Legal Question in Criminal Law in New York
On January 26th of this year, I received two criminal court summonses in Staten Island in NYC over using a Student MetroCard (I was 19 then--already well out of high school). The first one was for "non-payment of fare" and the second one was for "improper use of fare media." My court date was set for March 26th in Richmond County Criminal Court. I'm extremely poor right now and still living with my parents, and I barely have enough to pay the fine, let alone an attorney (which I think could be overkill in my case).
One thing that particularly worries me is a Daily News article I read not too long ago, which says that my chance of winning is about 18.5%. Link is here: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2010/01/25/2010-01-25_subway_courts_a_bad_ride_only_1_in_5_straphangers_charged_with
When the court date comes, is there anything I could say on my own behalf to the judge which could mitigate whichever punishment I might get, and hopefully get the case dismissed and not pay anything?
1 Answer from Attorneys
You will probably be fined. But you can ask that the court "enters judgment" since you are destitute.
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