I'm going to break my long time "lurker" status and reply on this subject because I despise this whole computerised system of justice. The whole idea of paying the ticket with no opportunity to rebut the charge flies in the face of "innocent until proven guilty"; it is nothing but a shake down to increase the flow of money into the coffers of the already bloated local gov't. They assume you will just pay the ticket to avoid giving up a day's pay to jump through the hoops and put up with the treatment you'll recieve from the arrogant judges and a court system far more interested in fleecing you than proving guilt or innocence. It's infuriating.
Last year, a house guest drove me to the emergency room for a serious prostate problem. I was admitted and schedled for emergency surgery the following AM. The emergency room staff gave my clothes and personal possesions to my house guest, which included my wallet and car keys. One surgery led to another. Long and short, I was hospitalised for six days while my guest cleaned out my checking account, ran up all my credit cards and ruined my car. She also took five hand guns and about $20,000 in power and hand tools, was involved in two hit and runs and passed a school bus which is why I'm here posting this tale of woe in the first place.
I had to go to court about this ticket. When I appeared in court, after waiting for five hours for my turn (during which I was offred plea after plea to "avoid the hassel of a trial") I presented the court a signed, notorised statement that at the time and date of the ticket I was in the hospital and incapable of having driven the car. Police reports documenting the theft and fraud were presented... I was wasting my time.
The Judge was clearly irritated I was taking up his time. Insisted I show (more) proof I wasn't driving and present him with a written, notorised statement identifying the driver. Couldn't do it, wasn't there to know who was diving, could only prove it wasn't me. Not good enough. That Son of a Bitch kept me on the stand for over a hour while he tried to get me to admit guilt or identify the culprit. The Prosecuter finally request the charge be dropped in the face of the evidence I had presented. The Judge was clearly irritated but let me know in no uncertain terms how lucky I was to be getting off with only court costs. I still haven't paid them but no warrents have been issued. This sucks.
Merry Christmas! Back to lurking.
