While I am not trying to scare you or make this into an impossible task, you need to get some facts straight...
For purpose of calculating the estimated fines and so I am looking at the correct penalty schedule, I am assuming that this happened between July of 2011 an January of 2012. If the time you were cited does not fall between those dates, post the date and we can adjust the amount.. Either way, I am estimating!
In your first post and from your question "Do you think that it is possible to be completely free of charge even if you are present without a professional lawyer given that you have solid arguments?" And yet after hearing what possibly was your "solid argument for speeding" -that you were driving 55 but not 60 as cited by the officer- it is safe to assume that you really have nothing solid as a defense.
You were cited for 2 matters, "speeding" and the "driving without a license"... And you managed to add a third HUGE problem to the existing two; a "failure to appear".
OK, so lets look at the speeding citation:
The posted speed limit according to the citation is 40mph.
The officer cited you for 60mph.
You claim you were doing 55, well, you're still above the 40mph limit and you still have no basis for your claim or any reasonable way to refute the officer's (possible) pace. (I am assuming a pace simply because the radar box has a dash in it and that usually means he paced your speed).
3 related issues that this impacts:
(1) it removes any possibility you having a speed trap argument (about the only way that you could reasonably assume you'd have a possible defense) and that in turn leads to,
(2) of it makes his job of proving your guilt much easier and in contrast the end result is,
(3) it makes your chances of beating the speeding citation close to impossible.
So potentially, you are not likely to beat the speeding citation, and while your fine maybe reduced by the court, the court is under no obligation to reduce it for you... So for all intents and purposes, you need to assume you'll be paying the fine for speeding (Possible around $280).
And lets look at the "Failure To Appear"
I can tell you that as far as the "failure to appear (F.T.A.)" and the fines and penalties associated with that, it will be extremely difficult to get this charge to get dismissed by the court UNLESS you have one of a few excuses that you can document. (a) You were deployed on military duty, (b) you were hospitalized for a sever illness, (c) you had a family emergency that required your presence somewhere away fro the court. Not only does it not sound like any of the above is applicable here, it sounds as if you simply blew it off carelessly, but it sounds like it has been quite a bit of time since your scheduled appearance, and even with a legit excuse, you still failed to try and resolve the matter.
This fine is actually split into 2.. A fine for the FTA, of approximately $154 and an additional civil assessment of $300. It is only in the rare circumstances I described above that you might see the entire amount to go away, otherwise, you are looking at a sure $300 for the civil assessment, and a possible $154 for the FTA. Again, it is possible for the court to reduce the $154, but the court is not under any obligation to reduce anything. So potentially, you are looking at a possible $154 +$300 = $454 for the FTA & fine.
Lastly, lets look at the "driving without a license"
cdwjava asked you some questions and the only way I can provide a guesstimate would be after you provide those answers.
But in general, if you are in fact licensed at this time, it appears that the officer did in fact mark that offense as "correctable" on your citation and although your failure to appear means that the court can reject your correction, yo might run into a sympathetic judge who will allow you to make show proof that you are licensed, and then allow you the correction, which will reduce the fine for 12500(a) from $314 down to $25...
So potentially,if you are unable to show proof you are licensed to the court, you are looking at $280 for speeding + $454 for the FTA + $314 for driving without a license = $1048 (close to what you stated of $1063).
Alternatively, if you are licensed now and can present proof of that to the court, you are looking at these possible fines: $280 for speeding + $454 for the FTA + $25 for the driving without a license = Grand total of $859 or so...
You may have some reductions but there is no guarantee for that, and you will only find out if/when you go to court.
The problem I see with the second scenario of you being licensed now and having the ability to show proof of a valid license to the court, is simply not likely because when you failure to appear in court, and in addition to the extra fines and penalties added by the court, there is a good chance that they also notified the DMV of your FTA and requested that your license be placed on hold (i.e. suspended) which also means invalid.
The way to resolve this is when you contact the court and request an appearance before the judge, you should be able to also request that they reinstate your license with the DMV, you would then have to go to the DMV, pay them a $55 reinstatement fee, take the written test and have your license reinstated. You would need to do this BEFORE your court appearance so that when you show your license to the judge, it will in fact be "valid" as required!
The last thing I can possibly tell you about is that some courts offer community service in lieu of paying a fine... There will still be some administrative fines and fees you would have to pay, however, the bulk of the huge fine amount would be something you can work off instead of staying in debt to the court for what sounds like it will be a long time. So ask the court clerk if they offer community service, and if so, that is the way you could possibly resolve this soon.
Well, one last thins is, courts that offer community service are very strict on the timing they give you to complete service. So if the judge orders you to XX hours of community service to be completed in YY days, you BETTER complete XX hours in _LESS THAN- YY days otherwise, you start getting into "violations of court orders" and judges don't like people who disregard their authority. Especially those who showed some disregard already by not appearing in a timely manner!
Good luck!
Speeding, Ticket for VC 22350 and 12500
Quoting Mackans
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