Kangaroo Court Fairfax County

[Anonymous]

Went to traffic court today on Fairfax for a passing ticket that had a penalty of $30 dollars in hopes of getting it reduced to non Moving.

Turns out judge gave everyone without a lawyer a $75 charge what he likes to charge “reduced” to $45. They charge more for ticket in person.

Regular people not allowed to plea bargain with DA.

People with lawyers with much greater charges worked out a deal DA and got almost no charges with a guilty fee.

Never head of charging higher fines in person.

[Anonymous]

Based on your writing, its not shocking why the legal system would not want to deal with people who think they can act as their own attorney.

[Anonymous]

It's court fees. Standard practice.

[Anonymous]

If the DA is negotiating with attorneys and not pro se defendants, file a bar complaint.

Judges charge higher fines because you are wasting the court's time by showing up than by paying. If you can argue the facts of the case, that's different, but showing up to say I did what the cop said I did just waste's everyone's time

[Anonymous]

Shoulda just paid the ticket and been $15 ahead

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If the DA is negotiating with attorneys and not pro se defendants, file a bar complaint.

Judges charge higher fines because you are wasting the court's time by showing up than by paying. If you can argue the facts of the case, that's different, but showing up to say I did what the cop said I did just waste's everyone's time

Nonsense. The judge and everyone else in the courtroom is already on the schedule. They’re already employed full time by the court. They’d still cost the same whether they heard 20 traffic cases a day, or 2.

[Anonymous]

They should clearly inform someone in advance of an in person court fee, if that is even legal, right?

[Anonymous]

You pay the court fee even if you pay online or mail back ticket and plead guilty ahead of time.

What surprised me is my $30 fine was $45. apparently judge can change what ever he wants even if greater than the penalty schedule posted on line and with ticket you receive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Shoulda just paid the ticket and been $15 ahead

What surprised me no plea Bargain allowed pre trial unless you had a lawyer

Judge highly suggested you plead guilty. As non guilty fees go at end and you wait all day.

The fact he gave out fines greater then fine schedule

Cops did not have to prove case or even make statement. My cop just agreed that ticket was passing on right with nothing to note. I then had to prove him wrong. Impossible.

Several people representing themselves did not speak English and Spanish interpreter rushed through guilty pleas.

One guy with charges driving without license and registration with lawyer shoe proof got license not and car registered all charges dismissed.

Another man in his third DWI with lawyer walked out a restricted license deal to drive to work.

It was odd the smaller meaningless tickets got bigger penalties. The ones with lawyers got very little.

They gave one guy charged driving on shoulder who said he really had to go to bathroom pulled over to check iPhone to locate nearest bathroom with 3 points on license.

But reckless drivers and DUIs got deals

[Anonymous]

Yes, it is happening a while at Fairfax County that in-person has higher court costs.

BTW, you can negotiate with a prosecutor on your own. You might not get a good response or much time but there is no rule that they won't. Lawyers spread this lie to gain more business for themselves.

[Anonymous]

This sounds horrible. Years ago I was working in a materially very poor area in another state, with teens and young adults, and accompanied a young adult to court for a charge she was looped in with bc of associates, and there was some stuff about her being the fall person for a rich kid's issue, per my memory. It was unreal. Lawyers at the front of the court who all knew the judge were all talking loudly, in front of a group of scared poor people, about their vacation plans, joking around, etc. My client did not have a lawyer, but I wore my nicest coat and shoes, am white, exude don't f w me privilege, and sat right next to her. They ended up not being able to hear her case that day, the cops never showed up like they were supposed to, I think they may have then postponed or dropped it, etc. I'll never forget that shameful show however.

[Anonymous]

I haven't gotten a ticket in a decade, but I got one once and went to court. I don't remember even leaving my seat. Everyone without a lawyer was told to take a responsible driving class online, go to a local library to take a quiz, and the ticket would be expunged from our records.

We left and the people with lawyers stayed. I liked the court system that day.

[Anonymous]

Yes, it's an employment racket for attorneys.

One of my ex-GFs got a reckless driving ticket for going 85 on I-95. Her daddy paid something like $2K for an attorney, who was able to get the charge pled down to a simple moving violation fine. The attorney had her take her car to some special testing facility to see if her speedometer was mis-calibrated (another couple hundred bucks).

My ex-GF went to the court and having a lawyer with a relationship with the judge got her off. Meanwhile, similar folks without an attorney got to do a night or two in the Commonwealthy jail for reckless driving.

VA is crazy about this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, it's an employment racket for attorneys.

One of my ex-GFs got a reckless driving ticket for going 85 on I-95. Her daddy paid something like $2K for an attorney, who was able to get the charge pled down to a simple moving violation fine. The attorney had her take her car to some special testing facility to see if her speedometer was mis-calibrated (another couple hundred bucks).

My ex-GF went to the court and having a lawyer with a relationship with the judge got her off. Meanwhile, similar folks without an attorney got to do a night or two in the Commonwealthy jail for reckless driving.

VA is crazy about this.

In SC we always requested the police radar's calibration report. Most of the time it was out of date and the case was dropped

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, it's an employment racket for attorneys.

One of my ex-GFs got a reckless driving ticket for going 85 on I-95. Her daddy paid something like $2K for an attorney, who was able to get the charge pled down to a simple moving violation fine. The attorney had her take her car to some special testing facility to see if her speedometer was mis-calibrated (another couple hundred bucks).

My ex-GF went to the court and having a lawyer with a relationship with the judge got her off. Meanwhile, similar folks without an attorney got to do a night or two in the Commonwealthy jail for reckless driving.

VA is crazy about this.

A good lawyer knows the law. A great lawyer knows the judge.