Dinwiddie Speeding Ticket Trial
Speeding ticket cases are heard in the Dinwiddie General District Court. You can look at you ticket to see whether or not you have to appear in court. In some counties, they check the box that you have to appear, but if they call the clerk’s office, you will be told that you can prepay if charged. If you want to contest your guilt, you must appear in court.
If you have a less than stellar driving record and think that ordinary representation will not allow for any kind of improvement on your current charge, you might want to appear. If you decide to attend your Dinwiddie speeding ticket trial, you do not have to do it alone. A qualified speeding lawyer can help you defend yourself, and contest unfair speeding charges.
What Happens During a Hearing
An individual should expect to get to Dinwiddie and be locked out of the courtroom. If they have an attorney, it can be helpful to make sure they are there on the right day. Then a person will get called into the courtroom and be called up after the attorneys have finished their cases. They do it in alphabetical order or they might go by officer. Once a person is called up, they are going to give their version of events. Law enforcement will give their version of events and the judge will generally find them guilty.
The only people involved in a Dinwiddie speeding ticket trial are the driver, their attorney, the law enforcement representative, the clerks, and the judge. The majority of evidence is testimonial so an individual typically responds to charges with their own account of what happened. During the hearing, there is often radar or some kind of LIDAR reading. Occasionally there will be a dash cam video if the speed was particularly high or something else was strange about the stop, like an emergency was alleged, but generally, it is their word versus the deputy trooper officer.
Radar Detection Error
Radar detection devices tend to be very accurate when used properly, but when used improperly, radar can give inaccurate readings. Potential sources of error are user error and there is also the failure to keep up with the required equipment calibrations. There are certain disruptions related to user error, and if a person is using them under circumstances that they know does not provide accurate results. Weather is the main disruption, especially heavy rain because it can interfere with the accuracy of a reading. That being said, none of the local enforcement has written tickets in the rain.
All the radar units that are used locally can be used if the vehicle is coming towards a person or going away from them. Dinwiddie constantly updates their devices and there are different kinds of radar units. It is one thing that Southern Virginia has a lot of grants for. If the device is not properly and regularly calibrated, the reading is not going to be accurate. The person testifying as to whether or not a device was calibrated before and after a shift is sometimes the same person that has never admitted user error in thousands of cases. Error can often be utilized in a Dinwiddie speeding ticket trial.
Importance of a Dinwiddie Speeding Ticket Lawyer
Once you have been charged with speeding, you can choose to pay off the ticket or you can proceed with a Dinwiddie speeding ticket trial. Going to trial is only really necessary if you intend on contesting your ticket, or if you cannot afford to have additional points on your record. No matter the reason, a skilled speeding lawyer can work with you to build your case.