Traffic Ticket in Northern Michigan
The procedure to challenge traffic tickets starts on the back of a traffic citation. A ticketed person must contest the traffic ticket within the time period stated on the ticket. Depending on the district court, the defendant will have an informal or formal hearing. The informal hearing is before the magistrate and no attorney representation is allowed. A formal hearing is before the district court judge, attorney representation is allowed, and the rules of evidence apply to the hearing. Most informal hearings result in the defendant being found responsible for the traffic ticket. Once this happens, the defendant may appeal to the district court for a formal hearing.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!At the formal hearing, the defendant, and their attorney may question the police officers and present evidence. A formal hearing is a short bench trial before the Judge. The prosecutor represents the police officer.
Hiring an attorney for the hearing will likely cost the defendant more money than the penalty from the citation. However, many people feel tremendous anger when the police falsely accuse them. I offer flat rates for formal hearing clients. Flat rates provide security for my clients because they will have a clear picture of what it will cost them to fight that ticket. A good formal hearing satisfies my cravings for courtroom litigation. I typically offer a very reasonable flat fee for clients that want to fight a traffic ticket in court.
Please call today for an appointment. I am a traffic ticket attorney, and I am currently accepting clients from all of Northern Michigan, including Grand Traverse County, Leelanau County, Benzie County, Antrim County, Roscommon County, Otsego County, Crawford County, Wexford County, Manistee County, and Kalkaska County. Call today for an appointment.
Traffic Ticket Lookup
On your ticket, the police will write the name of the civil infraction and the Michigan Compiled Laws (MCL) number. Determine both the name of the infraction and the infraction statute number. For example, “speeding” “MCL 257.627” or “257.627.” Here is the tricky part, civil infractions have multiple names for the same offense. It is important to determine the statute cited by the police officer. Once you know what you are charged with, look up the points & driving sanctions on the Michigan Offense Code Index for Traffic Violations.
Can I Fight This Ticket?
Each case is different. There is no one size fits all analysis. If you are a good driver, with a clean driving record, and you had a bad encounter with a police officer, resulting in the officer writing you a traffic ticket for the full amount of your violation[for example the officer writes a ticket for 15 MPH over the speed limit instead of charging you with 5 MPH over], it is at least possible to request a formal hearing and negotiation for a lower citation. Similarly, on the other end, if you are a poor driver and this ticket will result in a points suspension of your driving privileges, you might as well hire an attorney and fight like hell. The bottom line, hiring an attorney to fight a traffic ticket is expensive compared to simply paying the ticket, be prepared to pay more in attorney fees than the penalty for the ticket.
Basic Driver Improvement Course (BDIC) in Michigan
The Basic Driver Improvement Course (BDIC) is an education program for Michigan drivers that receive a traffic citation that has 3 or fewer points. If the driver completes the BDIC course, the points associated with the ticket will not be applied to the driver’s record. Check out the BDIC program here. I charge $150 for traffic ticket consultations over the phone.