Court Trial vs. Trial by Written Declaration

Court Trial vs. Trial by Written Declaration blog submitted by staging-vadusuxe.kinsta.cloud, helping drivers contest and dismiss their traffic tickets.

When it comes to fighting traffic tickets, just about everyone knows that when an officer does not respond to your contestation, whether by court appearance or a Trial by Declaration, it almost always results in an automatic dismissal. Wide speculation across the Internet on the likelihood of officers responding to either method is mixed and inconclusive, so we went directly to the source. In Part I of a two-part blog, we reveal the accounts of former officers of the California Highway Patrol and Glendale Police Department on the importance and likelihood of appearing in court versus writing trial by declarations.

A former Lieutenant of the CHP says that court appearances for traffic tickets were considered paid overtime and responding to trial by declarations were simply considered a normal duty without any extra financial incentive for the officers. This revelation would lead us to believe that CHP officers are more likely to appear in court rather than write out a response to trial by declarations (typically 1 – 2 pages in length) because of the little bonus they would receive for doing so. This belief only grows when the former Lieutenant adds that failure to respond to trial by declarations merely resulted in a minor slap on the wrist during the officers’ annual performance reviews.

After considering all of these facts, it still seems much wiser to contest traffic tickets via trial by written declaration versus court appearances. Remember you can always request a court trial after a Trial by Written Declaration if you are found guilty, essentially getting TWO chances to get your traffic ticket dismissed.

If you get cited for a red light photo ticket, contact us at www.staging-vadusuxe.kinsta.cloud or call us at (800) 850-8038.  For Spanish, please visit www.Combatesuticket.com or call (818) 584-3689.  For more information on how TicketBust can help to beat your cell phone ticket, visit www.fightcellphonetickets.com or call (800) 850-8038.

This blog was written to provide information related to traffic tickets in California, is based on opinion only, is not legal advice, and is for informational purposes only.