Garland Ticket Lawyer

Speeding Ticket Defense Strategies

214-321-4105

Garland Municipal Court

If you have been cited for a speeding ticket in Garland Municipal Court and are looking for some of the strategies to assist you in the defense of that ticket, this article may help.  Nothing will be as good as an experienced lawyer on your side.  Don’t try to fool yourself into believing that you can do as good a job as a lawyer either.  It would be the equivalent of a lawyer saying they can do your job better regardless of your level of experience.  However, with that in mind, there are some basic tips that may help you navigate a case through Garland Municipal Court and help you obtain a beneficial result.  Our speeding ticket attorneys in Garland, Texas can be relied upon for many different types of cases.  Call us today to see how we can help you.

Legal Versus Factual Dismissals

We probably spend more time explaining the difference between legal and factual dismissals to clients than any other issue.  Many people think that they can simply walk into a court and tell their side of the story to the nice prosecutor and that person will believe every word they say and stamp their case dismissed.  We have represented clients like this in the past.  They are the people who say, “I could have got that case dismissed myself.”  They are the same people that end up pissing off the prosecutor so badly that the prosecutor ends up taking all offers off the table and ensuring that the person is convicted of the offense.  The advice tip here is to know that the prosecutor is not your friend.   You are innocent until proven guilty.  However, the prosecutor thinks you are guilty and has been hired by Garland Municipal Court to prove it.  So, how do you convince them otherwise?

Legal Dismissals

Start by understanding that the pre-trial hearing that you first attend is not for you to tell your side of the story.  In fact the prosecutor could care less about your story.  Unfair?  Maybe.  Efficient?  Very!  The pre-trial hearing is to determine if there is a legal basis for the charges and whether or not there is a legal reason for dismissal.  A legal dismissal is one that requires the court to dismiss the case regardless of the facts.  For example, you get to court and they do not have a copy of the complaint that is required by law to be provided to you after a plea of “not guilty” has been entered.    Legal reasons for dismissal are based on problems with the case that cause the case not to be proper to go forward to trial.

So, when your lawyer attends the pre-trial hearing and determines that the case is legally sufficient, then don’t scream at him saying “I told you that they clocked the blue car and mine was red!”  That is not what the hearing was for.  The facts are not relevant at this stage of the case.  The only issue that need be resolved is whether or not the case was filed properly to proceed to trial.

Factual Dismissals

Factual dismissals are based on those stories you love to tell your friends and lawyers about how “wrong” the officer was and how you were improperly issued a ticket.  Stories like, “I couldn’t have possibly been going that fast” and “I was going with the flow of traffic.”  The problem with these stories is that they are not sufficient to dismiss a case unless a jury or judge hears the facts on the date of your trial and finds you not guilty.

Trials In Garland

Trials are time and money suckers.  Many of our clients are faced with the problem of having a good set of facts, and a bad cost benefit analysis when it comes to the amount of time and money it will take to invest in the trial.  In Garland Municipal Court, we offer three different types of trial settings for our clients:

• Plea or Dismiss Option – This option we commonly refer to as “playing chicken with the cop.”  If the cop does not appear at the second trial setting and you do then you may have just beat the system.  The prosecutor will not allowed to reset your case, and it will be dismissed.
• Trial Before The Judge Option – This option is exactly as it sounds.  You try your case before the judge of the court.  However, judges can be a tricky group.  Many are motivated to make money for the city or were prosecutors themselves before becoming judges.  Buyer beware with this option.
• Trial Before The Jury Option – This is probably the most pure of all options.  You get to tell your story to 6 members of the community in an effort to convince them that you were improperly cited.  This is where people that say, “I could have done that myself” are completely wrong.  We have seen plenty of experienced attorneys mess up a solid case in front of a jury.  It is a delicate skill.  However, if you are brave and persuasive, this is always your best option.

If you would like to discuss your case with an experienced attorney today call our office.  We would be glad to assist you in any way we can.  For more information about Garland traffic ticket attorneys, please click here.

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