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Pennsylvania Ticket and Clerical Errors

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  • 03-05-2009, 10:35 AM
    phoenixds
    Pennsylvania Ticket and Clerical Errors
    My question involves traffic court in the State of: Pennsylvania

    Back in december, I was driving home from Ohio overnight, and was pulled over in western PA for speeding. Since I had the cruise control set to 69 (speed limit was 65), I know I wasn't doing the 80 the cop claimed I was. I live in eastern long island, ny, and had no intention of driving 8 hours back to western PA to fight the ticket, so I sent in the money for the fine and marked Not Guilty, as I wasn't.

    I received a letter stating a date set for trial and it said my fine payment was being held as collateral for a failure to appear. I called the clerk and stated that I did not wish to have a trial, I have paid the fine. I was told to send a letter stating my decline of a trial. I sent the letter and my check was deposited to the town.

    I recently received another letter now stating that a warrant is close to being issued if I don't send more money for court fees. Seems they decided to have a trial in my absence and against my request. I called the clerk again and was told that there was no letter attached to my case regarding the request to waive the trial.

    I don't think I should have to pay for their error, but "you can't fight city hall" rings in my head. They have the power to issue the warrant and essentially do what they want because I am stuck with the burden of proof.

    My question essentially is, what are my options? What should my next step be? This really feels like extortion. How do I prove I sent the letter?
  • 03-07-2009, 07:43 PM
    Mr. Knowitall
    Re: Pennsylvania Ticket and Clerical Errors
    You can try to argue your case to the judge; I'm not sure that will be possible without appearing in court or hiring a lawyer, but you can ask the clerk if the court will review a letter from you.

    In my experience, courts aren't very sympathetic to the idea of letters getting "lost in the mail" (even though it does happen at times), and they are very good at properly processing and filing the correspondence they actually receive.
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