Some traffic tickets are issued as “Infraction Court Appearance Required” sometimes also referred to as Mandatory Appearance citations. The only choice is whether to hire a lawyer or go into court unrepresented. In general, if the case requires an appearance, then the person should have counsel. Failure to appear in court will cause harsh consequences. Near the bottom of a Uniform Traffic Citation, on the left hand side there are three boxes. From top to bottom those boxes should be Criminal Traffic, Court appearance required and, Infraction which does not require appearance in court.
If the citation requires an appearance, whether criminal or civil, then there is no option to elect traffic school. However, the Judge can send you to traffic school which does NOT count as a person making the choice or election to go to school. In civil infractions (not criminal traffic) it is the hearing itself that is mandatory and an attorney can attend the hearing on behalf of the driver without the driver being present in court. Remember a traffic lawyer knows the rules and law and may be able to defend the case regardless of the facts. In other words, our job is to make sure the matter can be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
In mandatory cases, the Court starts with the proposition that you should get points on your license. Being polite road side can help to remove from the officer any personal interest in the accused driver. Threatening to complain or sue while interacting with the citing officer will just make things worse.
Do you go alone or with counsel? If you are reading this you have already decided to seek out more information. Because there are sixty seven counties in Florida there are sixty seven ways of doing things and an attorney can really help make the process smoother. Furthermore, the driver’s appearance through the lawyer satisfies the appearance requirement and an accused can go about their day without sitting in court. To hire a lawyer to go to court instead of the accused or with the accused, please click, call or fill out the form.
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