Legal Question in Criminal Law in Maryland

Re: Reckless Driving - Unusual Situation

You can go to the Office of the Public Defender to apply for representation. If they reject your application, contact an attorney to talk about representation. There are no statutes that I know of for 'yelling a derogatory comment' to a police officer. You can contact me at 443-324-5289, or go to my website - AthenLaw (.com)

Re: Reckless Driving - Unusual Situation

Thank you for your message. My law practice is exclusively

concentrated on appeals, so my time is not devoted to

trial level matters such as District Court matters involving

traffic cases, which is your situation. I would recommend

you contact attorneys or firms doing a lot of District

Court work--such as Saoinz, Kirk & Miles, etc. Strange as it

may seem, your best source for these firms would be your

local Yellow Pages.

However, to provide some response from my limited trial

experience in these matters, and going only from what your

message says, I would say the officer IS wrong to have given

you the citation for reckless driving. I don't even think you

need attorney representation such as public defender, to go to

court on this--if this is all that was involved. My suggestion

would be (if you still have the ticket) to fill out that part

of the ticket stating you want a trial on the matter, and you

will eventually get trial information in the mail--date, time,

and which District Court to go to (or MVA as the case may be).

Show up. Be prepared to say you wish to proceed without counsel.

Then tell your story. My guess is that the cop might not even be

there, in which instance your case would be dismissed. If he is

there and tells some other kind of story, and the Judge believes

the cop instead of you (no surprise) you MIGHT be found guilty

of the charge....BUT--and this is really what we are after--the

Judge is very, very likely to impose a "no sentence" on the charge.

That is, if you are for some reason found guilty, be sure to

request a "PBJ" (Probation Before Judgment) finding. You may want

to check your driving record--and with proper ID you should be able

to get a copy of that record from any MVA office. If it is in good

shape, tell the Court of your record or present it. The attorney for

the State might have it anyway. Then say that you believe this would be

an appropriate charge for "PBJ" disposition. If that is what you

wind up with, it's almost as good as a dismissal or not guilty. A

PBJ, as I understand it, would not show up on your driving record

and definitely means no conviction and no points. Not even something

to report to your insurance company.

Strange situation, indeed. You may want to get a more detailed

response from an attorney with a lot of traffic court or District

Court experience. But from my perspective, I would say: definitely

do not just pay the fine and take the conviction and points. Fight

the charge. Show up in court. You might just get: a dismissal,

not guilty, or if guilty, very likely a PBJ disposition.

C. Michaels

Re: Reckless Driving -

First, reckless driving is a serious charge, carrying a large fine and a jail term. It also carries 6 points on your driving record. By filling out the back of the ticket, you are not asking for a trial, but excusing the officer from coming to court. You fill out the back of the ticket when you want to plead guilty. Do nothing on the ticket. You will get a trial date mailed to you at the address that is on the Ticket. I am an expierenced trial lawyer and my advice is do not go to court without a lawyer. The Public Defender will normally not represent you on traffic charges. You must be low income to qualify for the Public Defender.