Court Never Received My Trial by Declaration - What Can I Do

My question involves traffic court in the State of: California

I received a no-right turn ticket in downtown LA on Sunday, 10/17/10. The officer told me to request a Trial by Declaration. I received initial letter from Metro Courthouse around late Nov. I sent in the forms and the $221 fine/bail. On Dec 28, 2010, I received a letter from Metro confirming payment, etc. It included a Trial by Decl. form which I filled out and sent back. It was due 01/28/11. On 2/18/11, I received a letter from Metro stating that I failed to appear in court (maybe they did not received the forms), that they put a hold on my DMV, and now have an $891 fine/bail. I did everything I was suppose to. I live in Hesperia and work in Lancaster - neither are close to LA. I want to clear the $891 fine and clear the ticket. What can I do? Going to the courthouse is tough because I will need to take a day off and it's over 90 miles from my house. But if I have to, I will. What I want most is the ticket cleared and not have to pay the $891 fine/bail.

Thanks

Quote:

---

Quoting Lunarfaze

---

I sent in the forms and the $221 fine/bail. .... (maybe they did not received the forms)

---

Did you send the forms AND the check in one envelope? Do you have a return receipt showing what date the forms were received by the court?

I sent the request for Trial by Decl and the payment together in the first mailing. Metro responded accepting the payment with the official trial by decl form which I filled out and sent in.
No return receipt. Therefore, no proof.

Quote:

---

Quoting Lunarfaze

---

No return receipt. Therefore, no proof.

---

BIG mistake... However, if you had already posted bail, and assuming that the forms were not received by the court, the end result should simply be "bail forfeiture" with no additional charges/fees/FTAs/license holds.

It will be near impossible to contact the court over the phone, your only option may end up being that you'll have to make the trip down to LA.

Good luck!

OK, so I take my letters from the court to the court and hope they clear the $891 bail??

Sorry That Guy.. I'm a little confused. Do you mean the intial $221 I paid or the new $891 bail/fine?

Quote:

---

Quoting Lunarfaze

---

OK, so I take my letters from the court to the court and hope they clear the $891 bail??

---

Pretty much... A copy of the canceled check (if you have it) might also come in handy to show that you paid the bail.

Unless something crazy happened here, there is no reason why they wouldn't clear the additional fines. You should also request that the notify the DMV that the hold was placed on your license in error... And make sure that you check in the status of your license with the DMV after all is said and done (just to be on the safe side).

Good luck!

Quote:

---

Quoting Lunarfaze

---

Sorry That Guy.. I'm a little confused. Do you mean the intial $221 I paid or the new $891 bail/fine?

---

The $891 fine/assessment should be removed (as in: you would no longer owe it) once this matter is taken care of/corrected.

As for the $221, and unless you can show some sort of proof that the TBD forms that you mailed to the court were "received by them in a timely manner", then you have no recourse as far as that is concerned.

OP... Please inbox me the citation number and let's see if I can clear this up for you without you having to make the trip.

CourtClerk... will do!

It was not my intent to make it go this long. The only reason I even did a TBD was bc the police officer told me too... he even came back to my car afterwards and appologized! (When he stopped to pull me over he nearly got rearended by an SUV that he said was tailgating him for a mile... he even told me he should have give that guy a ticket). He was very nice. I just want this cleared up.

No problem. Thank That Guy, he's the one that messaged me.

I have a feeling I know what's going on... but let me have someone confirm my suspicions first.

Well, Thank you That Guy too!

I sent you the citation number.