In the state of New Jersey, you have the right to dispute a traffic ticket in court. You have the right to plead your case in front of a court if you are dissatisfied with the charge and believe it was handed down in an unjust manner. I was charged with a driving infraction in New Jersey, so I conducted some research on how to plead not guilty to the charge. What I discovered is as follows. First, you have to be aware of the appropriate times to defend oneself.
When is the right time to defend yourself against a traffic violation in the state of New Jersey?
The issue that has to be answered is whether or not it will be beneficial to dispute the traffic ticket in court. You might start by determining whether or not you were issued a straightforward traffic ticket. Let’s begin with some instances of the most basic driving violations.
- Making use of a restricted area
- Disregarding proper procedure
- Dangerous driving
- Refusing to make space for an ambulance.
- Interference with passage
- Speeding
- A terrible just around
- Closely following
- Failure to stay in one’s lane
- insufficient support
- uncompromising the quest
- Crossing the path of a school bus
- failing to provide a turn signal
- Unsuitable support
All of these offenses may be found in the Statute of New Jersey (39:4-82 and onwards). These are minor violations because you can make your case for forgiveness on your own, without hiring an attorney. Nonetheless, if you get a bunch of points from the, you can get suspended for a long time and have to pay a hefty fine.
For instance, if your team receives a 4 point penalty for passing incorrectly, you know what to do. This doubles your existing point total from two to four, and you’ll be liable to a $150 annual fee for the next three years. You certainly don’t want it to occur.
You also need to be aware of offenses that are not straightforward in order to be able to choose a competent legal representative.
When you commit serious infractions, you put yourself at risk of receiving severe penalties, such as a hefty fine, the suspension or revocation of your driver’s license, or even incarceration.
Take note: You must not make the oversight of defending yourself in this case without the assistance of a legal professional.
What are these offenses?
- Drunken driving
- Driving while suspended
- Refusing a breath test
- Driving while on the phone
- Irresponsible driving
- Exceeding the speed limit by more than fifteen miles per hour
- Without proper auto insurance coverage, you must stop immediately.
- Getting away from an accident scene
You may now identify the location of your traffic infraction fine. Now is the time to mount a defense. A procedure must be followed. In the next paragraph, we will examine this issue in further depth.
Traffic Tickets for Plead Not Guilty
- You have the right to appear in front of a judge in the NJ Municipal Court if you enter a not guilty plead. You are required to appear in court on the date that was printed on the traffic ticket and inform the judge that you would like to enter a guilty plea.
- A strategy that is recommended is: You are required to contact the courts within three days of the date that is listed on your ticket, or you can phone the NJ municipal court that is handling your citation and alert them.
- You will be instructed by a clerk to either appear in court on the date that is shown on the traffic ticket or to schedule a hearing date in order to perform the things listed above.
- In addition to considering the possibility that it is only a simple ticket, you should ask yourself a few more considerations before entering a not guilty plea. The following are some questions then:
- Do you have any proof, including proof that may be used in a court of law, as well as the tools to present your evidence in an acceptable manner?
- How likely is it that your conviction will result in points being added to your driver’s license? If this is the case, would the accumulation of points result in the suspension of my driver’s license?
- If you need to appear in court more than once, are you available to do so?
- A possible sentence for this conviction is time spent in jail. This is dependent on the driving infraction you committed.
If you are confident that you can handle the worst case situation in any of these, then you are ready to play the game. It is time to challenge the allegations against you in court. Now, how exactly do you go about doing that?
To begin, you should have a conversation with the district attorney in order to begin negotiating a plea deal together. It’s possible that you may enter a guilty plea as part of the plea deal, which would result in a reduced sentence for you. Take note that admitting that you are guilty has a huge impact on your legal situation before you even consider entering a plea.
Second, if you do not accept a plea deal, you will have to appear before the judge. Should it become clear that you require legal representation, your case may be continued at a later date.
Take into consideration that the courts may appoint you a public defender in the event that the outcome of the traffic ticket might result in jail time. Or, in the event that you are unable to pay the fees associated with hiring a traffic ticket attorney.
- The next step is to present your evidence before the judge, along with any witnesses you may have.
- In the end, the judge will give a verdict after considering the evidence that was provided, the argument that you or the attorney will make, and what the witnesses will say.
The decision regarding your case might either be favorable or unfavorable. But despite this, what exactly are the repercussions of the verdict?
In the next section, you will soon find out the answer to that question.
The Impact of a Conviction for a Traffic Offense in a Municipal Court
A New Jersey traffic judge’s decision should be expected at any time. Knowing the implications of a good or negative verdict is crucial. First, let’s hear some excellent news.
Consequences of a Successful Verdict
- There will be no further action taken.
- You are exempt from having to pay any penalties or have your license suspended.
- You won’t be forced to pay sky-high premiums for your insurance policy.
- There was not a single point added to the driver’s record.
Consequences of a Guilty Verdict
- The length of time you spend in jail is often proportional to the severity of the traffic violation you committed.
- You have gained points for your record.
- Indefinite revocation of the driver’s license
- Helping out the community
- Participation in the New Jersey impaired driving facility is required of all drivers.
- A monetary penalty may call for the whole amount to be paid on the day of the trial itself. If you are unable to gather the necessary funds, you may be granted permission to pay for it in installments instead.
Be Careful: If you have a commercial driver’s license, you are required to notify your employer of any offenses you have committed within 30 days of receiving your conviction.
After hearing this decision, you should carefully consider whether or not to appeal the guilty conviction. So, in such case, the following is what you should do, and what you may anticipate:
- You have twenty days from the time you get the decision to appeal it.
- The initial hearing and any evidence that may be provided will be reviewed by a judge from the Supreme Court of New Jersey.
- After that, the judge will decide what should happen with your case.
Please be aware that the filing fee for the appeal is one hundred dollars, and that transcribing will cost you an extra sum. So, how exactly should you go about the procedure of appealing the decision?
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New Jersey Traffic Ticket Verdict Appeal
Steps to appeal
- Complete Form A, which is a Notification of Appeal to the Municipal Court.
- Complete Section B of Form; a Transcript Request municipal court. Be careful to place an order for both the original and a duplicate of the written record that was kept of your hearing. This form ought to assist you in carrying it out.
- Send or bring the completed Form A to the Municipal Court that convicted you of the offense. After being found guilty, you are required to complete this within the 20 calendar days (weekends and holidays included).
- Within five days of delivering Form A to the Municipal Court, you are required to hand-deliver or mail a copy of Form A to a prosecutor.
- Complete Certification of Timely Filing Form C, usually referred to simply as Form C. This document demonstrates to the court that you have timely and correctly delivered all of the required documents to the appropriate locations.
- At the end you should transmit the original of Form C as well as a copy of Form A to the Criminal Division Manager at the Superior Court. It shouldn’t be more than five days following the original copy A at the earliest.
At the office of the Criminal Division Manager, you will submit a money order or check made out to the New Jersey treasury in the amount of one hundred dollars to cover the cost of filing your Notice of Appeal.
If you are unable to pay the one hundred dollar filing fee, you may ask the staff of the superior court or the municipal court for assistance in submitting an application to have the price waived.
Suggestions: To ensure that the process of appealing is carried out correctly, you should create a checklist that includes each of the processes described above.
In the end, you will need to choose if you will require an attorney or whether you will represent yourself in the case. If legal assistance is required, you have the options of:
- Please get in touch with the New Jersey Attorney Referral Office.
- Get in touch with any local bar associations in your state or county and ask for a referral to an attorney who would be willing to assist you with the lawsuit at an affordable rate.
The only thing left to do is avoid going to court and going through with your last hearing. I wish you the best of luck with your appeal! I have faith that you will prevail this time. For any assistance contact us.