RALFFERS

I haven't been on here for a while (again), how are you all doing?...

I've been busy with school....that much closer to getting not only a job, but a good job....so after 3 years of talking about it I will finally be able to to actively take part in the sport.
For the moment though, I kind of got back into gaming when I'm not studying. I may be a little too old for it, but whatever. It's an entertaining way to pass time that does not require money. Any PS3 gamers in our midst? I just bought MLB 20, the Show, & Battlefield Bad company 2 if anyone wants to play online.

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Where Ralffers? haven?t seen him on in ages

Meanwhile, he's gone through a dozen pillows.

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He told me he was going to check in here...I'll have to shake the tree & see if he falls out! [Wink]

Hello
It has indeed been ages since I've been here... Like Twardo said, I've just been busy with life - back in school as of today. GET a job!

No, I haven't forgotten about skydiving - still very much on my mind. Once I finish this psych certificate I should be able to make enough to pay the bills & start working towards actively jumping. Working in rehabilitation is not what I see myself doing all my life, but it'll suffice while going through college.

The only bad news is my gym membership expired, & I haven't been able to renew [yet]. Lost about 20 lbs...

It's nice to be missed.

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Anyone else spend a good portion of the day playing it? My wife surprised me with a copy of it this morning. It's pretty good so far.

Do you have it on console or PC?

I stood in front of the judge in for a friend's speeding ticket once, & once because my mom parked in a handicap spot (dhe has a placard), but a portion of her car was in the striped section, so she got the ticket anyway.

So , no, I don't have much experience with judges, but all 3 times I stood in front of one they were nice people.

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You obviously haven't dealt with any judges have you?

Just think of them as someone who is WAY too important to listen to your insignificant traffic case because he is waiting for his appointment to the appelate court, retirement or running late for his luncheon with someone WAY more important than you.

Wait... did I say that out loud? Damn..

Well. like I said, I haven't stood in front of a judge in 10 years. The 1 & only ticket I got was marked "must appear" (it was for going 69 in a 35). I paid the $115 fine, & the judge said that as long as I didn't get another ticket in 4 months that nothing would go on my record.

This ticket is for going 51 in a 35 (it was a 2 lane [open] road in each direction. I just hope they don't nail me with $750. That really seems much too harsh.

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Oh by the way, did I mention that anything with a 75 dollar "bond" is considered a petty offense punishable by a 750 dollar fine.

I guess this is the long winded way of saying....
Take option B....

What does that mean??? And is it only if I request a jury trial???

It means States Atty's, cops, jurys and judges all cost money. If you waste a judges time, it pisses him off, and he can and may charge you up to $750 bucks if he finds you guilty........great.........

Now a really regret taking option C.

If I say I'm guilty in court though...that takes all of 2 minutes, I hope he doesn't get pssed off over 2 minutes.

I can try to tell the judge that the reason I chose option C is that it gives me more time to come up with the money If I am found guilty (this is true by the way). I'm not a criminal, & this is only a speeding ticket. if I'm ordered to pay $750 than that's just wrong.

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Having reviewed this thread... I am going to step up to the plate and post a response. First I AM a cop in Illinois and before the cop haters out there starting spewing epiphets including my name, I will remind you I am also the biplane dude from Skyfest, Summerfest and Couchfreaks (www.invertedair.com). Hopefully that will pursuade most of you out there to realize that I'm not the usual cop prick (and yes I am aware most of us ARE pricks).

There's a ton of variables in this basic question and you didn't say whether you were written a citation for state statute or for a local ordinance or what department you were written by. I'm going to assume for the purpose of this answer, that you were written for a violation of state statute (IVC) and by a local department.

Okay.. reviewing your question it appears you're wanting the best of both worlds. You want to take your shot at a jury trial and if it doesn't work out... take the deal the States Attorney will be offering before trial. I'll give yah kind of a heads up on how the dealing works (at least in our county). First, the assistant states attorney will provide you the opportunity to take a plea arrangement for a higher fine and the ticket will remain "off the record" so to speak. What they are telling you is that the citation will be on record at the Secretary of State on your abstract but will not be viewable by an insurance agency unless you violate the terms of the plea agreement. Usually the plea includes the higher fine (anywhere from 115 to 175) and no further violations within a specified period of time (anywhere from 30 days to usually 6 mos). In counties where school is available, they usually include some sort of driving school as part of the plea arrangement.

They offer you the plea for a few reasons 1) to give you an incentive to plead guilty, 2) not clog up the court with a trial and 3) not waste the time of the states attorney, the judge and a jury for something that is a 75 dollar judgement.

If you don't take the plea and want a trial, the state has to perform a trial.

If the officer is not there, the state has the right to request a continuance (usually a month) to allow appropriate time for them to subpeona the officer or issue a notice for appearance or get him off the street into court. In this county, if it's the cops day off they most likely will dismiss the ticket but that's our department and our courts. Some departments require the officer to be there and they are paid to be there. It's kind of a crap shoot on that one because each department / county court have their own guidelines regarding officer appearances.

Okay, so the officer is available and present. The state will now move on to trial. This includes paneling a jury (I believe it's only 6 or 8 jurist instead of 12) each being paid by the state the incredible sum of 28 bucks to be there for the day and having the officer appear (also costing money).

A trial will be conducted and you will have the opportunity to provide your evidence. Based on what i read in your original post, it sounded like you probably were speeding so most likely you won't have any evidence to provide unless you perjur yourself. The state will provide their evidence and you can question the evidence just like what you see on TV.

If you are found guilty (and you have a 50/50 shot of winning) you will be sentenced. You will not have the option of taking the original plea deal. Oh by the way, did I mention that anything with a 75 dollar "bond" is considered a petty offense punishable by a 750 dollar fine. If you requested a jury trial, the states attorney will request a fine that includes the fees associated with empanelling the jury, the overtime of the cop and the time used by the state and the judge to put on the trial (Generally 300 or more). It's a crap shoot on what the judge might give you for a sentence.

I guess this is the long winded way of saying....
Take option B....

What does that mean??? And is it only if I request a jury trial???

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The bigger the city the ticket is from the better chance you have of getting off. The smaller......your gonna need alot of luck to get off I have sent plenty of ticket's to court and these are my finding's. Best of luck to you.

Niles, IL has a population of: 28,848 (2007)

Skokie, IL 63,348.

I think the ticket was issued in Skokie, because the the courthouse is in Skokie.

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WHAT!? I was never made aware of this fact.

Both my sister & friend did traffic school online in Illinois.

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The bigger the city the ticket is from the better chance you have of getting off. The smaller......your gonna need alot of luck to get off I have sent plenty of ticket's to court and these are my finding's. Best of luck to you.

Looking up the population Niles & Skokie, Illinois right now... (I forgot where i got the ticket exactly.

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In Texas you can have a Bench Trial, which just involves the prosecutor, the judge and the cop or you can have a jury trial. Typically the judges don't like it when someone shows up and nit picks details when the elements of the crime has been established. The juries like it even less.

I'll listen to Twardo's advice than, & NOT move to Texas...

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the cop might not even show up

Good luck. Around here the cops are paid overtime to go to court AND get in serious trouble if they no-show.

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forget some details

Like the main elements of the crime that are noted on the citation? Like, time, place, vehicle, etc? Good luck again. You've been reading a lot from the "internet experts" of traffic court. I've been to traffic court probably 40 times or so and even the juries hate it when people try to get off a speeding ticket because the officer wrote blue instead of blue/green on for the car color or similar.

So good luck.

JURIES???? Wow man, that's serious for something as minor as a speeding ticket! (Than again, this IS Texas that we're talking about...) Here that's unheard of; you simply stand in front of; you simply stand in front of the judge & he/she decides your fate.

The cops don't show up more often than not too.

If I'm found guilty, than I'm found guilty - I'll pay to go to traffic school, but then & only then. You can't blame me for trying to work the system to try to get off since it's setup the way it is.

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Not in the state of IL. You HAVE to go sit down in a classroom.

Nope.... There is an online option.

In the end, I opted to go to court - only because I'm almost certain that traffic school is still an option. The court date is set on 12/30/09; from 10/26/09 to 12/30/09 is a lot of time - the cop might not even show up, or forget some details. I'm trying my damnedest not to have to pay the city my hard earned money (which I don't have much of!)

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Was the ticket issued using Lidar?
If so, check Google news, for a rash of recent tickets being tossed by courts.

How do I find out if it was issued using Lidar?

I'll Pay if I have to, but I'd much rather go to court & take my chances. What I'm trying to find out is - if I'm found guilty in court, could the judge still give me traffic school as an option? Either way ($75, or $115 + traffic school) the city is getting it's money.

I want to try going to court because i might not have to pay, & if I'm found guilty than I'll gladly pay for traffic school then. Question is, would that still be an option at that point?...

First & foremost, I haven't posted on here in a very long time, so I should say hello.........hi
I have a question to anyone who's a cop, preferably from Illinois, but not necessarily... So it took 10 years, but I finally got a speeding ticket - I'm not really mad about it; my luck was bound to run out sometime. That's not to say that I'm not trying to get out of paying it in a legit manner...

The ticket was issued on 10/26/09 - at first I thought it had gotten lost in the system, because when I checked it online, it wasn't showing up - until today. My options are: A), plead guilty & pay $75 & let it go on my driving record. B), Plead guilty & pay $115, for 4 hour traffic school course to not have it go on my driving record. Or C), request a court date & hope the judge is merciful & lets it slide. The other thing about going to court is that if the cop that issued the ticket is not present, the ticket is dismissed no questions asked.

So my question is this - if I request a court date, & I'm still found guilty do I still have the option of paying the $115 & still being eligible for traffic school? or then do I only have the option of paying the $75 & let it go on my record? I hope that I still have the option of paying the $115.

I don't know if this means anything, but the one & only time I got a ticket 10 years ago, the judge made me pay the normal fine of the ticket & put me on 4 months probation - if I didn't get another ticket within those 4 months the ticket wasn't going on my record. No extra fees or traffic school were involved...

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Yep. Called the cops and reported it and my boss jumped in his car and followed the perp to his place of residence a couple blocks away.

The man was 85.

Good! I don't care if you're 105 and are transporting Hopey-McChangey's unicorn to the rainbow factory, there is no excuse for not stopping and taking care of your business.

ROFLMAO!...dam that's funny!

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Happy Birthday ya fat fuck...now eat some MORE cake!

Now T H A T" S love, LOL!

43 years ago today, a great man was born! Happy birthday, Shane! I hope oyu have an awesome day!

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Did you happen to notice McLovin in the back by any chance ?

nope...

So, I'm driving in the ritzy suburbs, headed home from my sister's house - mind you it's 11:30 at night. The street I was driving had a 30 mph speed limit...I was driving 45-50. Suddenly....I see the front-end of a cop's car sticking out of a side street; my 1st thought is "oh shit!" of course. I firmly put on the brakes & roll passed him (or her) - I know I was speeding, they know I was speeding, & as expected, the cop pulls out behind me. By this point I'm thinking: "well, I might as well open up the glove box & get the insurance & registration out" - I was positive I was going to get pulled over. To my surprise however, cop doesn't flip on the read & blue, instead he/she follows me. Now however, I've had a complete change of heart & am going a perfect 30mph. So cop proceeds to roll up on my right side, I presume to see if I had my seat belt on, & I did - so no hook for them there either... Now, here's where it gets interesting... Cop speeds passed me at about 70mph & hangs a right into another side street, & as I pass that side street I see that they are doing a u-turn (obviously not seeing that I see them doing the u-turn). They get back out on the road &begin following me once again... (They probably thought that I didn't see them doing the u-turn & would have been speeding again).

I'm followed for a while yet again, but after some time cop again passes me at what looked like 70mph, goes to the next light about 500-1000 ft away, does another u-turn, passes me & rides off into the night.

I think what was happening here is they needed me on radar to be able to issue a ticket, but gave up after a while once they realized that wasn't happening.

My 8 year ticketless streak continues...

Edited for grammar.

And thank you guys very all your time & input that you're putting into this, it's very appreciated!

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1) Match your standards. If you have an G wireless card talking to an N router, you've got a G network. Try upgrading to an N card. (disclaimer, I have no experience with 802.11n, I don't know what the distances are).

The distances are the same. Throughput might be better though.

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That's about it.

Turn off all the authentication stuff. You'll turn it on back later when you rule out the possibility of broken WPA2 in your router or card software.

I'll give that a try in the morning.