What Happens if You Walk Out of Your Court Hearing

My question involves traffic court in the State of: CA

If I make a plea of not guilty and walk out because the cop shows up, what happens next besides forfieture of my bail (full ticket amount)? I want to fight my ticket, but know I'll lose. If I go to court and the motorcycle cop fails to show, I'll automatically win. The ticket was pretty chicken crap and anybody would have gotten pissed about it. I have a Commercial DL so traffic school isn't an option....so why not go ahead to plead not guilty and make the cop show up and win if he doesn't, if possible?

Are you talking about arraignment or actual trial? If you are referring simply to the arraignment where you enter a plea, the officer is not required to be present. They will be subpoenaed to trial if you plead not guilty. Whether they show up or not is a crap shoot but one you're likely to lose, especially if it was CHP.

It would be better if you kept this all in the same thread.

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Quoting rick92647

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If I make a plea of not guilty and walk out because the cop shows up, what happens next besides forfieture of my bail (full ticket amount)?

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This is a REALLY BAD IDEA. Your citation is a promise to appear, and if you fail to appear as promised, the court will make your life very difficult.

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Quoting Vehicle Code 40508

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40508. (a) A person willfully violating his or her written promise to appear or a lawfully granted continuance of his or her promise to appear in court or before a person authorized to receive a deposit of bail is guilty of a misdemeanor regardless of the disposition of the charge upon which he or she was originally arrested.

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If you fail to appear, the court will add additional fines to your bail, you will forfeit your bail, you will be found guilty in absentia, the court can issue a warrant for your arrest, the DMV will suspend your license, and you will be charged with a misdemeanor. If you're found guilty of failing to appear, you can be fined up to $1,000 and spend up to 6 months in jail. There's also the possibility that you could be caught and fined for driving with a suspended license, which would have its own set of fines.

Wow, they let you drive a commercial vehicle!!! I don't see you keeping that CDL long. You should have done a TBD and failing there, hired a traffic lawyer, to attempt to get the charge amended prior to court for something else you were guilty of that would not affect your CDL status.

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Quoting rick92647

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If I make a plea of not guilty and walk out because the cop shows up, what happens next besides forfieture of my bail (full ticket amount)?

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You aren't really making sense. As free9man explained, usually you plead at the arraignment, where no officers are present. Then they schedule you for the trial, where the officer is supposed to be present. If you have prepaid full bail, and walk out (or don't show up), regardless of whether the officer is present or not, the VC allows the judge to forfeit bail and end the matter there. Of course, the judge is also allowed to give you an FTA ($500+) and simply reschedule your trial date.

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Quoting rick92647

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The ticket was pretty chicken crap and anybody would have gotten pissed about it.

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The ticket as you described it.. Was as legit as can be... Just because you're too obtuse to realize or admit it does not make it chicken crap!

LOL. I'm thinking that those potential neighbors in Rancho Santa Margurita don't know how grateful they should be to that cop…seeing as his unwillingness to forego the ticket as a “welcome to the neighborhood” gesture caused you to choose not to move there.

I’m about half convinced that you are just a troll…posting here as a goof and just saying idiotic crap to see what you can stir up. But, the other half is still suspicious that you really are just an idiot.

re #2. Thanks for that tidbit, free9man. Was just curious because many, many years ago I heard a retired police officer talk about ways to defeat traffic tickets and one was simply to enter a plea of not guily, wait for trial and hope the office didn't or couldn't show. At minimum, I'm looking to spare my perfect CDL of a point so the thought seems worthwhile as they don't appear to offer traffic school for CDL professionals.

Re: ptpd22 comment #6; it’s common knowledge cops have quotas, especially motorcycle cops so forgoing the ticket wasn’t in the cards. If you understood the context of the other thread you’re trying to drag over here, you’d realize my meaning of a “blessing in disguise.” Okay, so forewarning others (back on the other thread) about what I saw apparently doesn’t sit well with you. Lots of things in life don’t sit well. You’re reacting with personal attacks that actually have nothing to do with you, a better choice of PR will go a long way. I didn’t lay everything on the table to be ripped apart for anyone’s enjoyment. I know you’re going to say, “then don’t post stupid crap” but recognize this kind of reaction doesn’t lend credibility to me or anyone else (of credibility) offered up here. I feel like I walked into Springer’s forum.

Well, I'm sorry if my reaction doesn't lend credibility to you...whatever that actually means. You came here seeking advice, promptly refuted the advice received, and continued to make some pretty arrogantly ridiculous statements in doing so. You are completely unwilling to take responsibility for your own actions and seem to think you are somehow special and, therefore, should be immune to the consequences of those actions. If the fact that I find such an attitude entertaining offends you, so be it.

As for your blithely stated assertion that "it’s common knowledge cops have quotas," perhaps you should do some research. See California Vehicle Code 41600-41603. Yes, police officers are expected to actually perform their assigned duties and be productive. Yes, some supervisors use number of stops, number of citations, number of arrests, etc., as one measure of productivity. If a particular officer's numbers are consistently, significantly below their peers', it may reflect in performance evaluations. That is no different than any other job...workers are expected to perform a service to earn their pay. But, by law, numbers can only be one of several, equally weighted "criteria such as attendance, punctuality, work safety, complaints by citizens, commendations, demeanor, formal training, and professional judgment." Not only are quotas highly unethical (and defined as such by the Fraternal Order of Police, the International Association of Chiefs of Police, and every other law enforcement organization I know about), it is also illegal. So, maybe your "common knowledge" is something like your common sense...not so common.