How to Beat a Traffic Ticket in Court

In most cases it is more advantageous for you to go to court and challenge your traffic ticket than to simply write out a check and pay your fines. While paying the fines for your traffic tickets may seem like the path of least resistance, that one action can have many unexpected repercussions down the line. There are a few tips that you can remember should you ever need to beat a traffic ticket in Houston and they begin with your attitude toward the police officer when you are stopped.

Don’t Admit Guilt—and Remain Polite
While it may make you feel better to express your indignation or anger, it will rarely help you out. Be polite and cooperative and you just might get a ticket for a less costly offense, or even just a warning. If you insist on being nasty, the officer may make note of it, and the prosecutor will be less likely to consider a deal when you appear in court. Avoid any admission of guilt and stifle the impulse to make excuses or create unbelievable stories about why you were speeding or committing any other traffic offense.

Dealing With the Police Officer
One thing you may want to do is politely ask the police officer how you can pay your ticket through the mail—even if you have no intention of doing so. This gives the officer the idea that you are unlikely to go to court to plead your innocence and he or she may take fewer notes. Then when you challenge the ticket the officer is at a disadvantage due to the sparse nature of his notes and recollection.

You could also go the alternate route and ask the police officer an entire litany of questions—politely, of course. You could ask where the officer was positioned and what type of radar detection device he or she used. Ask for as many details as possible, down to the serial number of the device, and make a note of the officer’s license plate and badge number. While this won’t make you particularly popular with the officer, it may give you an edge when you get to court, and in some instances the officer may not even show up, meaning your ticket will be dismissed.

The True Cost of Failing to Appear

If you believe that failing to appear on a traffic ticket may be a relatively harmless matter, you could be very unpleasantly surprised to find yourself under the cloud of a Houston arrest warrant. Of course it is much better for you if you actually know about the arrest warrant than if you are totally unaware of it. Although Houston police officers generally have much more serious issues to contend with than tracking down those who have neglected to pay a traffic ticket, they do have the option to find you wherever you may be (home, school, work) and arrest you immediately. Further, during Houston’s annual warrant roundup the police are actively looking for those who have neglected to pay their fines or show up in court as promised. To have police officers come into a person’s place of work and take them away in handcuffs would be a devastating experience for most all people.

When You’ve Been Charged with Failure to Appear
Suppose you received a ticket for a minor traffic infraction, put it into a drawer intending to pay the ticket or appear in court and contest it, then simply forgot about it. In our ever-increasingly busy lives, this is actually a fairly common scenario. Next thing you know there has been a Failure to Appear charge levied against you and a City of Houston arrest warrant issued. Although it is certainly reasonable that you would panic at this point and send in the money immediately, living in fear until the check cleared, you should be aware of the consequences of doing so. Remember that a Failure to Appear charge is a totally separate and new charge against you in addition to the original traffic charges.

Should you send in your money for the past due ticket, you must be aware that you have effectively pled “guilty” to the offense, and now have a conviction on your record—even though traffic issues seem minor, they are generally considered criminal cases. That conviction adds points to your driving record, increases your insurance rates, and can even be responsible for jeopardizing your current job or preventing you from obtaining a future job. Should you receive too many points on your driving record you could even face having your driver’s license suspended—a serious occurrence for most Americans.

Could Houston’s Annual Warrant Roundup Affect You?

Every year the state of Texas holds a two-month long great warrant roundup and if you happen to be “asked” to participate in the roundup it is not nearly as much fun as it might sound. Those individuals who have neglected to pay a traffic ticket or other Class C misdemeanor ticket may find themselves actively pursued under a City of Houston arrest warrant. Just last March Houston began their annual warrant roundup clearing nearly 30,000 warrants, netting two and a half million dollars in outstanding fines and making over four thousand arrests.  These roundups are a significant source of revenue for Texas counties, however if your name is on the warrant list should you simply pay up? While the threat of being arrested at your home or place of work is frightening enough to cause you to immediately write out a check, in many cases it is much more advantageous to consult an experienced traffic attorney who can offer you some options.

Posting a Bond vs. Paying Your Tickets
If you know that you have an outstanding Houston arrest warrant you are probably in a better position than those who are unaware of the fact. Knowledge of the arrest warrant gives you time to avoid a potentially embarrassing situation such as being arrested in front of your boss and co-workers. Before the roundup officially kicks into gear, you have the option of posting a Harris county traffic bond which can give you some time to decide how you want to handle the situation. A Sugarland bond or Jersey Village bond can also be posted should you reside in those areas. Posting a bond is not difficult and can allow you and your attorney to decide whether you will ultimately pay your tickets and suffer the consequences or fight for a better end result such as deferred adjudication or a mandated defensive driving course. Simply paying your ticket can result in a variety of repercussions, none of them particularly good. You will accrue points on your driver’s license, be subject to higher insurance rates and in some cases your employment may even be affected.

High-Speed Chase Ends on Dallas Love Field Runway

DALLAS—An hour-long police chase late last month ended in the arrest of a suspect wanted in connection with several robberies in the Dallas area. Michael Lawrence Brown, 46, was taken into custody next to one of Love Field airport’s busiest runways after leading police on a high-speed chase through the city. 

Police said that a gray Chevy pickup, which had been stolen at knife point from the Sheraton Hotel in Fort Worth, was spotted at an apartment complex in the area of Preston Road and Belt Line Road in north Dallas around 2:30 p.m. on Thursday, August 19. This started a chase that ran down the service roads of Central Expressway. 

After heading through neighborhoods and even traveling south into the downtown area, Brown turned the pickup truck northbound and wound up at Love Field. 

With no other way to go, he easily smashed through a security gate off of Aviation Place and found himself on the tarmac not far from nine Southwest passenger jets. But he didn’t stop there: Brown drove east over an active runway (31R) before turning and continuing up the taxiway. He crossed Runway 18 and was boxed in by four cruisers and an unmarked police truck, then was forced onto the grass north of Runway 18 in between the taxiway and Runway 13L. One officer used a pit maneuver to force the truck into a spin, and the chase was over. 

Anatomy Of A Traffic Case In Texas

The vast majority of Texans have, at some point in their lives, received a ticket for a traffic violation.  Unlike most other violations of the law, a traffic ticket doesn’t bear the same stigma of criminality and is often viewed as a minor offense that even the most law-abiding citizens may be guilty of on a frequent basis.  However, don’t let the prevalence and the commonality of a traffic ticket fool you.  Trying to resolve a traffic ticket in Texas is at best an annoyance, and at worst, a convoluted maze of red tape that can have you banging your head against the wall in no time.  From the moment you see the red lights flashing in your rearview mirror and hear the dreaded siren, you enter the confounding world of Texas traffic law.

While not considered a serious offense by most people, many Texans don’t realize that a traffic violation is still a criminal offense in the state of Texas.  The list of possible traffic violations that you can be guilty of in Texas seems endless: speeding, speeding in a construction zone, speeding in a school zone, running a red light, failing to signal, failing to yield to right of way, loud muffler, expired registration/inspection, driving without a valid driver’s license etc. (maybe here we can add a link that people can click on to see the sheer variety of cases that they could be charged with).  The list goes on and on.  Each type of case has varying degrees of repercussions and different methods of resolution.  For example, a speeding or moving violation may result in a fine, put negative points on your driving record, or raise your insurance rates.  Other, more straightforward violations such as expired registration can be dismissed with a ten dollar dismissal fee if you update your registration within ten days

Considering how varied the steps can be to resolve each type of case, it is not surprising that many people find dealing with a traffic ticket a very stressful process.  That is where Sullo & Sullo can step in to relieve that stress and confusion.  We are a law firm that specializes in traffic ticket defense and you can have peace of mind knowing that only the most experienced and thorough attorneys who are skilled in traffic law are managing your cases.  While it would be impossible to discuss all the nuances of traffic procedure and traffic law, we would like to provide a general overview of the anatomy of a typical traffic case.  This step-by-step guide to how traffic cases work in Texas is a service provided to you by Sullo & Sullo to help demystify the process for all our clients.

At the scene of the alleged violation

Let’s begin with the cardinal rule of traffic stops.  When you see the flashing red lights behind you, make sure that you pull over quickly.  As you roll down the window full of anger at the realization that this police officer is going to make you late to your very important meeting, just roll down that window and bite your tongue.  The biggest mistake that people often make when they are pulled over is talking too much.  Listen to what the officer has to say, nod your head, and be pleasant.  No matter how much you are tempted to do it, the golden rule is: DO NOT ARGUE WITH THE POLICE OFFICER     Read more......

Hiring a Houston Attorney in Traffic Court

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What are the Benefits to Hiring a Houston Attorney in Traffic Court?

After getting over the initial inconvenience (and perhaps injustice) of being pulled over and given a traffic citation, you then have to decide how you are going to handle your ticket. For those who do not have the time to go to court or research Texas traffic law, it is an easy choice: hand the ticket over to an attorney who specializes in violations in traffic court. Others, however, may feel that they can handle the traffic citation on their own. Besides, they may wonder, it’s only a minor traffic offense. How difficult and complicated could it be?

If your only concern is taking care of the ticket, then you can hand over your hard-earned money to the city of Houston. They will be happy to take your money from you any day of the week. You can mail in a payment and the ticket will be resolved with points going against your driving record. However, if you are not eager to give up your money to the city, care about your driving record, and want to get the best deal possible, it’s always a good idea to hire an attorney. Here are some of the top reasons why you should hire a Sullo and Sullo attorney to handle your traffic ticket.

1. Your attorney keeps you informed.

One of the biggest benefits of having a Sullo and Sullo attorney with you in traffic court is that your attorney will keep you informed. For the ordinary law abiding/breaking citizen, traffic court often appears to be a mysterious milieu: attorneys are walking around the courtroom talking to different players; various defendants are approaching the bench at different times to speak to the judge; police officers are walking in and out of the courtroom signing mysterious sheets of paper; and bailiffs are yelling at everyone to lower their voices and follow courtroom rules. With an attorney by your side, you can remain confident that you know the rules of the court, how your case is being handled, and how the day will unravel. You will look around and see many frustrated faces, and some dazed and confused faces. But you can sit back and relax, knowing that your attorney has just informed you of all the ins and outs of courtroom procedure and protocol.

2. Your attorney knows what gets a traffic case dismissed in court.

Many people have the misperception that traffic cases are only dismissed when an officer does not show up to court. However, there are many different angles through which a traffic case can be dismissed pre-trial. When you hire Sullo and Sullo to handle your case, you can be confident knowing that your attorney has exhausted every possible means of dismissal. From finding legal and factual mistakes on the drafted complaint to talking to the prosecutor and officer about any possible mitigating factors, your attorney will work every angle of the case with the goal of pre-trial dismissal.

3. Your attorney knows the rules of evidence and traffic laws.

If your case does end up going to trial, you will be heavily disadvantaged if you do not have an attorney advocating on your behalf. Probably one of the most important reasons to have an attorney with you in traffic court is the attorney’s knowledge of the rules of evidence and the convoluted traffic laws of the state of Texas. While this knowledge is helpful in pre-trial matters, it is critical during the trial stage. Even the most highly-educated, well-meaning defendants fail miserably when going up against a seasoned attorney in trial. Pro se defendants often do not know how to conduct an efficient voir dire, when and how to deliver certain portions of their case at large, and how to conduct a debilitating cross examination. Also, many defendants arrive to court very well prepared armed with graphs, pictures and other evidence. They are often perplexed and stunned when the judge prevents them from showing any of the evidence to the jury because none of the items have been properly introduced in accordance with the rules of evidence. Don’t let yourself become one of these unfortunate people who are left wondering, “Why didn’t I just hire an attorney?” You wouldn’t operate on yourself if you discovered you needed gastric bypass surgery. Instead, you would seek the services of a skilled professional in that area. So, without the legal background and education of an attorney, why would you litigate a case on your own?

4. Your attorney knows the court system.

Every Sullo attorney knows the game and how it’s played in traffic court. Our attorneys who specialize in traffic tickets are in the traffic trenches every day of the week. They are a part of the every day routine and see the inner workings of the court system. Your attorney will know which prosecutors are the best to work deals with and which prosecutors are the best to try cases against. Your attorney will also know the nuances of each judge and tailor his/her trial tactics accordingly. Do not underestimate the value of your attorney’s every day interaction with and exposure to all the courtroom players. Your attorney will take this vault of information and guide you through the strategy for your specific case. You will quickly know what will get you in trouble with the bailiffs in certain courts, and what you should say and what you should not say. Having an attorney with this wealth of knowledge by your side is an invaluable asset.