[BzsBimmer]

First it's depending on the state and county. In the OP's case, it is SF so I'm guessing San Francisco.
I'll give you my experiences from San Jose Traffic Court
First. The initial showing is only for a plea. Not Guilty, Guilty or No Contest. The judge will not hear excuses. Those are set for the court date. If you enter guilty and ask to give a reason, the judge might be lenient and reduce fees or actions.
When the court date is set, it's set so that the officer has the opportunity to appear. I've heard that if they don't show, they can let the case go or reschedule.
Now in my cases, the first case I was guilty. I told the judge that I would like to give my explanation and after doing so, the judge reduced my fine by 75%. Another time the judge told me to waive traffic court and just pay my fine.
The one time I pleaded not guilty, the officer did show up in court and even remembered my name and said hello to me (scare tactic) and stood next to where I was sitting. I explained my side, she explained hers and when it was all said and done, the judge told me that he would let me know the ruling via mail since the officer, to me, clearly was in the wrong.
In my case, it was raining, a car cut me off and took off. I braked/swerved heavily in a Ford Festiva rental with 1/4" wide tires and hit a tree. In my case there was no one around other than my passenger. The police didn't show up until we were in the ambulance being sent to the hospital.
Well she wrote me a ticket for speeding. On my ticket she wrote I was doing 45 in a 45 in clear weather. I asked the judge how she knew that when clearly she never was there and there were no other witnesses AND I was going the legal speed limit. She really had no excuse other than it was a written mistake.

While I was in the courtroom, I had a chance to hear other people try to plead their cases. One was a radar case. They brought in someone to dispute the radar and got massively spanked by the police expert on how their radars are calibrated. They showed calibration dates as well as other pieces of information. Guess who won?

Another case was a person who got pulled over by a cop for visual speed. They lost their case because police are trained to 5 MPH accuracy for visual speed.

All in all, what they tell you is that in traffic court, it's about the LETTER of the law and not the SPIRIT of the law. If the sign says 55 and you go 56... it's speeding.

[iheartsole]

really depends on the situation. if its major and they know you want to fight it they will prob be there. if its just a minor situation i doubt they will be there.

[Kiemyster]

Originally Posted by rollout

My case was dismissed in OK when the officer didn't show up. I would have won anyway. ;-)

Bill

Easy win... no fun. No pain, no gain.

[JRT]

Get a lawyer and play the game.
It is called the good ole' boys club for a reason; judges want to see their lawyer brethren get paid.
I just got out of my second general reckless operation in 4 months, driving school and dismissed on both of them.
I have been let off by two cops in 2 years for heavy speeding and gotten off on these reckless tickets because;
1. I have a clean record
2. I was polite and truthful, cops each the truthful shit up and if you are polite and respectful it goes a long way in court
3. I went to court with a lawyer and dressed nice.
4. I was respectful to the judge and the judicial process.

What did you do?

[Neutrino45]

Sometimes the cop will not show up in court if an escort shows up at his house the night before.

[Zamorskii]

Originally Posted by Steve335i

I'm no lawyer but you have the right to confront your accuser. Secondly no other officer can testify regarding a traffic stop he was not present for because that testimony would be hear-say which is not admissible. Thirdly in CA a speed trap is not legal so if this is a speeding ticket using radar you might find a loophole. Like others have said, be respectful in dress and demeanor and research the traffic laws. There are many ways to beat a speeding ticket besides officer no-show.

Ditto.

You have the right for direct cross examination of whoever accuses you. If the cop is not present, his statement is not admissable because you are not able to ask him follow up questions. No dummy cop should stand in court substitute to the original cop.
The time, I was in court for my speeding ticket, the cop showed up and I just plead guilty, just because I new I had no chance.

If you are worried about your insurance, look into Farmer's. I believe they do not count your speeding tickets towards your premiums.

[Zamorskii]

It's funny to hear everybody mention "Dress nice". What do you wear on a daily basis, and do you know a concept of dressing appropriately to the situation?

Just dress clean or at least business casual. Look professional, and you will be all right.

[JRT]

I think the professional look in implied here by saying dress nice.
When I am at work it is business casual; outside of work I am in shorts/jeans and a t-shirt.
Who the hell wants to dress in slacks or khakis all of the time.

[Chitown-Irish]

Originally Posted by anmcguire

That's weird, I was just in Cook Count court the other day for a tint ticket, and every case in which the officer was not there was dismissed. The judge even apologized to the defendants for wasting their time. You have a right to a speedy trial, and to confront your accuser (in person). Most judges will throw dismiss cases in which the officer is not present. I forgot the name of the judge, but he kind of looked like Rudy Giuliani.

Luckily I haven't been in a court room for a looooong time (knock on wood), glad to see things have changed or at least in one court. .

[Scimitar335i]

almost all of the time they show up. i do. if they have a good work ethic they will. if they miss court too many times the judge will start looking at the cop in a bad light. it is recorded how many times an officer will not show up to court. each time he misses a court date his credibility goes down or is tarnished.. its kind of like ebay feedback haha

[samson]

Originally Posted by Scimitar335i

almost all of the time they show up. i do. if they have a good work ethic they will. if they miss court too many times the judge will start looking at the cop in a bad light. it is recorded how many times an officer will not show up to court. each time he misses a court date his credibility goes down or is tarnished.. its kind of like ebay feedback haha

Generally speaking (at least in my city), each squad would be given a few open court dates for the next few months. I would set all my citations for that date until it filled up. That way, I would probably be dealing wih several cases at a time. But, whether it was one case or many, if I received a subpoena from the court, I was there. An officer definitely does not want to piss off the court by not showing, and our Captain received a report of any officers who did not show. We did not get paid for court duty but did get comp. time.

Being respectful is probably the most important thing I would suggest. Every one is presumed innocent until proven guilty, so you have every right to contest your citation. Keep in mind, that the judge hears hundreds of cases a month and what might seem like a logical case to you might be laughable to him. If you are going to argue, make sure you know the law. If you don't the judge will shut you down. Too many times I have had people telling the judge that I did not show them my laser calibration thinking that they would get off. Laser's are different from radar and do not require the same type of calibration, nor do they require me to show you anything besides the range, time, speed and time that I checked the calibration at the beginning of my shift. Also, arguments like , "the guy next to me was driving faster than me" will not get you anywhere. You do have a right to question the officer, but remember, if it comes down to credibility, the officer is generally considered the more credible witness. In other words, If it gets down to a he said she said, you will lose. I once chased a motorcycle several miles at speeds in excess of 100mph and had video tape documenting it. The owner tried to get out by saying his motorcycle could not have been going that fast because one of his tires did not have the proper inflation. That is just stupid and a waste of time.

I do not know about other officers, but I have stood before a judge and told him that I could not remember the case. The judge will obviously dismiss that case. I have no desire to commit perjury, nor did I have any reasion to want to.

In general, I would say your best bet is to try to talk to the solicitor before the court. You might be able to work a deal to keep it off your record or to not get points or to go to driving school in lieu of...A lawyer will definitely help, especially if he/she does a lot of work in that court and knows the court officials.

Sorry for the long post...

[jc777]

I got a stand in cop when I showed up. He wasn't even from the same police department. However, he offered me a plea deal -- lesser offense, with no points. I took it without hesitation rather than risking the points.

[bklynbimmer]

how does one fight a 103mph in a 55mph????

[simp0man]

Follow the cop home and kidnap him the day before the court date.

[JRT]

Originally Posted by bklynbimmer

how does one fight a 103mph in a 55mph????

You don't, you go to jail for 30-180 days, don't drop the soap.
I would suggest a very good lawyer, preferably one that plays golf with the judge.

[bmw-hoya]

Be sure and check out h**p://www.ticketassassin.com/. There's a lot of good ideas there. For instance, one of the main suggestions is that you request a hearing by written declaration, instead of an in-person hearing before the court. There's directions for this procedure on the back of your ticket (if you got ticked by the SFPD - don't know about the CHP). Basically, you explain the circumstances in a written statement, under penalty of perjury (don't lie!), and mail it to the court where the judge reviews the declaration in his/her own chambers.

This didn't make sense to me at first , but I think the website's reasoning is right: a judge is not going to be inclined to take you seriously and is going to side with the cop, especially in a packed courtroom with people who 'might get the wrong idea' that they can also get out of their ticket. I've been in court hearings before (I'm a lawyer) and have seen instances where the judge acts differently in front of a full courtroom - they're human and it impacts their thinking, believe me. The website also claims that the cops get paid for showing up in person at hearings, but not for preparing written declarations, but I don't know if that's true of not.

I actually got a B.S. speeding ticket recently and I am going to go this route of a written declaration myself.

By the way (for those of you in other states), the SFPD is the San Francisco Police Department and the CHP is the California Highway Patrol. That website I mentioned earlier is geared towards California speeding tickets, but other states *may* have similar ways of contesting a ticket.

good luck

[seanl]

I believe that CHP is required to attend traffic court in the case of contested tickets. Local cops are an entirely different story, totally hit or miss.

[bmw-hoya]

Originally Posted by seanl

I believe that CHP is required to attend traffic court in the case of contested tickets. Local cops are an entirely different story, totally hit or miss.

I've heard the same about the CHP, that they ALWAYS shows up. I don't know the reason for that, though.

[E90330iS]

just got one today.. 83 on 65 zone.. any suggestions??

[mpimping]

just keep getting it delayed

[opencasket]

Originally Posted by E90330iS

just got one today.. 83 on 65 zone.. any suggestions??

the cop gave you ticket going 83 on the freeway? which freeway and what time?