Showed up in court for an illegal U turn today....

So I pleaded not guilty and showed up at court. The judge noticed that the ticket was given on 11/07 and asked why i did not show up earlier. I told him that I hired a lawyer to represent me and he never did. I presented the court with proof and the judge moved the court date till today.

So this is how it went:

Judge: How do you plea?
Me: not guilty
Judge: I will give you two options. either you plea guilty and pay the fine or plea not guilty and I will move the court date to another date (the officer that pulled me over was not present), but your license will be suspended until the new court date.
Me: that does not seem fair to me. I came for a hearing and your giving me a judgment
Judge: pick what you want to do, I have many cases today
Me: I plead guilty then

I paid the fine.......

Is there anything I can do about this?

damn, i would think so.

ask your lawyer!

Call Jacoby and Meyers!

From the DMV site (http://www.nydmv.state.ny.us/broch/c49.htm)

If you believe the ALJ's decision was incorrect based on the facts and the law, you may file an appeal. You can determine if you can file an appeal on-line or download form AA-33 (Traffic Violations Bureau Appeal form) from the DMV web site. The appeal form is also available at TVB offices. Read the instructions carefully. If you wish, your attorney may help you file the appeal. Remember to include a payment for the appeal fees. An appeal must be filed within 30 days of the decision, and the appeal form and fees must be sent to:

Appeals Processing Unit
DMV
P.O. Box 2935
Albany, N.Y. 12220-0935

To see if you are eligible to file an appeal on line
http://www.nydmv.state.ny.us/webAppeals/default.html

If you need an attorney to represent you, let me know and I will get a good referral for you. I would also report the judge.

Remember, in traffic court you are guilty until proven innocent.

meredith - OT... wtf is that in your avatar!? lol

Did you actually make the u turn 2 years ago. Can you remember? Have you ever made a u turn? Don't take it personally, tickets are a randomly administered tax. PAy the fine and move on with your life.

Thank you all for the help. Unrepentant - I don't mind paying the fine, however my insurance premium will go up. And that definitly does not go toward admist. tax!

I wrote the commisioner and will take stacy's advice and appeal the case.

Thank you all for the help. Unrepentant - I don't mind paying the fine, however my insurance premium will go up. And that definitly does not go toward admist. tax!

I wrote the commisioner and will take stacy's advice and appeal the case.

Can you appeal after you pleaded guilty? I thought that you can only appeal a decision by the court.

sue the lawyer you hired to represent you.