VA summons question

Where in Va.?

 

show up for your court date?

 

look at your Summons which will tell you the name of the County general district court in which you are to appear.

 

Technically you are supposed to go to court. The charge is a misdemeanor that carries the possibility of jail time. Defendants are not allowed to choose not to appear for cases that could result in jail. Failure to appear could result in a warrant for your arrest.

That being said, and despite what the Trooper told you, as a practical matter, if you write the court explaining that you live in New Hampshire and it is a hardship to get back to Va, and if you write that you wish to plead guilty and waive your appearance, the judge will normally just impose a fine. Explain in your letter that you will come to court if the judge refuses your request and explain that in the alternative you ask for a continuance if he demands your appearance. Judges are usually sympathetic for out of towners passing thru. It will not work for a Va. resident in most localities. Enclose a copy of your summons with your letter and a copy of your drivers license to prove your residency.

Court cost are $62 dollars for this type offense. I would enclose a check for $112 bucks made out to "District Court" as a way of suggesting a $50 dollar fine. I cannot assure you he will bite, but the Judge will more than likely know you got advice from a lawyer for that move, and just let it slide. If you do not write a letter and you are found guilty in your absence, there are additional court cost, not including the possibility of a warrant being issued for your arrest. Also enclose in your letter that you will check the State Court website for Montgomery Co. the afternoon of your court date to make sure your request has been granted and fine has been satisfied.

http://epwsgdp1.courts.state.va.us/gdcourts/caseSearch.do?index=index

That being said, the offense is bull****. I have seen troopers setting up traps for people using this new law that just came into effect this past year. Troopers have been setting up situations whereby leap frogging each other waiting for people not to pull over. If you were on 81, as I suspect, you have enough to worry about not getting run over by a tractor trailer.

If you feel uncomfortable doing as I suggest, pm me and I can put you in touch with a lawyer out that way.

 

Trust whatever Wayne (FOU) is telling you to do, he is the man!

 

Address the letter to:


Presiding Judge
Montgomery County General District Court
Traffic Division
1 East Main Street
Suite 201
Christiansburg, VA 24073


Re: Commonwealth v. PizzamanChris
Court Date xx/xx/2009 @ x:00 am

Dear Judge,

I am a resident of NH who received a ticket blah blah, I ask you to waive my appearance and to pay, blah blah, i enclose a check which I hope will cover court cost and any fine you impose together with a copy of my out of state DL, blah, blah. If you insist on my appearance, please continue blah blah. I will check your Supreme Court website the day of trial to review your decision. thank you ect....


It will get there if you mail it a week or so before court. The clerks get these types of letters all the time and they will attach it to your paperwork for the judge to read. Do not wait until the last minute, because if it does not get with your paperwork, the non appearance penalties previously mentioned could occur.

 

That is not professional at all and will not sway the presiding judge to his side.

Here's the proper letter:


Pompous Arsehole, AKA Presiding Judge
Montgomery County General District Kangaroo Court
Traffic Division
1 East Main Street
Suite 201
Christiansburg, VA 24073


Re: Commonwealth v. PizzamanChris
Court Date xx/xx/2009 @ x:00 am

Dear Judge,

I am a resident of New Hampshire who received a ticket in your hick-assed backwater county full of inbred Oompa Loompas. You see, I was minding my own business as well as the traffic code when a fat, donut-pounding boy scout in an undercover bacon wagon pulled me over for some imaginary infraction that he undoubtedly made up on the spot.

I assert that I am innocent of any and all charges that have been placed against me by your crooked troop of toothless wonders; however, I'd like to settle this as quickly and painlessly as possible so as to avoid the pain and suffering that will surely accompany another visit to that shytbag county you and yours proudly call home.

I ask you to waive my appearance, thus I offer to make payment in lieu of costly in-person appearance. I enclose a check which I hope will cover court costs, whatever fine you impose, and a box of donuts for your illustrious fudge packing and pounding police force. I also include a copy of my out of state Driver's License and a Xerox copy of my ass which you will find looks exactly like your wife's face.

If you insist on my appearance, please feel free to exert whatever means of control you have in your tiny little fiefdom and I will gladly arrive accompanied by truly esteemed counsel just so you can have the pleasure of seeing what a real lawyer looks like.

I will check your Taco Supreme Court website the day of trial to review your decision.

Thank you for your time and your consideration.

 

So anytime a cop is pulled on the shoulder and you don't get in the left lane they can ticket you? The traffic laws around here are getting horrible, I drove from here to Richmond on the 4th (45 minute drive) saw a minimum of 15 cops with people pulled over.

 

(I sure hope Chris remembers to use the first letter that was posted and not the second one! )

 

Maranello Chris, it is a new law passed 2002 but just started to be enforced last year. I think the grand boobah trooper decided it would be a good probable cause tool, so he clued in his boys to a statute that no one had paid attention to before. Most do not know about it and troopers are getting a bad rap for abusing it. google Va. code 46.2-921.1 The law says get over if you can, but troopers are using it on intestates to initiate stops of suspected drug carriers and out of staters who may not contest it in court. I did not ask, but i bet the trooper probably asked pizzaman chris about drugs or was at least scoping his car.

As a side note, The US Supreme Court ruled this spring that a traffic stop based solely on driving will not give rise to a search anyway, Arizona v Gant.

Your observation on 64 has to do with the Air,Land,Sea initiative that troopers are running all summer alternating between 64,95,81 and various spurs

 

yet another reason to stay on this side of the potomac....

 

Thank you Robert, all these crazy assed central Va. Fchatters force me to keep up to date on traffic stuff

 

Ding, Ding, Ding.

 

Maybe it is just because I have always had VA Tags, but I find Maryland Troopers to have been far worse with BS traps over the years. Remember the use of State Highway Department bucket trucks to run radar over Rt50 on the way to OC? I sure do. The only trouble I have ever had with VA Troopers is right down at the bottom of the state at the NC/VA line on I-95 where the little town of Emporia runs their revenue generation operation.

 

+1.

I drive the stretch of 95 in southern VA between Emporia and the exit for the Richmond bypass 295 highway several times a year, e.g. when we go to Myrtle Beach. It is HEAVILY patrolled by both the VA State Police and the little town police cars along the way. It is the only stretch where I set the cruise control to within 4 mph of the speed limit. On some trips, I've seen more than 10 cars pulled over being written up in that 25 - 30 mile stretch of road.

 

Having lived in both states, I've found MD troopers on average are much more willing to cut you some slack over any VA trooper I've encountered. BUT seeing as how every form of local and state gov't is crying about how they have no money, I would expect things to get worse in either state as far as trying to generate revenue. Sadly as much as I prefer driving over this way I'm sure O'Malley and his minions will F it up for the lot of us.

 

Ugh that brings back memories. The worst part about that speed trap is that it is when you are almost to OC. The drive on rt.50 out there sucks, so you are so excited to finally be almost done with it, when you get hit with laser from seemingly nowhere, and then half a mile up the road is 50 cops on side of the road pulling ever car over. What is equally as bad, is having to drive all the way back out there for court, at least one of the cops didn't show up that day.

I am heading to OC tomorrow, I will have to remember to use cruise control the entire way.

 

Thanks for all the info Wayne, interesting how they must have their lights on while pulled over, I'd really rather have them just pull me over, search the car and let me go then all this BS.

 

HUH??? Your crazy state has all those wonderful speed cameras or had you forgotten so quickly!!??

 

True... but now I know where those are... and as far as I know none of those cameras is gonna jump out and give me a ticket just because it's got a wild hair up its ass.