How long does does a judge have to rule on a motion to dismiss?
Some states have a 90 day rule but there is really no set time for a judge to make a decision. If he needs more time it usually means that the case is a very close call and the last thing you want to do is to try to hurry the judge up and anger him.Sometimes judges can take a year or more to render a ruling. Usually if there is a 90 day law all the judge has to do is call the parties into court again, advise them he needs more time and the 90 day clock starts over again.Most judges are significantly overloaded in their work and could be handling hundreds of cases at the same time. The more involved they are the longer a ruling will take.
How do you get a speeding ticket dismissed?
First, don't be an ass to the officer writing you the speeding ticket. The more boring and compliant you are, the more likely it is that the officer will not see you as a threat and therefore may forget about you entirely when it comes time to go to court and fight the ticket. If you tip your hand and rant and rave about how he's going to lose his badge and he's getting sued and you're going to court over this, well, obviously he or she is likely to be a lot more prepared when it comes time to go to court. Instead, politely ask the officer if he would give you a warning this time, since you never break any traffic laws and you are thankful that he's there keeping the neighborhood secure.Second, its a speeding ticket, so creating doubt should be pretty easy. How can he prove that it was specifically your car that was speeding? Do you have any witnesses? Does he have any witnesses? Adamantly declare that you were not in fact speeding and he must have the wrong car, since there were so many going by at the time. In fact, there were cars passing you and you were doing the speed limit.Third, acquire the work schedules of the police working traffic and schedule your trial for a time when the officer will be working or otherwise indesposed. This is how so-called ticket clinics work. Might not be a bad idea to hire one of these yahoos if you don't think you can pull it off. Bottom line is, go to court and contest the ticket but make sure the officer will not show up to court, and the case will be dismissed.Fourth, if possible negotiate with the prosecution. Ask for a plea deal or to attend traffic school to have the case dismissed. You may be able to avoid getting points on your license but still have to pay the fine. Points are bad, fines are not as bad.
If a court case has been dismissed, can the court reopen it and retry you if it was filed in error?
In criminal cases in the U.S., the concept of double jeopardy only comes into play if the defendant was “tried” for the offense. A trial begins when the jury is selected and sworn or, in the case of a court trial, when the first witness is called and sworn.Prior to that, it is going to be a matter of the law of the specific jurisdiction as to whether a case, once filed, can be dismissed by the prosecutor and refiled at a later date. Some jurisdictions allow a single refiling for felonies and none for misdemeanors. Some also allow limited refiling for certain serious crimes.Additionally, if would not be the court that would “reopen” the case. A case would be reopened when the prosecutor took the action of refiling the charges.It’s also worth noting that, with the exception of a few crimes, there will be a statute of limitations at work. Once charges have been filed, the statute is tolled - or stops running. But if the charges are dismissed, the statute of limitations begins running again. Once the time period of the statute is surpassed, the prosecutor can refile, but the defense would prevail on a motion to dismiss for failure to timely prosecute.In civil law, cases can be dismissed “with prejudice” or “without prejudice.” in the former, the same case cannot be brought again against the same party. In the latter, it can.If your question refers to a specific situation, contact a lawyer in your jurisdiction who an appropriately advise you.
A cop in California made a mistake on my ticket with the time of day the infraction happened. (I drove on the wrong side of the road but no AM or PM was checked) Is the ticket still valid?
Prior to the trial, you can make a motion to dismiss for defective evidence. It’ll probably be turned down outright; then you can raise it at trial again if you like. If it’s not immediately denied, it’ll be turned over to the prosecution, who has the opportunity to cure the defect, and may present any other corroborating evidence necessary, such as a timesheet of stops that day or a printout of dispatch entries from when the officer ran your license, to establish the precise time. The DA can also go the rather extraordinary step of filing an information, which is normally only used for misdemeanors and felonies, which is a document containing formal charges against you based on interviewing witnesses and examining evidence, and takes the place of the ticket as your charging document, invalidating any claims you had against the ticket.In general, if you intend to fight a ticket, you should always request a full set of informal discovery, including the officer’s copy of the ticket, front and back, his radar/lidar certification and calibration records, the radar/lidar manual and specifications, his daily logs, dispatch logs, his work schedule, and so on. You are entitled to this. However, if the stop was done by the books, it’s extraordinarily unlikely that you’ll find anything in the documentation to help you, particularly on a marginal and easily cured technicality like this. At best, the most you can likely achieve is doubt about the exact speed you were at, within a couple of miles an hour, if you’re right on the threshold of 16 over. (Because California graduates its fines at 1–15 over, 16–30 over, and 31+ over, it might be worth trying for that.)This is California-specific, and I am not a lawyer, so nothing in this post can or should be considered to be legal advice.
What if the plaintiff/victim does not show up to court? Are there any consequences?
You should seek an advice from a lawyer. Your commanding officer should be able to help put you in touch with the JAG corps; there are some things the military will do for servicemembers in situations like these.What if the plaintiff or victim does not show up to court?If the matter is a civil case (like a PFA petition), the plaintiff failing to show up may be interpreted as a default and the court will likely dismiss the case with prejudice. (“With prejudice” means it’s a conclusive legal determination and the case cannot be refiled.) Since your absence is due to active duty in the service, might be entitled to a continuance per the Servicemembers’ Civil Relief Act.If the matter is a criminal case that can’t be proven without your testimony, the most likely result is the case being dismissed without prejudice. While “without prejudice” would allow for representation of the charges, it’s not very likely that the police or prosecutor would suffer it being refiled, because it’s a domestic dispute with an uncooperative complainant and they have better stuff to do.Are there any consequences?Other than the loss of whatever relief you originally sought by “filing charges”, there could be sanctions for not showing up. Courts and prosecutors don’t like complaining witnesses who instigate criminal proceedings and then back out halfway through, and you’ve already remarked that “the judge refused to let us drop them.” If you were subpoenaed and fail to show up without communicating with the prosecutor, you could be cited for contempt of court, grief you’d probably rather not have. In egregious situations, I’ve seen complainants who fail to co-operate with the proceedings later prosecuted for false reports, though I don’t have enough to say whether that’s likely or not here.Again, you might be entitled to have the matter continued, or to make arrangements to testify remotely, if it’s timely brought up.