I received a ticket a while back, and decided to go through with Trial by Written declaration. I was found guilty, which I then filed for a Trial de Novo. After appearing in court, I was given traffic school.
This whole process took 6+ months, and throughout, it was nothing but frustration.
1) While I was waiting on my trial de novo, the court has already sent my point record over to the DMV, which I found to be unreasonable.
2) I can not make any schedule change requests on trial de novo, which I had to appear in person in front of a judge in order to make that request. This defeat the whole purpose of written declaration for not having to appear in person. Also, not sure what so special about trial de novo that the clerk would not even touch it. Anything you ask about, the clerk directs you to see the judge.
3) After I filed for trial de novo, they reversed my bail amount, but screwed up the amount, and issued a refund by mistake. My fine was $300, and they sent me a $61 refund. So, after I was giving traffic school, the clerk couldn't tell me how much I need to pay for traffic school, because my account needs to be zeroed out first before traffic fee can be assessed. This is after 3+ hours wait outside the clerk's window to find out. After the clerk promised to mail me the information because they need to sort out the accounting issue internally first. I called back 3 days later to find out the status, I was told that I should've paid for the fee at the window at the court house.
4) Finally sorting through the mess, I was told that traffic school fee was $52, but there is a $20 court security charge, and a $20 "prior" fee for having previous points. WTF!!!!
When I press for explanation for the court security charge, and the "prior" fee, clerk can only answer with "see the judge". This is such BS, but I do not have another 8 hours to wait outside of clerk's window to fight over $40.
I just needed to vent. I got nailed, I should just take it and not whine. But, going through the legal process within my rights to obtain 'justice', this whole experience left a sentiment of "I just can't fight the system" in my mind. I am sadden that if one day I do need the system to protect me, I am not sure how confident I am to believe that they are able to.
This whole process took 6+ months, and throughout, it was nothing but frustration.
1) While I was waiting on my trial de novo, the court has already sent my point record over to the DMV, which I found to be unreasonable.
2) I can not make any schedule change requests on trial de novo, which I had to appear in person in front of a judge in order to make that request. This defeat the whole purpose of written declaration for not having to appear in person. Also, not sure what so special about trial de novo that the clerk would not even touch it. Anything you ask about, the clerk directs you to see the judge.
3) After I filed for trial de novo, they reversed my bail amount, but screwed up the amount, and issued a refund by mistake. My fine was $300, and they sent me a $61 refund. So, after I was giving traffic school, the clerk couldn't tell me how much I need to pay for traffic school, because my account needs to be zeroed out first before traffic fee can be assessed. This is after 3+ hours wait outside the clerk's window to find out. After the clerk promised to mail me the information because they need to sort out the accounting issue internally first. I called back 3 days later to find out the status, I was told that I should've paid for the fee at the window at the court house.
4) Finally sorting through the mess, I was told that traffic school fee was $52, but there is a $20 court security charge, and a $20 "prior" fee for having previous points. WTF!!!!
When I press for explanation for the court security charge, and the "prior" fee, clerk can only answer with "see the judge". This is such BS, but I do not have another 8 hours to wait outside of clerk's window to fight over $40.
I just needed to vent. I got nailed, I should just take it and not whine. But, going through the legal process within my rights to obtain 'justice', this whole experience left a sentiment of "I just can't fight the system" in my mind. I am sadden that if one day I do need the system to protect me, I am not sure how confident I am to believe that they are able to.
