In NYC, traffic courts are administrative tribunals and, in general, plea bargaining is NOT allowed. Therefore, any ticket which you receive must be fought or you will recieve points on your driver's license and a fine. In many cases, you will recive
a driver assessment, which is a tax for being a bad driver.
This tax is in addition to the fine you pay when found guilty by the administrative law judge. By simply paying a ticket, you are pleading guilty to the charge. Then
the points will stay on your license for the longest possible
time period. This will affect your insurance premiums and could lead to the supension or revocation of your driver's license.
By hiring a competent counselor you can greatly
reduce your risk of having higher insurance, paying fines, paying a bad
driver tax and of losing your license. A a good attorney like Michael
Spevack, Esq., 160 E. 56th Street, Floor 7, NY, NY 10022, is imperative
to your defense.. Mr. Spevack's phone number is 1-866-LAW-MIKKE
(529-6453) or (212)754-1011. You can visit his web site at
A good lawyer will know how to defend you and present your
case in the best light to the judge. A good lawyer is familiar with
the rules which the police officer must prove in order to
establish his prima facie case against you. A prima facie case is the
elements which an officer must state on direct testimony in order to
establish a moving violation charge against your.
For instance, let's suppose you receive a red light ticket, which is
section 1111D1 in the New York State Vehicle and Traffic Law. A police
officer must state on direct testimony that he tested the traffic light
at issue before and after the traffic stop. He or she must state that
the traffic light at issue was working properly at both times. The
officer must describe the light at issue as having circular disks or
arrows. The officer must describe the traffic lanes and whether there
is a stop line or a cross walk in front of the traffic light. The
officer must state that he or she saw the driver approach
the cross walk while the light was in its red phase and pass the
traffic light. The officer must state the apperance of the motorist's
vehicle and then how he or she identified the motorist. That is that
the motorist produced a valid NYS driver's license.
A good lawyer will know that an officer has missed testifying about an
element of the prima facie case, and will move for a disssmissal of the
charge agains the motorist if the police fail to establish all
the required elements of a charge.
A good lawyer knows all the prima facie case elements for all VTL or
Traffic Rule violations of which a motorist can be accused. A good
lawyer will know which judge values which prima facie case elements
more than others.
For instance, some judges will not care if a police officer fails
to describe the shape of the traffic light's actual light bulbs as
circular or arrow shaped. Other judges will dismiss if an officer
forgets to do this.
As you can see a good lawyer is imperative in NYC to fight traffic
tickets. Unless you want to study the law on the elements
for which you have been charged and spend a week or so at DMV court
studying the judges for their particular requiremetns to prove a case,
it is better to hire a competent lawyer.
You can reach Michael Spevack, Esq. at 212.754.1011 or 866-LAW-MIKE or
visit his website at Mr. Spevack
represents large taxi fleets in NYC and would be glad to help you with
