Legal Question in Traffic Law in Washington

Re: Expired Tabs and Speeding Ticket

Request a contested hearing no later than 15 days after the vioation date. File a written request with the court for copies of the officer's report and speed measuring device (radar/laser) affidavits. Serve a copy of the request on the prosecuting attorney.

You may want to request a subpoena for the speed measuring device expert and the officer. The decision is best made after reviewing the reports. If there are defects in the officer's report, having him there to offer correct and complete testimony will not help your case.

The fact that you received only a warning on the other violations should not affect the outcome of the contested hearing on the speeding ticket. If the report or evidence meets the burden of proof for infractions -preponderance of evidence - the court will find the violation was committed.

In the end, if it appears you will not prevail, or if the judge finds that you did commit the violation, you can request that the court enter an order deferring findings. The case is continued for up to one year, after which it is dismissed if you received no additional violations and completed any court ordered conditions.

Re: Expired Tabs and Speeding Ticket

I agree with Mr. Ferris regarding what you should do. If you do not feel confidant in doing all of that, you should seek the services of an attorney who is versed in traffic law.

Re: Expired Tabs and Speeding Ticket

The advice you�ve received so far is excellent. The only thing I want to add is one note of caution and one suggestion of another possible tactic you could take on this speeding ticket.

First, if you�re interested in pursuing the option that Mr. Ferris mentioned - of having your ticket statutorily deferred for one year and then dismissed - you need to know that many courts in Washington are now disallowing such a deferral if you choose to contest the ticket and do not win. Many judges will tell you that if you go through the full-blown contested hearing, they won�t grant you a deferred afterward. If you want to have the speeding ticket deferred, which is an excellent option, I recommend that you ask the judge before beginning the contested infraction hearing in your case to see if they will let you so do. Also, under the current statute, you should know that you can have only one deferred traffic infraction every seven years, so if you�ve had one before within seven, you�re out of luck.

Secondly, if the options of contesting the ticket or deferring it don�t interest you, by all means be sure to ask for mitigation. This is the second box on the backside of the green copy of your ticket. Under mitigation procedures, you have to admit the infraction and it goes on your record, but the judge almost always reduces the fine amounts. You don�t need a reason; all you need to do is simply ask for the reduction. Perhaps that sounds silly, but that�s the way it works in most places across the state. The fines in Washington just jumped quit a bit, so I always recommend mitigation as opposed to sending the ticket in and paying the full amount of the fine. Often mitigation saves people $10, $20 or up to $50 per ticket, depending on their driving record.

Traffic court is a very interesting place for attorneys and non-lawyers alike. Good luck.