Can a Moving Violation Be Change to a Fix Ticket

[Jac]

My question involves vehicle maintenance laws for the State of: California

last night I was stopped by the police for driving without headlights. the police officer give me a ticket for driving without headlights. I move my headlight swicht and the lights came on, so I get the ticket "the officer thinks a forgot to turn the on". but when I got home the lights were off again, this is when I found out that it is a mechanical problem and my headlights work intermittent. I went to the auto parts store and they toll me, it could be a relay that overheating and making the headlights turn off once the relay gets hot. so I bought the new part and installed.

QS. can I go to court and have my ticket changed from a moving violation to a fix ticket, I have the receipt from the store from where I bought the part and I also have the old defective part. is it possible to have it change?

[That Guy]

QS. can I go to court and have my ticket changed from a moving violation to a fix ticket, I have the receipt from the store from where I bought the part and I also have the old defective part. is it possible to have it change?

You can try that but considering the fact that the officer is merely a witness at the time that you appear for your violation, it would be highly unlikely that he can change the citation once it is filed in court.

Moreover, the judge cannot change the charge by virtue of the fact that he is there to hear both versions of the story (yours and that of the officer) and make a determination as to whether you're guilty or not.

Legally, the only way the charge can be amended after filing is if the prosecution will agree to the change, but since there will no prosecutor who will appear in a California traffic infraction case, that eliminates the last possibility of any changes...

In my view, your only hope would be that you will get a sympathetic judge who will preside over your case, and one who would be willing to lower the fine amount based on the circumstances.

[blewis]

I think Guy is essentially correst, however, I also think a judge can find you guilty of what might be considered a "lesser included offense". Whether or not a broken relay can be considered a "lesser included offense" of "driving without headlights, will all depend on the judge. However, I don't think it would hurt to go into court and contritely explain your story, showing the receipt for the new part.

Just my $.02
Barry

[That Guy]

I agree with Barry 100%, and would like to add that going into court with the right attitude, being respectful, and asking for mercy will go a long way.

But, I also should have asked the OP what VC section he was cited for and whether it was marked as correctable or not.

I should have also included an explanation of the fact that California citations have two check boxes {CORRECTABLE ( )YES - ( ) NO} for each line where a violation can be listed by the officer.

It used to be where a judge will look at VC 40303 to see if that violation is listed in there which might mean that it could have been written as correctable. If it is listed in 40303 (and a "headlight out" is in fact listed), then some judges used to go as far as admonishing the officer for marking it as "noncorrectable" and either dismissing the citation or suspending the sentence.

As of January of 2009, things have changed. If the violation is marked as noncorrectable, and although they might accept a plea of "guilty with an explanation" and may slightly reduce the fine, changing it to a "correctable citation" is much less likely to happen regardless of whether it is listed in VC 40303.

Lastly, I must also say that a correctable headlight violation is usually written if and when one headlight is out. When it is both, and although that does not disqualify it from being a correctable violation, it is left to the officer's discretion to make that determination in the field.