Is this LEGAL? im getting a tcket from traffic court when i wasnt driving or near any cars?

Question

ok i work for a door to door newspaper  sales company & make a few hundred bucks a week.about a month ago i got stoped by a policeman while walking & forgot my California ID or license at home & we do Not have a permit. the cop gave me a lecture on how important it is to carry  that stuff around,bla bla bla & the gave me a ticket for $200 for soliciting without  a permit & soliciting with no id on me, The thing is that he ran out of pedistraion stop fee or "infraction"slips to fill out for me, so instead he wrote it on a TRAFFIC STOP ticket & told me to call the city that the traffic court had NOTHING to do with it....About 30 days pas & i get a letter or a TRAFFIC COURTESEY NOTICE claiming i owe them $1, 140.00 which is not the 200$ the cop toldme & to make things worse the code section violation number is not the same as the one on my copy its 1 number off,which is the last number. So basicly i was nowhere near a Vehicle & shouldnt be heating from Traffic people & the officer said ionly owed the city $200 when he stoped me not $1140?? the police dept gave me his cell,i have called his cell phone twice & even left a voicemail but he  does not respond! Its impossible for me to pay that is there anything i can do about this misunderstanding or fight it? is this even legal?? should i get a lawyer?
if you could let me know what your best guess is ,thatd be great,thank you so much.

Anonymous · Accepted Answer

We would be much better able to answer your question if you revealed WHAT CODE SECTION you were cited for, and what section it is claimed you violated in the courtesy notice.  Without that information, all anybody can do is guess.

ADD:  As you informed us at your other posting of this question (but then closed the question so I could not answer it there), you were cited for violating Fremont Municipal Code section 5-4104, which prohibits soliciting without a permit.  When you get a permit, you also get an identification card.  You seem to be charged with violating section 5-4110, which is failing to have THAT identification card with you.  (You obviously cannot be guilty of both, you either did not have a permit, or you did have a permit and were not carrying the card.)

My guess is that the problem with the fine is this--these offenses can be charged as misdemeanors or infractions.  For a first offense, the maximum punishment for an infraction is $100, and for a second offense within one year it is $200.  However, for a misdemeanor the maximum punishment is a fine of $1,000 and six months in jail.  The decision whether to charge the offense as a misdemeanor or infraction is supposed to be made by the "enforcement official."  (This is all in sections 1-3100 and 1-3101.)

It appears that instead of the infraction the officer said you would be charged with, you have been charged with a misdemeanor.  You are entitled to a jury trial on a misdemeanor, and if you cannot afford a lawyer you are entitled to appointed counsel.  My guess is that this was a mistake, because nobody is going to prosecute this minor offense as a misdemeanor.  You should go to court and get this straightened out.  (I think the notification being headed a "traffic" notice is probably meaningless--it is probably the only form the clerk could find.)  If you have not been convicted of this before, you should not be subject to a $200 fine either--a first offense is $100.

Anonymous · Answer

just go to traffic court....judge will reduce it or throw it out

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Is this LEGAL? im getting a tcket from traffic court when i wasnt driving or near any cars?

2 Answers