Is a ticket valid if cop forgets to make you sign it?

[Cop Magnet]

Sorry for the off-topic post. My girlfriend got a ticket the other night (driving me to get my neck MRI--a story in pain you don't want to hear), and the cop did not ask for her signature. The blank on the ticket states "Without admitting guilt I promise to comply with the terms of this citation" and is, of course, unsigned. Is this enouogh to get the ticket thrown out?

Thanks for your opinions.

 

[FranciscoR.]

Well I would imagine if she didn't sign it there is no way of proving a ticket was issued.

 

[ViperRay]

Seems to me she can deny ever being there...her word against his. Sounds like a dismissal to me.

 

[gotV10]

guys don't forget about incar cameras the cops often carry.
the MRI emergency is a better way than the lack of signature to get it thrown out, play the sympathy card. just my .02

gotv10

 

[Andy 98 RT/10]

I'd contact a lawyer, they'll be able to help I'm sure.

 

[VinR1]

the in-car camera only shows she was pulled over - not what she was issued. ...could be a ticket, a written warning, the cop's card, he could even be giving her a piece of paper with his phone number - who knows?

throw it away, pretend nothing ever happened, and if you're confronted, play dumb

 

[joe117]

If you ignore the ticket, it will probably go through the system anyway just as if it were signed.

So eventually you will get a warrant on you for failure to appear in court.

Some day you will get stopped and hauled in to jail on that warrant.

You could probably get out of the "failure to appear" in court due to the lack of signature but it will be a hassle to get arrested and jailed.

If you do go to court and say that you don't know anything about the ticket, the judge will probably ask you if you were issued the ticket. If you say "no, I'm only here in court because I received a court date", he might get mad because you are probably not telling him the truth. Who knows what he might do?
A confrontation in court with the judge is not worth it over a ticket.

What will the judge do if you go to court with the ticket and say that the cop just forgot to have you sign?
I don't know, he might throw it out.

A lawyer could probably get you off but I'm not sure you could do it yourself.

 

[Vreracing]

Last time I tried to get out of a ticket due to a technicality the attorney I talked to just laughed.

I agree with joe117 that the judge would ask you if you were there and if you denied it would just irritate him.

Depends on the judge but I've found common sense seems to pervade courts more than TV programs would let on.

If you can't convince us that your girlfriend wasn't there then you won't convince the judge.

I forget what the statistics are but it's something like for every time you get a ticket there are about 400 plus instances when you broke the law and didn't get a ticket.

 

[Cop Magnet]

Well, I asked a friend who is a former cop and he says the signature means nothing other than you promise to appear in court. I am not so sure, although he is much more of an expert than I am. I think it acknowledges that you received the ticket properly, i.e., you were there, were stopped appropriately, were advised of the probable cause and had occasion to ask pertinent questions (radar reading, etc.), and were advised of your rights as far as fighting the ticket, going to traffic school, paying the fines, etc. In my non-legal mind, these items constitute a "proper stop". If you don't sign, how can the officer acknowledge any of this took place? Like many above pointed out, you could even argue (stupidly) that you were not even there. It's not that one point, which would be tough to argue if the cop was there and remembered you, it is the whole process which is reflected ultimately in your signature.

 

[pullshard]

Fight it. You have 50-50 chance that the cop will not show up to court, If he does not, case is dismissed. At least that is what happened to me and others I know.

 

[Abq Bill]

I'm a Reserve Deputy Sheriff in NM and I concur with the above posts. You'll have to fight the ticket if you want to possibly escape the fine. Two suggestions though:
1. Check out www.motorists.org for a kit on how to fight speeding tickets.
2. Most jurisdictions allow the officer, in the courtroom in front of the judge, to offer, if you ask, a 90 day "deferred sentence," if you have a clean record. That means that if you DO get another ticket within 90 days, you pay for both. If you don't, the fine goes away (court costs still might apply.)
3. I suggest to friends to always take the ticket to court, using the above two suggestions.

Good Luck, and let us know what you decide to do.

 

[Ulysses]

2. Most jurisdictions allow the officer, in the courtroom in front of the judge, to offer, if you ask, a 90 day "deferred sentence," if you have a clean record. That means that if you DO get another ticket within 90 days, you pay for both. If you don't, the fine goes away (court costs still might apply.)

Does it still go on your record?

 

[Abq Bill]

That means that if you DO get another ticket within 90 days, you pay for both. If you don't, the fine goes away (court costs still might apply.)


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Does it still go on your record?


The whole point of the "90 day deferred" is to avoid fines and also keeping it off your record. So if you stay clean for those 90 days after the court hearing, (assuming the officer gives you the choice of the deferred sentence-some jerks might not), you would avoid the fine and your record would show no ticket. Like the ******* photograher job, "90 day deferred" is a great deal if you can get it.

 

[joe117]

I got a speeding ticket in 1995. I got one of those books that tell you how to beat the ticket in court. Some of the points were,
The cop may not show.
The radar may not be calibrated.
The calibration may not be available in court.
The radar may have been looking at some other car.
The cop's training may be out of date.
Your speedometer was out of calibration.

All these sounded great.

When I showed up in court, the judge came in and said,
"Hi folks, I'm judge xxxxxx and I know why you are all here.
Now, if you are thinking of telling me...."

And he listed just about all of the points that I listed above.

He continued,
"you might just as well save your breath. But if you don't have a bad record, you can all file up here to the court and plead guilty, ask for PBJ, make a donation to the high school prom fund. And we will all be out of here with no nonsense".

I took him up on that offer and paid less than the regular ticket would have cost and I received no points.