Wrong Hearing Date on Citation

My question involves traffic court in the State of: Virginia (Fairfax County)

I was stopped for going what the officer thinks over the speed limit and got a Reckless Driving ticket. The date on the citation to appear in court is on a weekend. What does this mean? Will they send me a rescheduled court date that is actually M-F? :confused::confused::confused: Please advise. Thank you

It generally means that you will get a courtesy notice. If you don't, it makes sense to check the status of your case with the court - as odds are you're either misreading the ticket (you probably aren't, but we have seen people here who clearly did) or that there was a problem with your address such that you didn't receive the courtesy notice.

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Quoting Mr. Knowitall

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It generally means that you will get a courtesy notice. If you don't, it makes sense to check the status of your case with the court - as odds are you're either misreading the ticket (you probably aren't, but we have seen people here who clearly did) or that there was a problem with your address such that you didn't receive the courtesy notice.

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All the information on the citation is correct except for the hearing date. Since I have a little time, I will wait one more week and if I don't get a "Courtesy Notice" in the mail as you have indicated above I will make sure to call the district court to clarify the issue. I appreciate your assistance.

Courtesy notice? Not in Virginia. This isn't California, we expect you to show up for your court dates without being reminded. If you don't immediately get a correction, call the court and inquire of your date. In most cases you can look it up on line. You'll also often get the "courtesy" of having a bunch of lawyers who troll the court records sending you cards asking if you want representation. You can't exploit the incorrect date to avoid prosecution. This is a serious charge (misdemeanor) and has the possibility of jail time. I would definitely consult an attorney.

How fast were you going (or what were you doing that led to the charge)?

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Quoting flyingron

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Courtesy notice? Not in Virginia. This isn't California, we expect you to show up for your court dates without being reminded. If you don't immediately get a correction, call the court and inquire of your date. In most cases you can look it up on line. You'll also often get the "courtesy" of having a bunch of lawyers who troll the court records sending you cards asking if you want representation. You can't exploit the incorrect date to avoid prosecution. This is a serious charge (misdemeanor) and has the possibility of jail time. I would definitely consult an attorney.

How fast were you going (or what were you doing that led to the charge)?

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Thanks for the information, it is very helpful.

To answer your question, The officer said I was doing 76 on 55 and at the time that he caught me while I was driving in the fast lane and trying to make my way to the exit lane which was coming up. There were vehicles on my left but their speed wasn't steady to kind of hope they would give me way. No cars were in front of me in the far left lane, so I went a little faster so that I can create enough distance between me and the cars to take my right and gradually go to the right to get to my exit. I wasn't looking at the speedometer at that time as I was making sure I pay attention to the road and look at the side passenger mirror and the rear view mirror to see if I had enough distance and before I could make my move to go right the police car was right behind me (No Lights on) he was very "Very" close so I probably pushed a bit more based on how close he was and thought he wanted to pass me so I quickly changed lanes and of course he ended turning his lights on after I changed the lane and pulled me over right at my exit. He indicated the speed based on "Pace" but he wasn't that long behind me and I wasn't speeding for the sake of joyriding. The officer is the reason why I pushed more as that is probably a tactic they use to make sure your speed doesn't go down while they click the radar or something. There's no use explaining to the officer why or what your intentions were doing what you did as this will always result in a ticket no matter what you tell them. I do respect them highly but sometimes I think they take it overboard just to write a ticket. What happened to "Giving a Warning"? I think Warnings are out dated which what I think I should have gotten based on my driving record. I know I wan't going that fast and now I'm stuck with this serious offence. If the judge would consider reducing it to just speeding or dismiss it, I would really "Really" be grateful. I wasn't being reckless but I guess I would have to prove that to the JUDGE.

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Quoting flyingron

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Courtesy notice? Not in Virginia.

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If it's an "appear on or by" court date, then the court may feel that no additional notice is required. If the court is closed on a specified date for a required court appearance as set on the ticket, then the matter would have to be rescheduled. I'm not aware of any court in any state that moves a court date for a criminal charge without providing notice to the person who is supposed to appear in court that there's a new date.

It's not a appear by date. It's a date certain. Yes they're likely to mail him notice if it changes, but we do not send "courtesy notices" out. He should be very careful he is reading the officer's handwriting correctly (and even so, to check with the court on the date). There are a few "speed trap" jurisdictions that will allow the officer to present you with a jail waiver so you can be tried in absentia, but in most cases someone must appear on the charge.

As to the original poster: You do understand that everything you say is totally meaningless. You were doing 20 over the limit. You're not allowed to go faster just because you need to make an exit. Arguing the officer behind you made you go faster is NOT going to fly either. It only takes him to be behind you and not gaining and to look at his speedometer to make a valid pace reading. What makes you think your "reasons" are better than "joy riding" when ti comes to this offense?

Warning for 20+ over the speed limit? You need to be warned about that? Actually, I've had a VA state trouper do so, but it's unusual.

Anyhow, unless you have a l lot of history of traffic violations, you can almost certainly get this reduced from the CRIMINAL charge to regular speeding. However, every GDC and CA in the state is slightly different, so it would behoove you to contact a local attorney and see what mitigation can be done. It will probably run you about $400-500 for the attorney.

Some tickets will set an "appear for arraignment on or by…" requirement for a misdemeanor citation. If that doesn't ever happen in Virginia, then there's a certain court date. You thus agree that a notice will be sent if a new date is set. You agree, I'm sure, that the court date won't be on a weekend. Thus you agree that a notice should be sent with the new court date.

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Quoting flyingron

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It's not a appear by date. It's a date certain. Yes they're likely to mail him notice if it changes, but we do not send "courtesy notices" out. He should be very careful he is reading the officer's handwriting correctly (and even so, to check with the court on the date). There are a few "speed trap" jurisdictions that will allow the officer to present you with a jail waiver so you can be tried in absentia, but in most cases someone must appear on the charge.

As to the original poster: You do understand that everything you say is totally meaningless. You were doing 20 over the limit. You're not allowed to go faster just because you need to make an exit. Arguing the officer behind you made you go faster is NOT going to fly either. It only takes him to be behind you and not gaining and to look at his speedometer to make a valid pace reading. What makes you think your "reasons" are better than "joy riding" when ti comes to this offense?

Warning for 20+ over the speed limit? You need to be warned about that? Actually, I've had a VA state trouper do so, but it's unusual.

Anyhow, unless you have a l lot of history of traffic violations, you can almost certainly get this reduced from the CRIMINAL charge to regular speeding. However, every GDC and CA in the state is slightly different, so it would behoove you to contact a local attorney and see what mitigation can be done. It will probably run you about $400-500 for the attorney.

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I do have a +VE driving record and hopefully this will help reduce it to just speeding and Yes, I will make sure to get in touch with my attorney. I already ordered a certified copy of my driving record from the DMV. Thanks for all the info

I don't know what Mr. K is thinking he is contributing by throwing out information about what might happen if this was some state other than Virginia.
I am telling you what is happening in Virginia. In fact, I live not more than five miles from the Fairfax GDC you will be appearing in. Unless you were racing or going 100+, you stand a good chance to get it reduced. You may have to take driving school (which you might have to do anyhow, what is your age?).
Of course, this is really academic here since you have an attorney now. Actually, the Fairfax court isn't too unreasonable.