Legal Question in Traffic Law in Oregon

Re: How do I plead stopsign ticket that I didn't run?

Plead not guilty and go to trial. If you're in a municipal or justice court you will have the right to appeal to get another trial in the Circuit Court if you lose. Sometimes, fairly regularly, the cop doesn't show up for the trial or the trial on appeal so when you ask, the court will dismiss. Sometimes it is even possible to contact the prosecutor and arrange for a diversion which would result in no conviction or traffic record. The usual fines are not as onerous as the increased insurance premiums that can result from traffic convictions.

Re: How do I plead stopsign ticket that I didn't run?

I agree entirely with Mr. Hartigh's response to your question. Just so you have some reassurance that his is a reasonable answer. In addition to what he referred to has "diversion," while it may not exist formally, you CAN INDEED sometimes work out "a deal," just by calling the police officer. One that has worked for my clients in the past is this: You plead not guilty, and in the meantime, you ask the officer this: "Officer, if I come to court on the day of trial, and I have COMPLETED already, or I have paid for and am going to GO to an approved "traffic school" class, will you DROP the charge altogether?" Many will say YES.

The big trick to the above strategy is that you do NOT want the judge to SENTENCE you to traffic school, say, in lieu of a fine. That defeats the purpose, even if the charge is also dropped. What you want to appear on your driving record is that you took a VOLUNTARY Traffic School class. If it's court-ordered, the insurance companies are more likely to hold that against you, and possibly increase your premiums.

The other strategy is to just go to trial, explain what happened, and let the judge decide. On the facts as explained by you, it's hard for me to tell if you'd win or lose, but if you lose, the judge will OFTEN reduce the fine, depending on your driving record. But by requesting a trial, as I believe Mr. Hartigh also said, you also have the possibility that the officer will just NOT SHOW UP! This happens, actually, with some frequency, although the stats tend to be radically different, depending on the police agency involved.

Also, if you request a trial date and that date is inconvenient for you for some legitimate reason, then you should request a set-over, or in other words, assignment of a NEW, different trial date. Ocassionally, when that situation arises, it is harder for the officer to show as well. However, I do NOT recommend you set-over a case for the purposes of just delaying the case -- judge's also don't like that. But, if the date legitimately won't work for you, try another date.

Good luck,

Sam Hochberg

Attorney at Law

www.YourInjuryLawyers.com