You were pulled over for a moving violation, and unfortunately, you could not talk your way to a warning. Instead, the officer hands you a ticket. Now what? For many moving violations in Washington, you could pay the ticket and move on. But this is the same as pleading guilty to a crime. Why would you want to? Instead, you need to call the Seattle traffic attorneys at Emerald City Law Group right away and discuss how to fight a ticket.
Contact us today at 206-973-0407 for a free case consultation.
Request a Hearing
If you receive a traffic ticket for a violation that cannot lead to jail time and only a fine, then you have 15 days to respond. With only about two weeks to decide what to do, you would benefit from calling a traffic attorney from our firm right away. We will explain your options, including paying the ticket, seeking mitigation, or requesting a hearing to contest it. If you wish to fight the ticket, then within 15 days from the date you received it, we will respond to your ticket with a request for a contested hearing. After this request is made, you will receive a date for your hearing.
Utilize Discovery
With a hearing date in the near future, our traffic attorneys will gather evidence that you did not violate a traffic ticket through the discovery process. Bear in mind, it is the prosecution’s job to prove you committed the offense. Your defense will show the weaknesses in the prosecution’s case. However, it is not your burden to prove you did not violate a rule of the road.
Gathering evidence includes requesting information from the prosecution and subpoenaing witnesses, such as the police officer who ticketed you. We may want the police officer to attend the hearing to have the opportunity to question them. However, if it does not benefit your case to subpoena the officer, we will not do so.
If you received a ticket for a moving violation based on signage, we may return to the area to gather documentation of any relevant sign or lack thereof. If the basis for the ticket was not properly displayed or there were contradictory signs, this may support your case.
If you were ticketed for speeding, our traffic attorneys will request information regarding the process used to detect your speed. We will also ask for maintenance records for that device to determine it was properly calibrated and reliable. We will also separately ask the prosecution to prove a speed measuring device expert in court.
Determine the Best Defense for Your Washington Traffic Ticket
Once we have obtained as much information as we can regarding your ticket, we will determine the strongest strategy available to support a full dismissal. This may be a technical violation, such as you not being properly ticketed, or the prosecution failing to abide by court rules. We may use a more substantive defense to establish you did not commit the violation. We may also focus on the prosecution’s inability to meet its burden, and that there is a lack of evidence regarding any traffic violation. There are many potential defenses you can use to fight traffic tickets. Our traffic attorneys at Emerald City Law Group will discuss your various options with you.
Emerald City Law Group Knows How to Fight a Traffic Ticket in Seattle
When you receive a ticket for a parking or moving violation, you may suddenly find yourself reading the ticket over and over, scouring the internet to find out what to do. Instead of wasting hours of your life trying to figure out how to fight a ticket on your own, call our experienced Seattle traffic attorneys at Emerald City Law Group. We have years of experience helping people fight tickets.
To learn how to fight your traffic ticket, contact us at 206-973-0407 and schedule a consultation.
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