Hi Garry and Ivan,
Well I was lucky recently at Hampton District Court in Seabrook, NH.
When I first received the speeding ticket last fall (80 in a 65 zone) I wanted to fight the ticket. I found a lawyer that would fight the case for me but he wanted to charge me $1,500.00. If I lost it would have cost me $600 over six years loss of safe driver credits in MA plus his fee, and so I decided to fight it on my own.
I went to the Court to visit and to see how the process works. I was told by a really great Clerk of Courts that before my trial I will be taken out to a meeting room and a police prosecutor would negotiate with me, to avoid having a trial in front of the judge that day.
Then I contacted the police prosecutor and requested that the facts in the case be placed on file for a period of one year and upon a good driving record the case would be dropped,
and that I was changing my plea to guilty. He told me that he could not negotiate that with me and that the citing officer was going to prosecute the case.
Yesterday, before my trial, the citing officer called me out to the Conference room and asked if I had anything to say. I asked him if he had talked to the original police prosecutor and if he had related my conversation to him. The citing officer answered that he did, so I knew that he was aware of my request. He then told me that they were not going to prosecute the case against me and that we were all done. I went back into the courtroom where the Clerk told me that I was all set and I could leave.
So it was a happy ending – although this could not have worked in Massachusetts.
Ivan, many thanks for your insights.
Best,
A satisfied Mass. National Motorist Association Member