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Should I take this to court? Or just pay the ticket?
So here's what happened- Me and my friend David were heading to a friend's house. She lives in a small town of about 15,000, 15 minutes from David and I's town. Both of us are 17. Our town's curfew for minors is midnight, while this town's curfew is 11:00. An officer pulls David over for going 10 over. We were pulled over at 11:12 pm. As you could imagine, the officer found out David was 17, and then finds out I'm 17. We both tell him we're not from here, but doesn't care. We were both given 130 dollar tickets for curfew violation (plus 130 dollar speeding ticket for the driver). Our parents had to come pick us up at the station. Now do I have a good enough reason to take this to court? We've planned to plead no contest and say that we didn't know what their curfew is, because we really didn't. Is this a good enough reason to get out of the ticket? If it is, how should I present it? Is there anything else I need to know that I don't know? PLEASE HELP!!!
6 Answers
- 8 years agoFavorite Answer
Judge: "Were you in this town?"
You: "Yes."
Judge: "Were you under the age of 17 at the time?"
You: "Yes."
Judge: "Was it after 11:00 p.m.?"
You: "Yes".
Judge: "Guilty! Pay the fine".
- 8 years ago
There's an old saying: "Ignorance of the law is no excuse." You can claim all you want that you didn't know this town had an 11:00 pm curfew. Even if it's true, it doesn't change the fact that you were violating the law. Just because you "didn't know" the law doesn't protect you from most crimes. If it were a valid defense, people could avoid prosecution for all sorts of crimes simply by claiming "I didn't know."
- Anonymous8 years ago
I'd find out if there is any financial penalty for taking the ticket to court. In some places you are charged court fees and other expense beyond your fine if you contest a ticket in court and loose.
If there aren't court fees, I'd definitely go and try and argue your case. It certainly wouldn't hurt to try.
- ?Lv 58 years ago
WHEREVER you are..you MUST obey the laws of that place. Example..if the legal age for drinking is 19 and you are only 17 (but it's legal to drink at 17 where you live), then you are bound by law not to drink at age 17. When you return home...it's ok to drink at 19 because the law prescribes it lawful to drink at age 19.
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- Anonymous8 years ago
Ignorance of the law is no excuse. Pay the fine.
- Anonymous8 years ago
Take it to court
Source(s): I am a retired police officer. I retired as a sergeant, after 29 years, from a very large department, about 12,000 officers. I was a patrol officer for 4 years in a very diverse area. I was a tactical officer in the high rise project areas of my city. We called it vertical patrol in that we walked the the stairways of the high rises most of the time. I did that for 5 years and was promoted by test to detective. I worked violent crime (homicide, sex, officer involved shootings, robbery, kidnapping, serious non property incidents) for 11 years until I was promoted to sergeant. I worked as a street supervisor, a bicycle patrol supervisor and a desk sergeant/watch commander. During my time as a tactical officer and a detective I was a unit representative for the police union. I have a B.A in English and an M.S. in Law Enforcement Administration..
