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Appreciate all the advice. And you couldn't be more correct, being pissed off about the entire thing is what's fueling it. I wanted to move in the next four months anyway, there's really no reason to just not shrug it off.
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Jan 3, 2011 18:18
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Slim Killington posted:Appreciate all the advice. And you couldn't be more correct, being pissed off about the entire thing is what's fueling it. I wanted to move in the next four months anyway, there's really no reason to just not shrug it off. As a warning, usually the condo association fines are enforced with a lien on your property (condo). With enough unpaid fines they can usually force a sale of your condo to cover the unpaid fees. This could make moving much more difficult for you to move when you try to. Again, as much as condo associations are collections of assholes/busybodies they have real power (as long as the owner of your property is a signatory to the governing bylaws which is usually a requirement to move into an area governed by an association)
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Jan 3, 2011 19:05
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Can anyone give me advice on dealing with/appealing running a red light? I made an illegal right on red and was nailed by a cop waiting right around the corner (in Virginia). Pretty unambiguously busted. I've done some research and apparently rather than mailing in the fine it's worth my while to go to my court date and try to appeal it. I've been told if the arresting officer doesn't show up then they can't convict. I've never been in a courthouse before so I'm just not sure of the procedure here; do I just keep my mouth shut or claim the "light had just turned red" or something if asked? I assume if the cop is there I get nailed with a fine and license demerits or something and can't do anything about it. Any advice about this would be appreciated.
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Jan 3, 2011 21:01
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Kamakaze9 posted:No, that's a fine answer. I realize he was in the right to be able to refuse us for not agreeing to it, I just wasn't sure on what he could legally ask us to give him. For instance I realize how important social security numbers are and I am fairly certain that is protected but I don't know where the line is. However this got me to thinking. First, common law and statutory law vary widely from state to state. "Common law is essentially citing another ruling" is not exactly a correct statement. Common law generally refers to law that is not developed through statute or administrative agency or some other official government body. It's basically stuff the legislature leaves to the courts to deal with. Common law has been developing since your state became a state, so it sort of is "citing another ruling," but it's more established than that. Common law is usually really slow to change and unless you live in AK or HI, is probably pretty set in stone at this point for all of the major issues. Your statement about "citing another ruling" more aptly describes precedence, or the notion that courts now should follow courts from the past, and can refer to common law, statutory law, administrative law, admiralty law, space law, anything. Whether or not a court is bound depends on several things, but lower courts (trial) are 100% bound by higher courts (supreme or appeals). The higher courts generally follow their predecessor's rulings, but are free to change the law if circumstances require it (for instance if a new technology is developed or if society just changes). That being said, the higher courts usually leave the trial courts with a lot of wiggle room. Second, to respond to your statement "I wasn't sure what he could require us to give him," the general rule is that he can make you waive any inherent risks. For instance, a skydiving company can make you waive the risk of the plane crashing, but they can't make you waive the risk of an employee shooting you in the head. Getting shot in the head is not an inherent risk of skydiving. Again, like everything else in the thread, this depends on where you live and you should consult a real life lawyer where you live. I haven't a clue what the general rule is on what information they can make you give up. I would also not give up my email address and phone number because gently caress that. Tender Bender posted:Can anyone give me advice on dealing with/appealing running a red light? I made an illegal right on red and was nailed by a cop waiting right around the corner (in Virginia). Pretty unambiguously busted. I've done some research and apparently rather than mailing in the fine it's worth my while to go to my court date and try to appeal it. Like everything else in this thread, this depends on where you live and you should consult a real life lawyer where you live. Generally the practice is that if the officer doesn't show up the ticket goes away without you having to testify or anything, but ymmv. Sometimes you can also ask the Court/prosecutor to find you guilty of something else based on the same facts so your insurance doesn't take quite the same knocking. For instance, maybe you could ask the prosecutor if you can plead to "not using a turn signal" or "illegal lane change" or something. Being polite and researching some of the city ordinances before hand would be helpful. BigHead fucked around with this message at 21:30 on Jan 3, 2011 |
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Jan 3, 2011 21:20
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Here's a fun one from Southern California I was in contract to buy a short sale house and on the last day the seller decided to cancel after signing all documents up to this point. I've spent about 2000$ so far with all the inspections, time, fees, etc. The seller is self employed. Is it worth it to go to small claims? What chances do I have of actually collecting? I'm assuming putting a lien on the house would be the next step if they don't pay but since it's a short sale, is that feasible? Thanks for any info.
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Jan 3, 2011 22:23
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Contemplating Jazz posted:I've got a question regarding a situation my boyfriend got involved in. We live in Wisconsin. Short and sweet: No, and Yes. Should we assume he was not insured? If he was insured have him contact his insurance agency. They have a very strong hand in these kinds of matters.
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Jan 4, 2011 19:00
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Tender Bender posted:Can anyone give me advice on dealing with/appealing running a red light? I made an illegal right on red and was nailed by a cop waiting right around the corner (in Virginia). Pretty unambiguously busted. I've done some research and apparently rather than mailing in the fine it's worth my while to go to my court date and try to appeal it. In Virginia, the cops are almost always present. Don't count on the cop not showing up. Here's how it goes down in the General District Court: you show up, you sit on a bench with the rest of the traffic offenders, and each cop stands up and the court goes through his cases. It's really really low-key and not a big deal at all. What most people do, is they go up, plead guilty, and then ask the judge for driving school. The judge may say "Okie dokie, go to driving school before X date, and send in the completion certificate, and we'll dismiss the charge." The judges do this aaalllllll the time for speeders, but I have no idea if they do it for illegal turns on a red light (I would bet that they do). If the judge says no, then they just pay the same fine that they would pay anyway, with maybe a little bit of court costs added on. I'd say it's worth it for you to go and ask for driving school. I'm not saying you should plead guilty, mind you, I'm just relating what I've seen in GDC before. If you plead innocent, the court will ask you what your version of the facts was, and then you'll probably be found guilty anyway (since you already admitted that you illegally turned on red). Regardless of whether you plead innocent or guilty, you can still ask for driving school, and you should give that a whirl.
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Jan 4, 2011 23:03
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My question is regarding my identity and legal status. I am an American-born US citizen. As a foolish youngster, I went up to Canada to get married. When I went to the US Consulate to renew my passport, they asked if I wanted to change my name, and I (again, stupidly) said, sure! Then, of course, we got divorced. I was served with the papers at some point, but I've moved twice since then and can't find the drat things. Pretty sure they're lost to the ether. For whatever it's worth, the divorce doesn't come into full effect until February. My latest move was to California. I went in to the DMV to get a California ID card but, lo and behold, they refused to give me one because the name on my Social Security Card doesn't match the name on my passport. Here are my issues: -I'm not even sure of my legal name at this point. Passport or SSN? -I have no documentation to rectify anything. No idea what happened to the marriage or divorce certificates. I might--might--be able to wrangle a copy of at least the divorce papers from my ex, but I'd like to avoid that if at all possible. -I went to the Social Security website to see what I could do, and, again with the documentation. I could, I guess, change my name for marriage, but the marriage is over, I despise the name now, and the certificate is either with my ex or in the ether. The other option is to change for divorce, but is that even possible if I don't have American (or any) documentation confirming the marriage? -The other other option is to get a court order for name change. There is no other detail. What's the deal? Would it be expensive, or even possible in my case? Also, Social Security Website posted:If the document you provide as evidence of a legal name change does not give us enough information to identify you in our records or if you legally changed your name more than two years ago, you must provide Social Security with additional documentation of your identity. That's potentially useful, but incredibly nebulous. What does it actually mean? -My passport doesn't expire for another five years, but is there any way I can get my name reverted on that? I'm kind of at a loss. I'm actually a little bit confused as to in what capacity I even legally exist at this point. Any help or advice would be appreciated.
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Jan 4, 2011 23:18
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Propaganda Machine posted:-I have no documentation to rectify anything. No idea what happened to the marriage or divorce certificates. I might--might--be able to wrangle a copy of at least the divorce papers from my ex, but I'd like to avoid that if at all possible. These are both public record documents. The municipality where either/both were filed will have copies. You might be able to get them for free if the county keeps their public records online, or you might have to pay for them to send you certified copies. Try googling "clerk of courts public records cityname provincename".
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Jan 4, 2011 23:25
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alucinor posted:These are both public record documents. The municipality where either/both were filed will have copies. You might be able to get them for free if the county keeps their public records online, or you might have to pay for them to send you certified copies. Try googling "clerk of courts public records cityname provincename". The other thing is, he never had his name changed legally in the first place. Getting it changed on a passport is one of the things you do after you get your name changed at court.
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Jan 5, 2011 00:13
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chemosh6969 posted:The other thing is, he never had his name changed legally in the first place. Getting it changed on a passport is one of the things you do after you get your name changed at court. Having one or both licenses is a start, though. Technically the real issue isn't the absence of the marriage documents, it's that for Propaganda Machine to get a CA ID card, she has to provide her SSN plus a document which establishes birth date and legal presence. That doesn't need to be the passport. So the easiest thing to do may be to get a copy of her birth certificate, which shows her original name, which matches her SSN. Getting certified copies of birth certificates is surprisingly easy. Just google "birth certificate STATEOFBIRTH" and look for the first .gov hit. I got a copy of mine last year, and I was born before computerized records. The hospital where I was born doesn't even exist anymore, yet the state records office still got me an official copy in under 4 weeks.
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Jan 5, 2011 02:24
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My question is relating to audio recording in the state of Florida. According to http://www.rcfp.org/taping/ Florida is a state where both people in a conversation must consent to an audio recording. I have a friend who teaches at a public school in Florida. She is being harassed at work by a fat redneck county interpreter stationed at the school who has a history of harassing minorities and even has an EEOC complaint already filed against her by a black woman who had been constantly harassed for years (my friend is Asian). The principal loves the redneck woman because she constantly kisses his rear end and dislikes a lot of the better teachers, including my friend, who exhibit independent thinking (Florida, as I've found out, is a strange state). Anyway, my friend has documented a lot of the stuff this woman has done. Recently, the redneck provoked my friend into an argument by mocking something my friend had done and got a friend of hers to agree in a statement. My friend now wants to activate the audio recorder on her phone whenever she's around either the redneck or her friend, but it appears this is illegal without consent. Is there any way secret audio recording is acceptable if it reveals the redneck slandering her in an attempt to get her in trouble or would that just get my friend into further trouble, even if it's the only method of proving she did nothing wrong and the redneck is lying? If not, are there any alternative legal approaches that could be easily pursued aside from simply reporting this to the EEOC?
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Jan 5, 2011 05:23
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Jolly Jumbuck posted:My question is relating to audio recording in the state of Florida. According to http://www.rcfp.org/taping/ Florida is a state where both people in a conversation must consent to an audio recording. Totally NAL, but I did have some experience with this. My state is a one-party consent state, where I was allowed (and often do) recording of conversations to which I am a party. I do this with phone calls, and in-person regarding stuff. In a two-party consent state you are required to give some sort of notification. This could take the form of saying "I am going to record this conversation." to posting some sort of notice stating that you are recording things that redneck can't miss. Right now you could go up to the redneck woman and state (on the recorder) that you will be recording all of her conversations from now on. Then you never mention it again and record everything from then on.
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Jan 5, 2011 07:22
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LLJKSiLk posted:Totally NAL... Um, no you couldn't. Jolly Jumbuck, your friend should consult with her union rep about what to do. This is a situation where being in a union has benefits that should be exercised. If other teachers have had a problem and a pattern is being established, it makes it a lot harder for the principal and the school district to let this go without some action being taken. Someone creating a hostile work environment is not worth the liability once people start complaining, regardless of whether the principal likes the person or not.
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Jan 5, 2011 07:41
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dvgrhl posted:Um, no you couldn't. Florida wiretap law has an exception: Florida Wiretapping Law posted:Florida's wiretapping law is a "two-party consent" law. Florida makes it a crime to intercept or record a "wire, oral, or electronic communication" in Florida, unless all parties to the communication consent. See Fla. Stat. ch. 934.03. Florida law makes an exception for in-person communications when the parties do not have a reasonable expectation of privacy in the conversation, such as when they are engaged in conversation in a public place where they might reasonably be overheard. If you are operating in Florida, you may record these kinds of in-person conversations without breaking the law. However, you should always get the consent of all parties before recording any telephone conversation and any in-person that common sense tells you is private.
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Jan 5, 2011 18:24
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ChubbyEmoBabe posted:Short and sweet: No, and Yes. Ah yes that probably would've been something to mention, huh? Definitely no insurance. Thanks for the advice.
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Jan 5, 2011 18:32
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LLJKSiLk posted:Florida wiretap law has an exception: Common sense would indicate that one person gossiping to one or two other people is probably a private conversation, unless it's being done in a manner so that the entire office can hear what's being said.
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Jan 5, 2011 18:34
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Contemplating Jazz posted:Ah yes that probably would've been something to mention, huh? Definitely no insurance. Thanks for the advice. "get a lawyer" gets thrown around a lot in this and other threads but in that situation it's pretty much imperative. It's a blessing in disguise he hasn't actually talked to the ambulance chaser yet. A few hundred or couple thousand is nothing compared to what he could be on the hook for without proper legal help.
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Jan 5, 2011 19:12
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Thanks for the info!
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Jan 6, 2011 01:20
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I have a friend who owns a commercial building that has a separate storefront under part of it. The property owner normally rents this space to businesses. If I were to rent this building for a business AND use it as a living space, what kind of trouble could I or the property owner get in to? What would have to happen to make it a situation that was completely legitimate? This property is zoned commercial. This in Ohio.
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Jan 6, 2011 04:31
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dvgrhl posted:Um, no you couldn't. Speaking as a teacher, not a lawyer, it's also important whether or not any of this is being done in earshot of the students. If so, the redneck is toast, because policy/law will always side with what is in the best interest of the student. If she is complaining in her classroom, she is committing serious professional misconduct.
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Jan 6, 2011 04:48
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black_mastermind posted:I have a friend who owns a commercial building that has a separate storefront under part of it. The property owner normally rents this space to businesses. If I were to rent this building for a business AND use it as a living space, what kind of trouble could I or the property owner get in to? What would have to happen to make it a situation that was completely legitimate? This property is zoned commercial. This in Ohio. There is no statewide law that would limit use, just the codes or ordinances for the city that the property is in. Check the city's website to see if they have their codes posted, and check the zoning code, health code (if they have one) and occupancy code (if they have one) for limitations.
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Jan 6, 2011 18:51
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Eternally grateful to anyone who has advice on this. Thank you in advance! Tonight my friend, a Permanent Resident from Italy with aspirations of citizenship, got busted for public urination (which I suppose falls under "indecent exposure") in Brooklyn, New York. This is the second time this has happened to him, though the first one was when he was 17-years-old, and he says it is no longer on his record. He is worried about penalties related to his immigrant status, ranging from deportation to obstruction of his citizenship. He is in general a law-abiding citizen, an owner of an LLC, who was well-behaved and cooperative with the cops. I told him getting a consultation was a good idea, though I think he might be a bit paranoid and hiring a lawyer might not be necessary. Does anyone know what he might be in for and how he should prepare?
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Jan 7, 2011 07:42
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TheNextDanSmith posted:Eternally grateful to anyone who has advice on this. Thank you in advance! The basic life advice you'll see from this thread is beg, borrow, do whatever you need to pay for a lawyer to keep things off your record. A clean record never hurt anyone. US citizenship is a big goal, and it would be silly to let something like this hurt his chances. He obviously didn't learn from his first arrest (which by the way law enforcement, including Immigration, might be able to still see even though he says it's off his record), but breaking the law is a very bad thing to do when you're wanting to become a citizen of a country.
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Jan 7, 2011 15:33
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BigHead posted:Like everything else in this thread, this depends on where you live and you should consult a real life lawyer where you live. Generally the practice is that if the officer doesn't show up the ticket goes away without you having to testify or anything, but ymmv. Sometimes you can also ask the Court/prosecutor to find you guilty of something else based on the same facts so your insurance doesn't take quite the same knocking. For instance, maybe you could ask the prosecutor if you can plead to "not using a turn signal" or "illegal lane change" or something. Being polite and researching some of the city ordinances before hand would be helpful. entris posted:In Virginia, the cops are almost always present. Don't count on the cop not showing up. Here's how it goes down in the General District Court: you show up, you sit on a bench with the rest of the traffic offenders, and each cop stands up and the court goes through his cases. It's really really low-key and not a big deal at all. Went to take care of this earlier today, it ended up being really low-key and I think I got lucky with a nice judge. I plead guilty, he gave me a sly old man wink and said he'd dismiss the charges and let this be a learning experience because I had a clean driving record. Thanks for the advice! As a bonus someone had carved "GOON SQUAD" into the bench in front of me. Tender Bender fucked around with this message at 21:07 on Jan 7, 2011 |
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Jan 7, 2011 18:20
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dvgrhl posted:The basic life advice you'll see from this thread is beg, borrow, do whatever you need to pay for a lawyer to keep things off your record. A clean record never hurt anyone. US citizenship is a big goal, and it would be silly to let something like this hurt his chances. He obviously didn't learn from his first arrest (which by the way law enforcement, including Immigration, might be able to still see even though he says it's off his record), but breaking the law is a very bad thing to do when you're wanting to become a citizen of a country. Thank you very much!
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Jan 7, 2011 19:19
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So I apologize if this isn't the right thread for this, but I didn't think it deserved it's own thread, and I didn't see one about speeding tickets before hand. Tonight I got my first speeding ticket ever tonight (I live in NC). I was doing 15 over in a 35. The cop didn't run my record or anything (it's clean except for one accident 9 years ago in Ohio), but told me I could go to court and ask for a PFJ (Prayer for Judgment). Either that or I can get an attorney (For a $171 ticket, that seems a little extreme). Can someone explain to me what the best procedure to handle this is? I obviously don't want it to hit my insurance rates, and I've got no problem just paying the fee outright and not having it hit my record. Thanks again
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Jan 8, 2011 06:18
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TheNextDanSmith posted:Eternally grateful to anyone who has advice on this. Thank you in advance! He needs to speak with a loving lawyer. A criminal alwyer. Who should speak with an immigration attorney. Depending on how the law is written, even fairly minor misdemeanors can have someone removed without any recourse, no matter how awesome they are. He absolutely needs to lawyer up. If you are not a citizen, anything beyond a very basic speeding ticket needs a lawyer. the immigration consequence of a criminal record can be disastrous.
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Jan 8, 2011 07:27
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Are there any football fan lawyers in here? Anyone want to give me a better understanding of this: Petey posted:I posted about this in the main thread, but -
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Jan 12, 2011 04:24
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TheNextDanSmith posted:Eternally grateful to anyone who has advice on this. Thank you in advance! A friend of mine represented a guy who, as a waiter, accidentally served beer to a minor. After he took the plea for the lowest level misdemeanor (barely more than a speeding ticket), he was immediately deported without a second thought. Your friend absolutely, fundamentally, and clearly needs a lawyer, as nm already articulated. Immigration law is a huge and terrifying beast that some dude dumb enough to piss on a sidewalk twice is not equipped to handle. BigHead fucked around with this message at 09:56 on Jan 12, 2011 |
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Jan 12, 2011 09:52
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Just got called up from a collection agency apparently they had tried reaching me numerous times via cellphone quite a few times. I just talked to one of their representatives and tried to make a monthly payment plan of 200 dollars a month. However, they said that it's too late and they want the whole lump of 2000 dollars as soon as possible. I do not have that kind of money to just give away like that. They are now threatening to send a police officer down and serve me and are telling me I will have to owe around 5000 dollars in court costs and legal fees. Also to clarify: I owed Best Buy 700$ for a laptop back in 2007. I went to jail for a year and a half and lost a decent job. Now the 700$ added up to 2000$ apparently from the interests and what not from what the representative told me. Can I get some legal advice please? Are they bullshitting or being honest?
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Jan 13, 2011 00:07
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Mr.Almighty posted:Just got called up from a collection agency apparently they had tried reaching me numerous times via cellphone quite a few times. I just talked to one of their representatives and tried to make a monthly payment plan of 200 dollars a month. However, they said that it's too late and they want the whole lump of 2000 dollars as soon as possible. I do not have that kind of money to just give away like that. They are now threatening to send a police officer down and serve me and are telling me I will have to owe around 5000 dollars in court costs and legal fees. I'm not an attorney and this is not legal advice: From the facts you've presented, they may have violated the Federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. For each violation they may owe you $1,000 plus attorney's fees. What I would do in your position: 1) Keep a log of every time the contact you 2) Get as much information about the caller as you can (name, ext. employee #, etc.) 3) Go to a "consumer lawyer" in your state You might be able to find someone to work this on a contingent basis.
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Jan 13, 2011 00:14
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Mr.Almighty posted:Just got called up from a collection agency apparently they had tried reaching me numerous times via cellphone quite a few times. I just talked to one of their representatives and tried to make a monthly payment plan of 200 dollars a month. However, they said that it's too late and they want the whole lump of 2000 dollars as soon as possible. I do not have that kind of money to just give away like that. They are now threatening to send a police officer down and serve me and are telling me I will have to owe around 5000 dollars in court costs and legal fees. I'd have a read over http://www.wyseguys.com/blog/archive/2008/01/08/debt_collectors_and_how_to_deal_pt_1.aspx before dealing with them further.
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Jan 13, 2011 00:15
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Mr.Almighty posted:Can I get some legal advice please? Are they bullshitting or being honest? Start recording the calls. Don't pay them anything. Seek out an attorney that specializes in creditor harassment. Get paid.
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Jan 13, 2011 01:19
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Defleshed posted:Start recording the calls. Don't pay them anything. Seek out an attorney that specializes in creditor harassment. Get paid. Word of caution: some states make recording calls illegal. So check before you do that.
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Jan 13, 2011 01:55
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Mr.Almighty posted:Just got called up from a collection agency apparently they had tried reaching me numerous times via cellphone quite a few times. I just talked to one of their representatives and tried to make a monthly payment plan of 200 dollars a month. However, they said that it's too late and they want the whole lump of 2000 dollars as soon as possible. I do not have that kind of money to just give away like that. They are now threatening to send a police officer down and serve me and are telling me I will have to owe around 5000 dollars in court costs and legal fees. In addition to what has been said above, read and post in this thread: http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3234974
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Jan 13, 2011 01:58
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Petey posted:Are there any football fan lawyers in here? http://www.nflplayers.com/Articles/CBA-News/The-NFLs-Lockout-Checklist/ might help you.
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Jan 13, 2011 08:21
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I was issued a ticket on New Years for driving without a license and driving without headlights - I have a permit, not a license, the licensed driver (my brother) was intoxicated, I was not, and one of the lights on the car was out. I was pulled over by Connecticut state police on I-95 for the headlight, he didn't perform a sobriety test on my brother beyond waving a finger and asking him to watch it. I believe that the officer could have given him a DUI for this (not sure), but he didn't. This is a first offense, I have no history of any driving or legal violations. The ticket has a few inconsistencies and I wanted to know if they are substantial in challenging it: -The issue date is 01/11/11 - the actual date was 01/01/11 -The answer date is 01/14/10 - I called the Centralized Infractions Bureau today to plead not guilty, and I was told that the state police had not even entered the ticket yet, but if it was on January 1, then I had until February 1 to mail the ticket in. -The infraction of operating a motor vehicle without a license cites Sec 14-36 on the ticket, with an amount of $158. Penalties for violating 14-36 are listed as " (i) Penalties. (1) Any person who violates any provision of this section shall, for a first offense, be deemed to have committed an infraction and be fined not less than seventy-five dollars or more than ninety dollars and, for any subsequent offense, shall be fined not less than two hundred fifty dollars or more than three hundred fifty dollars or be imprisoned not more than thirty days, or both." http://www.cga.ct.gov/2009/pub/Chap246.htm#Sec14-36.htm -The infraction of operating a motor vehicle without headlights cites Sec 14-96a, which classifies it as an infraction subject to Ch. 881b - I believe the applicable section states "No fine established ... may be less than thirty-five dollars or in excess of ninety dollars", and the amount on the ticket for this infraction is $92. http://www.cga.ct.gov/2009/pub/chap881b.htm I was unable to find any reason to increase fines other than being in a construction zone, and I was not pulled over, nor did I pass through a construction zone (no section of the highway within many miles was under construction). I searched for CT laws about holidays or certain days having increased fines, but was unable to find anything that might permit that. Finally, the officer called a tow truck to tow the vehicle. He did not allow me to call AAA or my choice of company (because it was a "dangerous area" where he pulled us over), and it took around 40 minutes for the tow truck to arrive. The officer had told us that it would cost $500+ to tow the truck to our home, $400+ to hold it overnight, or $180 to drop it in a nearby lot (unprompted, he said he wouldn't ask questions). We ended up at most a mile away, only able to get $140 from an ATM, and he refused to give us a receipt - he dropped the car on a public road - I had to move it to a parking lot because it was in a no-parking zone. I took pictures as he dropped the car, but the camera didn't focus. I couldn't find a marking on his truck, so I don't have any information about that. When I looked it up, the amounts he had quoted and charged us were significantly above the legal amounts for a tow truck, including one summoned by a police officer, and I could find no exceptions - here's the document I found: http://www.ct.gov/dmv/LIB/dmv/20/29/K-11.pdf I believe I have a strong enough case to challenge this to have the fines reduced at the very least, but is this good enough to have the infractions dismissed based on the inconsistencies? Should I even bring up the tow truck issue, or ask for the companies information? e: I haven't consulted with a lawyer and don't plan to do so because of the cost, and these are civil infractions, not driving misdemeanors. Zodijackylite fucked around with this message at 17:47 on Jan 13, 2011 |
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Jan 13, 2011 17:42
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Zodijackylite posted:I was unable to find any reason to increase fine... The amount of the fine you actually pay will often exceed the statutory fine amount, owing to various extra fees. For Connecticut, those fees are outlined in the Violations and Infractions Schedule [PDF]. You will note that a violation of Sec. 14-36 will cost you $158, and a violation of Sec. 14-92 will cost you $92.
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Jan 13, 2011 18:45
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| # ? May 16, 2024 17:30 |
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Go to court, be polite, wear some decent clothes, and do these three things in order: First, say basically what you typed. You had your permit so it's not like your DL was suspended for DUI or anything, and you were driving your rear end in a top hat drunk brother home. It was stupid but not as stupid as letting your brother drive. It was an emergency, please show mercy, I had to pay for the towing guy, etc etc. Second, ask the judge to find you guilty of a related but lesser traffic offense. Instead of "Driving without a license," how about something along the lines of "improper use of a learner's permit" or even "failure to signal lane change?" Third, you could try to convince him to continue the case until you're old enough to get a license. Once you get your license, courts are usually loathe to convict you of not having a license. Additionally, tickets come with various fees. Those fines you researched are the base fines. There's usually a "court fee" and sometimes a "public defender fee." The extra fees are the result of you not paying taxes for these things, so think of it as a wash.
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Jan 13, 2011 20:38
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