Legal Question in Traffic Law in Oregon

Re: Traffic Violation

It's impossible to answer your questions in any meaningful way in an email, but I can give you some general notions of what's going on. First off, READ the back of the citation. Oregon uses a uniform citation that explains your options in some detail, and what they mean. If you still aren't sure, then visit with a lawyer to ask more questions.

As for the court appearance that's scheduled, if that's the first appearance (i.e, your arraignment), and if you're going to plead not guilty, then you can often do that ahead of time, often without having to travel to the courthouse for it. Contact them and find out. Then, the court staff will schedule a trial date for you.

The only way with a chance of getting a not guilty finding is to ask for a trial. If this is the only charge, it's an infraction, and therefore in Oregon you do NOT get a jury; it's usually just the citing police officer, the judge, you and whatever witnesses you bring in. In many jurisdictions, if for some reason the officer isn't able to show up, the citation is dismissed.

Since you say you have a "reasonable explanation" for what happened, you should talk to a lawyer about whether the court is likely to regard that as reasonable, and more importantly, whether that's likely to result in a not guilty verdict from the judge. Take a look at one of the statutes that governs certain "reasonable explanations," Oregon's "Choice of Evils" defense. Note that it also requires you give advance notice of your intent to raise the defense. But again, you'll want to explain your explanation to a defense lawyer ahead of time, to get an idea of whether it will fly, and how to present it.

Good luck to you!

-- Sam