Appealing a Default After Missing the Court Date

[Bluebannanas]

My question involves traffic court in the State of: Virgina

Hello Everybody,
I would like to start by giving a great thanks for having me here!

First I would like to note that in the wonderful State of Virginia, Radar/Jam Devices are all ILLEGAL.
TL;DR is located at the bottom of the wall of text.

Alright let me get started. While driving home from a late shift at work I came into contact with a State LEO who was running a Spectre RDD. For those that are not familiar, a Spectre is a dash/window mounted Radar Detector Detector. I am quite the cautious person and I have recently found my way into the world of countermeasures (Radar Detectors, Laser Jammers, ect.). On this particular night I was running my Escort Redline, Valentine1, and LI Jammers. Out of these three, only the Valentine1 is detectable and you can imagine that it was in fact picked up by the LEO's Spectre.

After being pulled over, I was written 3 separate tickets for each of my countermeasures. The Complainant officer has pulled me over eight months prior for the Valentine1 and I did not expect to run into him again. This officer proceeded to tell me that if I was to remove and bring to court all of my Jammers/Radar devices that he would then dismiss the case. I decided that this would be the best approach, seeing that the fine per device was ~$45.00 plus court fees.

Fast forward a month and a half to my court date and I arrive to the courthouse and sit through 2 hours worth of trials. The judge proceeds to ask if I had a case to be heard and I inform him of my name and the officer that had written my violation. He then tells me that my court date was in fact the day before and that in my absence I was found guilty for all three violations and fined $250.00/violation. I turn bright red and ask him what to do seeing that I was caught completely off guard. He tells me that I can either pay my fine or appeal my case. After quickly telling me this he try's to hurry me out of the courtroom. I go to the clerks window and appeal my case because I am furious, confused, and embarrassed. Now I am usually always on time and I never miss a meeting of any sort. I check and rechecked countless times to the date and time on my violations. The only reasoning that I can come up with is that during this week and the week prior in particular I was working ~35 hours at work and I am also a Full-Time student at my Community College which may have caused me to misread the date countless times.

TL;DR -- Written 3 tickets for Radar/Jam devices and told case would be dropped if devices were removed. Appeared in court early with devices. Told I missed my hearing by a day. Fined ~$800.00 in my absence. Appealed case.

Now my main questions: (I do not plan on having a lawyer present for my hearing)

• Will the Complainant Officer be present there? -- He is the only person that told me I could bring in devices to have the case dropped.
• What can I expect question wise seeing that I will be vulnerable by myself?
• Has any judge ever showed sympathy for a case of this circumstance or will I be basically scoffed at and given the same fine?

Thank all of you very much in advance for any help,

Cheers,
-Ryan

[That Guy]

First I would like to note that in the wonderful State of Virginia, Radar/Jam Devices are all ILLEGAL.
TL;DR is located at the bottom of the wall of text.

Alright let me get started. While driving home from a late shift at work I came into contact with a State LEO who was running a Spectre RDD. For those that are not familiar, a Spectre is a dash/window mounted Radar Detector Detector. I am quite the cautious person and I have recently found my way into the world of countermeasures (Radar Detectors, Laser Jammers, ect.). On this particular night I was running my Escort Redline, Valentine1, and LI Jammers. Out of these three, only the Valentine1 is detectable and you can imagine that it was in fact picked up by the LEO's Spectre.

After being pulled over, I was written 3 separate tickets for each of my countermeasures. The Complainant officer has pulled me over eight months prior for the Valentine1 and I did not expect to run into him again. This officer proceeded to tell me that if I was to remove and bring to court all of my Jammers/Radar devices that he would then dismiss the case. I decided that this would be the best approach, seeing that the fine per device was ~$45.00 plus court fees.

Fast forward a month and a half to my court date and I arrive to the courthouse and sit through 2 hours worth of trials. The judge proceeds to ask if I had a case to be heard and I inform him of my name and the officer that had written my violation. He then tells me that my court date was in fact the day before and that in my absence I was found guilty for all three violations and fined $250.00/violation. I turn bright red and ask him what to do seeing that I was caught completely off guard. He tells me that I can either pay my fine or appeal my case. After quickly telling me this he try's to hurry me out of the courtroom. I go to the clerks window and appeal my case because I am furious, confused, and embarrassed. Now I am usually always on time and I never miss a meeting of any sort. I check and rechecked countless times to the date and time on my violations. The only reasoning that I can come up with is that during this week and the week prior in particular I was working ~35 hours at work and I am also a Full-Time student at my Community College which may have caused me to misread the date countless times.

TL;DR -- Written 3 tickets for Radar/Jam devices and told case would be dropped if devices were removed. Appeared in court early with devices. Told I missed my hearing by a day. Fined ~$800.00 in my absence. Appealed case.

Now my main questions: (I do not plan on having a lawyer present for my hearing)

• Will the Complainant Officer be present there? -- He is the only person that told me I could bring in devices to have the case dropped.
• What can I expect question wise seeing that I will be vulnerable by myself?
• Has any judge ever showed sympathy for a case of this circumstance or will I be basically scoffed at and given the same fine?

Thank all of you very much in advance for any help,

Cheers,
-Ryan

So let me get this right.... You knew that Radar/Jam Devices are all ILLEGAL, and yet you took the time, out forth the effort and paid the expense of buying several -highly priced units- installed them and were using all three of them.

And as if that isn't enough, but you were notified of your court appearance date and you appeared a day later!

Tell me, will ya... Am I missing something or are you just wasting time???

I would like to start by giving a great thanks for having me here!

Actually, we had no choice.... But you're welcome!

[Bluebannanas]

So let me get this right.... You knew that Radar/Jam Devices are all ILLEGAL, and yet you took the time, out forth the effort and paid the expense of buying several -highly priced units- installed them and were using all three of them.

And as if that isn't enough, but you were notified of your court appearance date and you appeared a day later!

Tell me, will ya... Am I missing something or are you just wasting time???

Thanks for the response That Guy.

Yes, you did read that I knew the devices were ILLEGAL. Even one unintentional speeding ticket can weigh a hefty toll on any individual. Once you factor in the cost of the fine and the doubled insurance premiums they basically pay for themselves in one save. I prefer to be informed and aware of a LEO waiting for me over a crest trying to "catch" me with a surprise speed trap. Better yet, having a hidden officer pull you over for following along with traffic at +5mph over the posted speed limit, but I digress.

Regarding the topic of court appearance, I stated in my first post a possibility as to what could have been my reasoning. Other than the aforementioned post, the only other conclusion that I could come to would be a personal diagnosis of dyslexia causing me to misread the date as Month 12th 2012 instead of the correct Month 11th 2012 because of the year being "12" printed in the same block lettering as the date of the month. I assure you that I was more than surprised when the judge told me I was supposed to be present the day prior. At that point there was nothing I could have done and I can only account it to human error. I apologize if you take that as me "wasting time".. I just do not understand your reasoning for stating that..

Thanks

[Speedy Gonzalez]

So you got a second countermeasures ticket in 8 months? How did the illegal use of these save you money again? There is a cheaper way to prevent tickets. It's called slowing down.

[Bluebannanas]

Correlation does not mean causation. There is a time for speeding and that is on a track, not a road filled with innocent motorists. Please don't accuse me of speeding just because I am a college student that appears to fit the generalized demographic similar to "ignorant college student believes he/she is above the law and does what he/she wants."

I came here because I am only human and I unintentionally missed my court date and I do not know the best course of action. If I intended on keeping countermeasures in my vehicle I would have just paid the $180 prepaid fine and been on my way with no questions asked. I have since retired my countermeasures and I plan on keeping it that way.

If anybody can help me with my original questions or give me some tips/advice regarding my circumstance I would greatly appreciate the help

Cheers

[Mr. Knowitall]

If you want to have the trial court set aside your default, you file a motion in the trial court to set aside your default.

[Bluebannanas]

If you want to have the trial court set aside your default, you file a motion in the trial court to set aside your default.

Thank you for the response.

Seeing that I have already appealed my case at the clerk desk, is this motion still possible? (I am very ignorant when it comes to the workings of the court system and have done my best to find literature at my local library regarding this circumstance). If so, how would I go about filing this motion after appealing?

[That Guy]

... a personal diagnosis of dyslexia ...

Nah... I don't think dyslexia would fit the bill....

There are, however, indications of psychological issues that are more serious that dyslexia...

I mean anyone who would flat out admit to three counts of unlawful possession of a radar detector and/or radar jamming device, as you did here:

Yes, you did read that I knew the devices were ILLEGAL. Even one unintentional speeding ticket can weigh a hefty toll on any individual. Once you factor in the cost of the fine and the doubled insurance premiums they basically pay for themselves in one save. I prefer to be informed and aware of a LEO waiting for me over a crest trying to "catch" me with a surprise speed trap. Better yet, having a hidden officer pull you over for following along with traffic at +5mph over the posted speed limit, but I digress.

And here:

I was written 3 separate tickets for each of my countermeasures. The Complainant officer has pulled me over eight months prior for the Valentine1 and I did not expect to run into him again. This officer proceeded to tell me that if I was to remove and bring to court all of my Jammers/Radar devices that he would then dismiss the case. I decided that this would be the best approach, seeing that the fine per device was ~$45.00 plus court fees.

And here:

Written 3 tickets for Radar/Jam devices and told case would be dropped if devices were removed. Appeared in court early with devices.

Only to feel offended by the mere suggestion of another speeding charge, as you did here:

Please don't accuse me of speeding just because I am a college student that appears to fit the generalized demographic similar to "ignorant college student believes he/she is above the law and does what he/she wants."

You'd have to be suffering from something like split personality disorder or some similar affliction...





With that said, and since you don't speed, let me get to this part:

If anybody can help me with my original questions or give me some tips/advice regarding my circumstance I would greatly appreciate the help

I can't answer your questions but I do have some advice regarding your circumstances... If you were to sell the "countermeasures" -which you have no use for since you don't speed- you should have enough money to hire that lawyer you couldn't afford before. I mean you've already uninstalled the equipment when you showed up in court. And presumably, you were not going to re-install it again; were you?

[Bluebannanas]

You are quite a riot That Guy, your responses have given me some great laughs.

I mean anyone who would flat out admit to three counts of unlawful possession of a radar detector and/or radar jamming device, as you did here:

Seeing that this is a forum and I was already written the citations for the devices, I do not see a point in hiding what I was already found guilty for. If you could think of a good idea to keep that a secret, please enlighten me.

Only to feel offended by the mere suggestion of another speeding charge, as you did here:

Now here I do not believe that you took my time to read my post correctly. I stated

Out of these three, only the Valentine1 is detectable and you can imagine that it was in fact picked up by the LEO's Spectre. After being pulled over, I was written 3 separate tickets for each of my countermeasures..

I have not once been given a speeding charge or even a moving violation in my years driving. Not once in my original post does it state anything regarding me recieving anything similar to one. I believe that anyone in my situation would be offended of such an accusation.

I can't answer your questions but I do have some advice regarding your circumstances... If you were to sell the "countermeasures" -which you have no use for since you don't speed- you should have enough money to hire that lawyer you couldn't afford before. I mean you've already uninstalled the equipment when you showed up in court. And presumably, you were not going to re-install it again; were you?

In regards to this, I did state earlier that I planed on retiring my countermeasures for good, but it doesn't appear that you read that part either. When you say "have no use for since you don't speed" I once again already stated my reasoning for acquiring the countermeasures. Given the few serious responses regarding my actual question and legality, what is the point in hiring a lawyer for a couple hundred when the fine would be the same price?

[Speedy Gonzalez]

Correlation does not mean causation. There is a time for speeding and that is on a track, not a road filled with innocent motorists. Please don't accuse me of speeding just because I am a college student that appears to fit the generalized demographic similar to "ignorant college student believes he/she is above the law and does what he/she wants."

You need to step back and re-examine your statement. You got nailed for carrying illegal devices that you admittedly knew were illegal. And it's not the first time. There is no other reasonable conclusion to draw other than that you intended to use these devices to detect RADAR/LIDAR so that your speeding near innocent people could/would avoid being detected. Your "at the track" comment is laughable. If you only speed "at the track" then WHY did you need these devices on the street? Oh that's right. You thought you were above the law.

As they say, "If the shoe fits.... wear it!"