Asked 7/18/17 – League City, TX

Was pulled over for speeding (7 over) but never given copy of ticket. 3 months later I get picked up on warrant for not paying ticket or appearing in court. the police have the two other copies but I never received, so assumed he didn’t give me a ticket. Now I’m out 550.00 to get out of jail and need to go to court to fight this. What are my chances?? I would not have ignored paying a ticket if I had received one, and no, I cannot afford an attorney

Answer

You have two separate issues: the speeding citation and the failure to give you proper notice of when and where to appear for court. The fact you were not provided a copy of the citation does not mean you weren’t speeding, it means you were not provided instructions on how to resolve the speeding ticket. You have the right to plead not guilty and force the State to prove you were traveling at a speed which was unreasonable and imprudent given the conditions that were existing at the time. If, however, an additional charge of Failure to Appear was filed against you, and the money you paid included a fee for that charge, you have a valid defense on this second allegation, given the lack of proper notice. I strongly suggest contacting a local attorney. You have $550 at stake, and I believe the cost of retaining counsel will not be as expensive as you think.