The Life Cycle of the Traffic Case and Other Violations Filed in the Justice of the Peace and Municipal Courts

In Texas, the typical traffic case or other Class "C" misdemeanor starts with the issuance of the citation or notice to appear to the defendant. Your signing the citation is not an admission of guilt, but only a promise to appear and answer the charge. Signing the citation alleviates the need for the officer to take you before a magistrate.

If you think you may want to hire an attorney to represent you in the matter, it is best to do so before the due date on the citation. I sometimes do not take cases once they have been reset or the person has already been to court without me.

When you are charged with a traffic violation, or any other Class "C" misdemeanor in the Justice of the Peace or Municipal Court, there are basically three possible outcomes.

Traffic violations and other Class "C" misdemeanors are disposed of in one of three ways. Like most criminal cases, they are either dismissed, plea bargained or tried. The key is to dispose of the case in a way that best serves your goals. Of course we all prefer dismissals, but this is not always a realistic outcome. Ask yourself the following. In the handling of this matter, what am I trying to accomplish? What interest am I trying to protect? Do I want to keep this off of my record? Do I want my day in court? How strong is my case? What exactly is at stake? These considerations should be discussed with your lawyer.

If I hire an attorney, will my case be dismissed?

For a case to be dismissed, there have to be grounds for dismissal. Another words, the prosecutor must decide that there is some procedural, legal or factual reason that they cannot prove their case and therefore move to dismiss it. If your attorney is on the ball, he or she will pick up on potential flaws in the state's case prior to considering either a plea bargain or going to trial. In the representation of my clients, when I find flaws in the state's case, I either point them out to the prosecutor or file motions and let the judge decide. This is where the experience and familiarity of an attorney with the prosecutor and court pays off. Some prosecutors I deal with are willing to move for dismissal once I point out a problem with a case, while others would prefer the judge to decide, even if they know the defect is fatal to thier case.

Be aware that even if a traffic violation or other Class "C" misdemeanor is dismissed, the state may refile the case as long as it does so within the statute of limitations.

If there are no grounds to dismiss your case, or if your case was dismissed and timely refiled without any flaws, then it is time to weigh the other options available to dispose of your case through plea bargaining or trial.

What is a plea bargain?

A plea bargain is a compromise. Simply put, you want something, and the state wants something. You enter into an agreement with the state to do or refrain from doing certain things over a set period of time. Upon your successful completion of your side of the bargain, the state honors its obligations under the agreement to dismiss the case or otherwise dispose of it in the manner agreed to. If you fail to successfully fulfill your obligations under the plea agreement, you may subject yourself to a conviction, additional fines, a summons to appear at a show cause hearing, and warrants for your arrest.

What is the advantage of having an attorney if I just want a plea bargain?

An attorney can look at your case with a trained eye not only to determine whether there are grounds for dismissal, but to expose weaknesses to the prosecutor. While these weaknesses may not be cause for dismissal, they may still be significant enough to present problems for the prosecutor in the presentation of the case at trial. If you are not represented, the prosecutor will be more confident that they can more favorably present their side of the case, in spite of the weaknesses, than they would be able to with an experienced adversary opposing them at trial and exploiting the weaknesses of the case.

Generally, when people are represented, even if they have loser case, the prosecutor knows that the trial will not be a five minute slam dunk. It has been my experience therefore that you have more leverage to plea bargain when you are represented by an attorney. I represented several clients where the prosecutor would not even consider a plea bargain but for the fact that the defendant was represented by an attorney.

Should I take a plea bargain? What are the risks?

If the plea agreement delivers the outcome you desire, for example, a dismissal, and you can comply with the conditions of the plea agreement, it may be a viable option for you. There is always a risk that you may not successfully comply with the agreement. Your attorney should make you aware of your obligations under the agreement as well as the consequences for your compliance and non-compliance as well. The amount of risk involved in taking a plea agreement really depends on your ability to comply. In a plea agreement you have a good degree of control in the outcome or disposition of your case. A trial on the other hand is a roll of the dice. If your contemplating going to trial, your attorney should give you the best and worst scenarios. If you decide to go to trial, make sure you would be able to live with the consequences should the worst scenario come to pass.

Do I have to accept a plea bargain?

No. You have an absolute right to a trial.

My case is not going to be dismissed. The state will not offer a plea agreement or I do not want to accept a plea bargain. What now?

You have two choices at this point. You can either pay the fine which will result in a conviction, or go to trial. Your only hope to avoid conviction is a trial. Why pay the fine? Usually, at this point, my position is that we either have a good case that should be tried, or we have a bad case but we will make the state work for the conviction rather than hand it to them. Besides, even if it is a bad case to try, there is always the chance you could be found not guilty. We have all seen cases where the verdict has turned out to be oppoisite of what we would have expected, given the facts of the case. Once a case is in the hands of a jury, anything can happen.

Charles French was licensed to practice law in Texas in 1991. The majority of his practice includes the Justice of the Peace and Municipal Courts in Houston, Harris County and surrounding counties. You may visit his website by going to:

www.houstonticketdefender.com

Why Won't DPS Renew My Driver's License?

If you have taken care of all your outstanding warrants and DPS will not renew your license, one possibility is that you have not paid your OMNI fees. When you receive a ticket and miss a court date, one or more of the following things may occur:

1) An additional charge of Violate Promise to Appear (VPTA) or Failure to Appear (FTA) is filed in addition to the violations you were initially charged with.

2) A warrant for each charge is issued for your arrest.

3) Most courts will enter your information into the Texas Department of Public Safety Failure to Appear Database (OMNI) which tells DPS not to renew your license because you missed court. For each charge entered into the OMNI system, DPS charges a fee of about $30.00. This fee is commonly known as the DPS or OMNI fee. The OMNI fee will be charged to you and is in addition to any fines and cort costs involved with your case.

The obvious reason for these measures is to get people to take care of their tickets. In the old days, some people didn't worry too much if they had traffic warrants, especially if they resided far away from the offended jurisdiction. As a result, some folks simply ignored their traffic tickets. To persuade people to take care of their tickets, laws were passed allowing the courts to notify DPS to put a hold on your license renewal if you had delinquent traffic tickets.

So, if you have taken care of all outstanding warrants and violations, you may still owe OMNI fees. Once the fees are paid, the court clerk sends a clearance notice to the DPS to let them know there is no need to continue to hold the renewal on your driver's license. It has been my experience that even though the court clerk sends the clearance notice immediately, it still may take several days, maybe 7 to 14, before your license is cleared for renewal. My guess is that the DPS is probably swamped with processing clearance notices as it is an ongoing task.Where do I pay the OMNI fees?

You may pay the OMNI fees at the court where the case was filed.When can I pay the OMNI fees?

By law, OMNI fees may be paid when a bond is posted, a judgement is entered on the case or upon dismissal of the case.I posted a bond but the clerk tells me that I cannot pay the OMNI fee until the case is disposed of. Is the clerk right?

No. This is incorrect. It may take months before the case is finally disposed of. The law was not meant to deprive people of their driver's license for months once they've taken steps to address their court issues. Once a bond is posted, the OMNI fee may be paid. I too have experienced this refusal of the clerk in certain courts to accept the fee when they should. I've discovered two reasons, although, there may be more, why the clerk refuses to accept the OMNI fee prior to the case being disposed of.

In some instances the court staff is simply unaware that they are supposed to accept payment of the fee once a bond is posted. Convincing them is difficult because they often take the "we've always done it this way" position and are convinced that they are correct, or they would have been instructed otherwise.

The second reason that clerks refuse to accept the fee prior to the final disposition of the case is because of their software. Their computer setup is such that accepting the fee prior to final disposition requires the clerk to manually input the information which presents a much more difficult technical task than it otherwise would upon final disposition of the case.

Here is what I would do. First do not argue with the clerk. Politely tell the clerk that it is your understanding that once the bond is posted, the fee can be paid. If the clerk still refuses to accept the fee, don't press the issue further with the clerk. Write a brief letter addressed to the presiding judge of the court. Do not discuss the merits of your pending case(s) in the letter as it is not proper for the judge to consider those issues outside the presence of the state's counsel. You may want to write something similar to the following:

Dear Judge ______

I missed my court date and have since posted bonds. (My court date is set for March 19, 20_./I am still waiting for a court date). I tried to pay my DPS fees in this court so I can renew my driver's license but the clerk refused to accept it saying that I had to wait until the final disposition of my case(s). My understanding of the law is that once I post a bond, I can pay the DPS fee to the court and the clerk will then send the clearance notice to DPS so that I can renew my license. Not being able to renew my license creates a hardship on me (my family, job, school, kids, etc.).

I would appreciate your assistance in this matter, and look forward to your response.

Sincerely

John Doe



I would send this letter to the judge by fax and by certified mail. If it is not resolved, see an attorney.

Tip: Always be polite to all court personnel even if they are having a bad day. Most of them I've dealt with are professional. Yes there are some bad apples like everywhere else and some I really do not care for at all. But you'll get more flies with honey than with vinegar. You'd be surprised how much further you get by being courteous, even with those few bad apples. Hope this helps.

Tip: If you have traffic warants in Texas, the telephone number to the Texas Department of Public Safety Failure to Appear Database is 1-800-686-0570. If your case has been reported to the database, they will tell you which court the case was filed in. Keep in mind that it is possible that you have warrants but that your case has not been entered into the database.

Charles French was licensed to practice law in Texas in 1991. The majority of his practice includes the Justice of the Peace and Municipal Courts in Houston, Harris County and surrounding counties. You may visit his website by going to:

www.houstonticketdefender.com

Do I Need A Lawyer For My Traffic Ticket?

Should you hire an attorney to represent you on a traffic violation or other violation filed in the Justice of the Peace or Municipal Court? A conviction for some offenses in these courts can have serious consequences. Consider the following and decide for yourself.

In Texas, if you receive a traffic ticket or are charged with some other Class "C" misdemeanor, your case will be filed in either a Justice of the Peace or a Municipal Court. A Class "C" misdemeanor is a criminal charge, but it is the least serious type of criminal charge and is punishable by fine only, and jail time cannot be imposed. There may be some serious consequences resulting from a conviction of certain offenses in these courts including denial and suspension of you driver's license, denial of a concealed handgun license, and, denial or suspension of other licenses issued by the state.  The only time traffic tickets result in going to jail is when a you fail to appear or miss a payment deadline. Since a Class "C" misdemeanor is a criminal offense, the prosecution of the case will proceed under the same rules that govern the prosecution of more serious offenses such as offenses involving drug possession, aggravated assault and even murder.

It is actually to your advantage that these minor violations are considered criminal under the law. Because they are considered criminal, you are entitled to all the protections under the United States and Texas Constitutions. The fact that the state has the burden to prove your guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, just as they would have in a more serious criminal case, gives your lawyer a degree of leverage to defend your case or at least negotiate a reasonable disposition that you may be able to live with.

Do not count on any two courts conducting business the same way as any others. We practice in about 40 or so traffic courts in Harris and surrounding counties, and I can tell you that no two courts are exactly the same. Although all courts must all follow the same laws regarding the prosecution of your case, each court has it's own "local rules" with regard to it's day to day operation and administration. Various components that factor into how a court conducts business include the size of the courts caseload, the judge, the prosecutor, and police officer's schedules.

Caseload size determines the frequency court is held. Generally, the bigger the caseload the more frequently court is held, or they may have both morning and afternoon dockets. The court is on a schedule and that is why they are not always eager to reset cases, even for attorneys.

Sometimes a judge will have a certain type of case that he or she feels strongly about and may be more lenient or harsh than they otherwise would with another type of case. An attorney experienced in that court, being familiar with it's particular nuances will definitely have an edge over someone not experienced in that court. Some courts have more than one judge or prosecutor, and some have the same judge and prosecutor all the time.

Some prosecutors have their pet peeve cases just like the judges do. There are certain cases they simply will not plea bargain on. This leaves little wiggle room for a desirable result short of going to the judge without a recommendation from the prosecutor, or going to trial. Going to the judge is risky because you may not get the result you are looking for. You are also rolling the dice when you go to trial. Going to trial is always a risk will either be found guilty or not guilty.

The police officer's schedule also plays into the equation of how the court operates. The police officer's time in court is an allocation of resources. To the governing entity, be it city or county, the time an officer spends in court is time off the street. The officer's assigned shift may determine their availability to testify and thus the court date and time. You can be assured it is their schedule and not yours that is of concern to the court.

The day to day operation of these courts vary when compared to each other. So, it is not surprising that a case in one court may yield one result, and the same exact case in another court may have an entirely different outcome. A case filed in one court may have a better chance of being dismissed than it would had it been filed in another court simply because of the way the court handles it's docket. For example, a defendant whose case was dismissed in Houston Municipal Court may not be as lucky if the same violation occurred and was filed was filed in Sugar Land Municipal Court. I have represented clients in courts outside of the Houston area whom we have represented in Houston Municipal Court where their case was dismissed. Consequently, they often expect the outcome to be the same when I represent them in one of the other courts outside the Houston area. Unfortunately, it does not work that way for several reasons.

First, it is my experience that officers are much more likely to be present and ready for trial in the smaller outlying areas than they are in the large city court. Second, the officers non-appearance does not guarantee a dismissal, and I seen several occasions where the case was reset because the officer was not available. Some cases are even reset due to the officer being on vacation. Third, I've been in may courts where the case is set for trial, the officer is not immediately present, but is called in when the court is ready to start the trial. Finally, if you set a case for trial, you better be prepared to go to trial because if your case does not get dismissed, some courts disallow plea agreements on trial day and your only choice at that point is plead guilty or go to trial.

Below is a list of issues I am frequently asked in my practice regarding traffic tickets and other cases filed in the Justice of the Peace or Municipal Courts.

I was stopped for speeding and the officer refused to let me see the radar unit. Don't they have to show it to you if you ask to see it?

Answer: No.

I was stopped in a speed trap where the speed limit dropped from 60 mph to 45 mph rather quickly. Aren't speed traps like this illegal?

Answer: No.

When I was stopped for speeding, the officer was hiding and I did not see him until it was to late. Can they do this?

Answer: Yes.

Should go to trial on my case because the officer was rude to me?

Answer: You have an absolute right to go to trial anytime you are charged with an offense. However, if your sole reason for wanting a trial is to air the dirty laundry of the officer's bad attitude, your trial is not the proper forum in which to do so. Most likely, evidence in that regard will be inadmissible as it is not relevant to what your accused of.

I received a ticket and my brother-in-law's cousin, who is a police officer, told me he would take care of it.

Answer: This is what I call a "Buddy Deal". Buddy Deals are usually bad deals. I hear about the ones that don't quite pan out. Unfortunately, often what's discussed at the family reunion barbecue over the weekend just does not have the same flavor in the office on Monday morning. Don't get me wrong. I'm sure that their intentions are good and their heart is in the right place. I file this situation in the "I know I promised but I wish I didn't category." My experience is that the best laid plans often go astray in these situations. I have represented clients who relied on Buddy Deals gone bad and I have had to post bonds to get their cases out of warrant.

The officer said he would not show up in court to testify against me. Won't my case be dismissed?

Answer: Just like "Buddy Deals" in the previous question, some of these situations just don't work out due to miscommunication or some other reason.

Isn't the main strategy for handling a traffic ticket to just keep resetting the case until the officer doesn't show up and it then gets dismissed?

Answer: This is by far the biggest of the traffic ticket myths. This one has been around for at least thirty years and I even heard it when I was a kid. You will see Sasquatch, ride on a UFO, and get struck by lightning all in the same day before you are successful with this strategy. Courts are not going to allow unlimited resets. Most courts will grant a reset for a good reason. After that first reset however, there are some courts that will only consider jail, hospital or death a good reason to miss a court date. Even with a lawyer documentation is often required. Finally, I've seen some cases reset when the officer did not show up.

Should you hire an attorney to represent you in the Justice of the Peace or Municipal courts? It is up to you, but keep in mind the following:

Even though these violations are only class ''c" violations, some convictions can have serious consequences on your driving privileges or other licenses issued by the state.

Keep in mind that you hire a lawyer for representation. Nothing more, nothing less. There are no guarantees when you are dealing with the system. As a lawyer, the only thing I can guarantee is the best possible representation given the facts of a particular case.

I would be leery of a lawyer that guaranteed a specific result such as a dismissal. No lawyer can guarantee that a case will be dismissed. An exception would be something in the nature of a charge of Failure to Provide Proof of Financial Responsibility where you actually had insurance, and proof that you had it can easily be presented to the court for dismissal.

Do not reset your case if you think you may want to hire an attorney. If you reset your case prior to hiring an attorney, it just makes it more difficult for the attorney when you hire them. I would much rather have a client who has not reset their case or spoken to the court at all prior to hiring me than the other way around. In fact there are some cases I will not take if you have already been to court without me.

If you are charged with multiple violations such as speeding, expired registration and expired inspection sticker, bring it all to the attorney. Do not go to court yourself to some dismissed. It will usually make it more difficult to defend the remaining case or cases. Again, hire the attorney before going to court.

Tip: If an officer is pulling you over for a traffic stop, safely pull over as soon as possible. Shut off the engine. Roll down your window. Place your hands on the wheel where they can be seen. Keep your seatbelt fastened and wait for instructions from the officer. Be respectful even if the officer is having a bad day. Remember, a good attitude may help in the handling of the case, but a bad attitude definitely will not.

Charles French was licensed to practice law in Texas in 1991. The majority of his practice includes the Justice of the Peace and Municipal Courts in Houston, Harris County and surrounding counties. You may visit his website by going to:

www.houstonticketdefender.com