Legal Question in Insurance Law in New York

I was wondering, I have court in about a week for some tickets I got back in June. My Tickets were for not having an up to date registration, being uninsured at the time of my accident, and one other ticket along the lines of the insurance. For the registration that was my fault because I did not realize it was up. For the insurance at the time of the accident I was unaware that my insurance had been cancelled about a month before hand. My question is when I go in do I plead guilty because I know I am guilty of all the things I was ticketed for, or what do I do to try and get the tickets reduced? I am 8 months pregnant and cannot afford to lose my license because I need to obviously get to the doctors and work and if and when I go into labor I need to get to the hospital. Also, I am going to be moving an hour away from where all my medical care will be. How do I let the judge know all this before he makes his decision on my case?


Asked on 12/01/09, 11:37 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Elizabeth Karnazes New York Offices of Elizabeth Karnazes

Please be advised, i have trouble typing, so there may be typos in this response, I apologize in advance for clerical errors.

You can plead not guilty and ask for a trial date. You will have to go back to court for the trial date. If you are able to, get the trial date ciontinued as many times as possible. If the police officer does not show up on the date of your trial, you win automatically. When the weather is bad, the police frequently miss court because they are too busy, so try for a date in the heart of winter.If the officer shows up on your trial date, explain to the court that you have fixed all the problems, and explain that you are very sorry, but you did not realize the registration had expired and your insurance had been canceled. Don't lie and be sure to tell the court that you immediately fixed the problems when the officer told you about them. At worst, you should get a reduced fine. If you plead guilty, you lose every time, so give this a try, as you are not charged with serious crimes and you have an explanation. Feel free to call my office. Although I am in California, I am licensed to practice law in New York. Good luck!

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Answered on 12/07/09, 12:26 am


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