“You have to believe in yourself when no one else does- that makes you a winner right there.” -Venus Williams
When you’re handed a traffic ticket for absolutely no fault of yours, feeling helpless and frustrated would be common. And with that frustrated mind, you might just want to pay the fine and get done with it. However, you must remember that the moment you decide to pay the fine, you automatically plead guilty to your charge (meaning that you have accepted your charge). You surely don’t want that, do you?
When you haven’t committed an offense, then you wouldn’t want to accept having committed it, would you? Giving up is easier than fighting back. But having a little courage to fight back your false charges won’t go in vain. Be very assured of that.
What I am going to say next would be right what might be there on your mind for a long time.
If you plead “not guilty” on your traffic ticket, you must have had thoughts like “what if your defense suffers due to any kind of procedural delay?”. Well, why should your defense have to suffer due to any procedural or government delay? Right?
This is why the right to a speedy trial exists. To prevent defendants who plead “not guilty” from delayed justice. It provides them the right to a court trial within a specific time period. In Colorado, the time limit for the court trial is within 6 months of entering the “not guilty” plea. Had this right not existed, the trial could go on for years before getting justice to the defendant.
However, in many cases, it is seen that the courts try tricking the defendants to give up or “waive” this right since it gives them flexibility in setting the trial dates according to their convenience.
Here’s how you can save yourself from giving up this right:
Generally, the court asks this question in a leading and indirect manner, which often cannot be understood by a layman and thus, defendants, in their nervousness, end up responding to the question with a “yes” (meaning that they give up their right to a speedy trial).Only an expert traffic ticket attorney can understand it and respond to it in the right manner.
- If you are pleading “not guilty” and are without an attorney representing you, then on being asked any question related to the waiving time for the trial, you should clearly answer that you plead not guilty to all allegations and do not waive your right to a speedy trial.
- Don’t let the judge convince you to give up this right by making you understand how it will allow the court to work properly around their schedule and this could be beneficial to you.
- Do not be afraid or nervous to ask any kind of questions if you feel uncertain or doubtful about anything.
- Hire a professional attorney who can protect this right, along with many others (which you might not even be aware of) and help you exercise them at appropriate times.
- Only if the defendant wants more time to prepare his defense should he give up this right. Or if the evidence collected isn’t good enough. Otherwise, giving up this right could hurt the defendants in ways more than one.