Mechanics of Routine Traffic Court

This note is a continuation of the note “Mechanics of a Routine Traffic Stop” and outlines observations made of the Arraignment and Trial process for traffic court in Ventura County. The observations are from the perspective of receiving a routine ticket for a traffic or vehicle violation, and presenting your perspective in a court of law. This note does not serve as legal advice, and you must always properly follow California Law, the lawful instructions of a Police Officer or Judge, the instructions located on the ticket, and the appropriate court system.

In the United States, the 6th Amendment of the Bill of Rights guarantees us the right to a speedy and public trial, the right to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation, and the right to be confronted with the witnesses against you. If you feel that your ticket is in error, or you do not feel right stating you are guilty, you may take your case to court and present your perspective. The Judge will decide the outcome of the case based off your testimony and the testimony of the issuing Officer. You do not have the right to trial by jury in an infraction case.

When you received your ticket, you signed it as an acknowledgement and a promise to take care of your ticket per the provided instructions. If you ignore this promise to take care of your ticket as instructed, penalties can include a warrant issued for your arrest, fines, and suspension of your Driver’s License. You can take care of the ticket by pleading guilty and paying the associated penalties, or by presenting your perspective in court.

In Ventura County, unless otherwise noted or instructed, there are multiple venues to try your case. The Arraignment portion of the legal process occurs at the Ventura County Courthouse on Monday through Friday. The Trial portion of the process occurs at the Simi Valley Courthouse on Monday and Tuesday. For the remaining days of Wednesday through Friday, this trial will take place at the Juvenile Justice Center located in Oxnard. The following sections outline observations of the Arraignment and Trial process for routine traffic violations.

ARRAIGNMENT (observed at the Ventura County Courthouse)

Traffic Court Arraignment comes before trial and is held at the Ventura Courthouse Monday – Friday, in Courtroom #10, unless otherwise noted or instructed. The purpose of the Arraignment is to plead guilty or to set a trial date.

In the court room, the Judge is in charge. During this part of the process they take on more of an educator and administrator role. They cannot give legal advice. They are professional and are willing to work with the people going through the process. A translator is an available option to assist Spanish speakers.

The Judge will call your case. Go from the seating area to the podium. The Judge will ask you how you want to proceed. At this point plead guilty or request a trial.

If you plead guilty, you are subject to the penalties associated with your infraction. Be sure of yourself when pleading guilty. Do not plead guilty if you are doubtful or do not feel you are at fault. The judge does not want you to plead guilty to something you do not feel you did.

The fines associated with your case if you plead guilty consist of the fine amount and a civil assessment fee. Some violations such as a seatbelt ticket have a tiered fine structure and increase with the number of violations you commit. Other violations such as running a red light, or passing a school bus with flashing red lights are a set fine amount and do not change. The Judge is willing to consider working with you on fees and payment plans. People having financial difficulties can request at the approval of the Judge, a program called Homeless Court. People do not have to be homeless to partake in this option. It gives people the opportunity to work for a wage to pay their traffic fees by a determined date.

Traffic school is available once every 18 months. The civil assessment fee of your fine keeps your case open and allows for a traffic school company to file a completed certificate of completion. Traffic school can be taken anywhere in California for it to be valid. If you plead guilty and have a traffic school option available, this is a benefit because it can keep points off your record with the DMV and help keep your insurance from going up. However, taking traffic school does not change the legal penalty associated with the infraction. Even if the Defendant is eligible for traffic school, the Judge also has the ability to suspend this option based on the severity of the infraction.

If you request a trial, the judge will set a date, including court room, location, and time.

After you have determined how you want to proceed, go back to the seating area in the court room and wait for the bailiff to bring you back your paperwork. The paperwork will instruct you on the trial information for your case.

TRIAL PROCESS (observed at the Simi Valley Courthouse)

Traffic Court Trial is held at the Simi Valley Courthouse Monday and Tuesday, in Courtroom S-1, unless otherwise noted or instructed. The purpose of the Trial is to determine your guilt or innocence.

In the court room, the Judge is in charge. In addition to their educator and administrator roles, they also take on a referee role in watching over the adversarial testimonies of the alleged violator – Defendant, and the issuing Police Officer – Plaintiff.

Before the trial proceedings commence, the judge gives the alleged violators and the Police Officers a chance to informally meet, discuss the case, and compare evidence. At this point the alleged violator can decide if they want to change their plea to guilty, or the officer can decide to request that the case be dismissed. If the parties choose to confer, there is a private room in the back of Room S-1.

After the opportunity for discussion, the judge goes through Roll Call. Roll Call determines if the Defendant and Plaintiff specific to each case are present. If the Plaintiff Police Officer is not present, the Judge will dismiss the case for lack of prosecution according to Penal Code Section 1385.

If the Plaintiff is present but the Defendant is absent, the Judge will try the case in your absence. The Defendant will lose in this scenario, so if you are going to fight a ticket you will need to show up.

Before the trials start, the Judge will ask, by show of hands, if anyone wishes to change their plea to guilty. If anyone wishes to change their plea to guilty as a result of consulting with the Police Officer, they are subject to penalties. See the Arraignment section for more details on penalties and traffic school.

Keep in mind that your right against self-incrimination applies not only during your traffic stop, but in preliminary court proceedings. However, if you do decide to challenge the Police Officer on the infraction and testify, you give up your right to self-incrimination. The Judge can ask you questions about the incident in establishing your guilt or innocence.

After the informal consultations, Roll Call, and initial pleadings, comes the trials. The Defendants and Plaintiffs are sworn in collectively as a group.

Once the case is called, the Defendant and the Plaintiff walk to the appropriately labeled spots at the front table.

The Judge has no prior knowledge of the case, and learns the facts as they are presented. The Judge will ask questions of both parties not only to clarify facts, but to educate the Defendant if the terms used are not common knowledge. The evidence rules are the same for an infraction case as they are for a misdemeanor or felony case.

Testimony examples from a speeding case will be explored. Regarding speeding cases, all that has to be proven for the Defendant to be found guilty is that they were in excess of the posted speed limit. If you get a ticket while speeding on the freeway, all the officer has to prove in court is that you were going above 65. Cruising with the flow of traffic is not an excuse. Local CHP Officers use a combination of visual estimation and Radar devices called Lidar. With visual estimation, they are trained to correctly estimate your speed within 5mph and are generally more accurate than this when confirming with the use of their Lidar devices.

The Police Officer will go first and present their testimony. You will want to come as prepared as possible. Police Officers write reports every day for a living and are extremely detailed. Their presentation for a speeding violation will sound similar to the following:

“This is my NAME, DEPARTMENT, POSITION, and NUMBER OF YEARS WORKED. On this date at this time I was working in a fully marked police car with a lightbar on top. I was in a fully marked police uniform conducting speed enforcement in a certain area. I was parked at a specific angle in a certain location. The following weather conditions were observed. I observed the subject vehicle approaching my location at a high rate of speed. The subject vehicle was travelling in a certain lane on a specific highway in a certain location. I visually estimated their rate of speed as the following. I used my LIDAR unit, ID #, by pointing the laser at the front license plate which recorded a certain speed at a certain distance in feet. I fell in behind the vehicle and activated my overhead lights and forward facing red lights. The subject vehicle yielded to my lights and stopped at a certain location. I approached the vehicle and contacted the subject identified by their Drivers License, and recognized as the subject standing on my left. I informed the subject of their violation. The subject apologized and stated that they did not realize they were going that fast. Returned to my vehicle and wrote a citation. Issued citation to the subject. The subject was released at the scene and educated on speeding laws. I am POST certified in the use of Lidar with a certain amount of training hours, and am 100% accurate in visual speed estimation.”

After the Police Officer has presented their side, it is your turn to present testimony. During your testimony you can direct questions to the Police Officer or address the Judge directly. In the speeding example, the Police Officer is going to have evidence in the form of visual estimation and the Lidar gun readings. In your testimony you will have to present facts and evidence that will convince the Judge that you are right. If you have satisfactory evidence, the Judge will have no problem rewarding you the case. If you are going to fight a case, do your homework. Research other cases and how people got off. Listen to the testimony of the Police Officer for clues. During my court research, one person won their seatbelt ticket case. The Officer stated they saw an unbuckled seat belt hanging from the door post of the vehicle. The Defendant stated that the vehicle she was driving was designed to only have a lap belt and no restraint was attached to the door post. Another defense I saw is that a traffic law can be broken in the case of imminent great bodily injury or death. There are ways to win.

Once the testimonies are finished, the Judge considers them and all the factors involved. The Judge will then dismiss the case and rule for the Defendant, or find the Defendant guilty. After the decision is made, the Defendant sits back down and waits for the Bailiff to give them their paperwork.

Conclusion

The court process is your right, but takes a lot of time, and can cost you a lot money and missed work. The best solution is to keep from getting pulled over. As stated in the “Mechanics of a Routine Traffic Stop” note, “Keep your vehicle maintained, keep your information squared away, and obey the traffic laws. Simple preventative measures can save you hassle with the Police, and save time and money from having to deal with costly traffic tickets.” Be careful out there and follow the rules of the road.

MISDEMEANOR ARRAIGNMENT

Such as hit and run – 20002, and DUI – 23152(a) & (b)

You are eligible for counsel at the Arraignment

The public defender has a better record than a hired lawyer in Ventura County.

ARREST TRAFFIC STOP

Cop observing something in plain view, sight or smell

Warrant issued for your arrest

Consent and vehicle searches

The driver is responsible for the vehicle and should know what is in the vehicle at all times. If contraband is found and no one admits to it, the officer has the option to charge everyone with it. Don’t run the cop around.

DUI investigation

Will be asked to step out of vehicle

Police have right to pat you down for weapons, objects felt through clothing are in plain view and can be pulled out based on the experience and training of the officer

You can be handcuffed and detained for investigation purposes

If arrested you do not have to automatically be given a Miranda warning. You must be informed of Miranda after arrest and prior to any questioning concerning what you are being arrested for.

Towing and inventory

If the Police Officer does have a legitimate reason to search the vehicle, ask what the reason is and allow the Officer to conduct their search. If you delay the Officer unreasonably, you could become guilty of Obstruction of their duties.

Regarding being a passenger in a vehicle that gets pulled over, consider the reason for why the vehicle is being detained. If the vehicle is being pulled over because of an equipment or traffic law violation, the driver is the one at fault. The passengers will not be required to identify themselves. But again, if you have nothing to hide then there is nothing to worry about. It is always best to be as cooperative as possible. If the vehicle is getting pulled over because the Police Officer detected marijuana smoke billowing out of the vehicle, then they are going to have a right to search the vehicle and everyone in it. Everyone is considered detained for purposes of the investigation.

Common Violations and Fees

Later notes, allowed to pat down for weapons, laws and rules for misdemeanor and felony arrests, towing, Miranda, verbal judo, etc.

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