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There is no point hiring a traffic ticket lawyer - they can't do anything you can't do. Pay attention to the rules of the court you go to. Keep in mind the attorneys running the ticket docket in Harris County JP courts are actually prosecutors from the DA's office unlike the city attorney's office. This is just one of the temporary assignments for a new DA in the office, bottom line don't aggravate them because they don't really want to be there more than you do - and nine times out of ten they aren't super gung ho about a speeding ticket. Look at the rules of the court, some JP courts will let you take deferred after you set it for trial, others won't. If they let you take deferred after its set for trial, set it - if the cop doesn't show up they'll dismiss the ticket, if they do show up, take your deferred and be done with it. If you can't take the deferred after setting it for trial, take your medcine and take your deferred now. Don't try making BS arguments about the cop not being able to track speed coming the other way - the DA won't believe it, neither will the judge. If you decide to actually try and go to trial - keep in mind if you go to jury trial, you'll be charged with acting like an actual attorney, you don't get to just stand up and say what you want. If you set it for a court trial - its more informal, but take a guess as to who the judge will believe.
Yeah if you actually do have to go to trial and delays don't work then you basically have to just ask for a deal. It is likely that if it goes to court, you should get your lawyer to make a deal before your case is called. Most are happy that you A. showed up B. are willing to pay they are willing to accept cash and let you slide on points.
Just a note though - the attorneys in the court have no control over the points. That is all done by DPS. If you take a conviction on a moving violation you will get points on your license - nothing the DA can do about that. A deferred will not affect your license or insurance seeing as it will be dismissed at the completion of your probationary period.
Trial by jury always. Never seen a speeding ticket actually go to trail by jury in my life. In a small court/city this may be different. The ticket eventually gets dismissed. Easy to do, but requires sitting and waiting along with multiple court appearances. The pro is you never pay any fees. You can actually do defensive driving twice in one year. Ask the judge about the waiver form. If the judge tries to dick you ask a lawyer. Or better yet just let him know you want that trial by jury. He will probably get annoyed and let you do defensive driving again.
Michael Kubosh. Office is right across the street from the courthouse. He's gotten me out of every ticket for the past few years.
LOL I had this guy once. He screwed me, wound up getting a warrant for a ticket he said was dismissed. The ticket was for no front plate (lol). I had to gp into his office and yell at him, then to the court to yell at the judge. Nothing like yelling to calm the soul.
