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What I do now that my court date has been reset (for a moving violation)?
Anonymous3 views3 answers
I received a speeding ticket in April and showed up to court on 5/26 to plead "not guilty". My court date was set for 6/10 and when I showed up, my case was not on the docket. I found out from the clerk's office that the officer who gave me the citation asked the court to move out the date of my trial. When I got home that same day, I received in the mail the notice that my trial date reset to 9/30, which was signed and mailed on the 6/08.
My question is, what do I do now? Can I ask that the case be dismissed per California Penal Code Section 1382? If yes, when should I do that, closer to the 45 days being up? Also, do I write the court, or do I show up to my trial date and ask the case be dismissed? What is the likelihood that the case will be dismissed?
Thanks!
It is not uncommon for police traffic officers to fail to show up in court on the date set for trial and when that happens the court ordinarily dismisses the ticket because of the officer's "no-show." Your case is different. Here, the officer did not just fail to show up. He notified the court in advance of his unavailability and requested a different date so that he could appear at your trial. The court rescheduled the matter on that basis. The court did not have to do that, but it did and it is done.
What you do now is show up on the new date. It is very unlikely that the court will dismiss your ticket on the basis of the re-schedule of the date for your trial, but you can make the request of the court when you appear. The court is more likely to feel that your only remedy is a reschedule of the matter at your request if there is good cause.
Even in a simple traffic case I'd have to know more to give you an answer. Did you at any time waive your right to a speedy trial? Before you say "no" did you post bail? If you did that waives your speedy trial right.
If you haven't waived then you should bring a motion to dismiss the day after your last day. That should be 45 days from arraignment to trial. I can't tell whether you've been arraigned or not since no one was there on 6/10. If you haven't been arraigned you should see a traffic attorney who can help you straighten this out. Do not try to handle a 1382 request for dismissal on your own.
Kim Wiseman HansenSpeeding / Traffic Ticket LawyerOrange, CACA licensed ·
If no waiver of time was given from the arraignment date and the trial was continued more than 45 days from the arraignment you should have a good chance of having the case dismissed for lack of a speedy trial. Have an attorney review the court records to determine when the arraignment was done and whether it indicates if a time waiver was given.
Good luck,
Kim W. Hansen
www.kimwhansen.com
