and you won't have your insurance go up.

The last time I got pulled over, I talked to the cop, it had been 4 months since he saw me, he spent a total of 7 min writing me that ticket 4 months ago and was handling some 150 tickets that day. Originally he was going to drop the $600 ticket to a $200 ticket with 2 points. I argued with him and insisted on a trial with the judge (he had forgotten to calibrate his radar after each use as required by NY law). He offered a $50 faulty windshield wiper ticket, which I considered fighting, but the low cost would not justify taking a couple of hours off work.

Fight every ticket you get, and slow down.
They can't try every ticket, if they did, they would have to hire more judges. They want to get you out of there, and if they can do that by cutting a deal, they will. They want to have a trial for the drunk drivers and the 120mph accidents with deaths only if they can help it. Your 10-15 over isn't worth their time. 87 in a 65 wasn't worth their time for me, and neither was a 62 in a 40. I drive like a grandma now btw.

I only saw a judge once and that was when a cop cut me a deal at the scene, which I still considered worth fighting. He let the charges stand. You have to pay court costs regardless, so you might as well get your money's worth. Laugh at the judge's jokes, they like that. Hold up your hands like it's a stick up and say "I didn't do it your honor". I've seen judges lower sentences for sense of humors (8 hours community service as opposed to 20 for going 40mph in excess of the speed limit, because a guy said "There was nobody on the road your honor...except for the trooper...). Court is fun and you get a good education. Keep a good and friendly attitude and you will go far.

Answer 4

Here's what you do: Go to court, plead guilty and explain to the judge and the DA that you wanted an opportunity to speak to them in court and explain. Tell them you were speeding, you didn't realize you were going that fast, but you accept full responsibility for your actions and ask for leniency. If you have a good driving record, ask them to take that into account. Judges are much more likely to cut you a break if you own up to what you did. Just remember to be respectful and don't speak unless spoken to. If the judge gets the impression that you have an attitude problem or that you're not really taking the proceedings seriously he/she will HAMMER you.

Answer 5

You can change you plea to guilty and talk to the judge, but usually they don't care to hear your story. If you plea not guilty and have it go to trial they will definitely throw the book at you unless the cop does not show up or you can prove you were not guilty.

Just take your medicine and slow down.

Answer 6

God knows....just pay the fine!! If you don't do the crime, you don't have to do the time--or in this case pay the fine!