Thanks to everyone who responded to my thread. I have to appear in court on the 24th of this month! That's right, the day after Thanksgiving! Along with the ticket, he handed me a slip of paper from the Maumee Municipal Courthouse stating that any speeding violation, 90mph or over requires a mandatory court appearance. Now this friend of mine, who also got tagged just last weekend, also on the Ohio TPK but in Youngstown, was stopped for going 90 in a 65 and he doesn't have a mandatory court appearance! What gives?!?! Laws must differ from county to county in Ohio I guess. Well, I guess I must have made a mistake because when he had me pulled over, the first question he asked me is if I wanted to see his laser gun readout. I declined (basically, I just wanted to get the hell out of there and get to ND in time for kickoff!). So I'm not sure how much weight the whole laser gun thing will hold in court on Friday. I was told by a friend of mine who's an attorney to plead not guilty and fight it but this will mean having to drive back from Cincinnati all the way to Toledo for another hearing, etc...etc...Although if it's really worth it, I suppose I can afford to miss a day of work in order to keep my record clean. One more thing, I was told that 20mph or over in Ohio is wreckless operation but had he sighted me for W.O. he would have impounded the car, which he didn't and if I remember correctly, did not mark any wreckless op box on my citation. So I guess this means I'll only be facing two points? Oh, and one more thing...If I were to send a request to the prosecutor or whomever for the laser gun history, calibration, etc..I would do this in between my trial Friday and my next trial? Correct? Sounds like quite a plan! Well, thanks again guys for your help and if any of you can further advise me, I'd appreciate it greatly! And if you're ever in Cincinnati, bring your MB by the shop and I'll take care of you nicely!



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Rgds,
Aaron Greenberg
MB technician
Mercedes-Benz of Cincinnati
'67 250SE Cabriolet
'77 450SL
'80 300SD
'85 380SE
'86 420SEL
'89 420SEL
'93 300E 2.8
'74 Jensen Interceptor Mk.III
'81 DeLorean DMC12
'84 BMW 745i Turbo

Keep in mind that Ohio laws will differ from the laws in California, but I've had plenty of experience w/ tickets here in California. First off, the officer has written a vehicle code violation number somewhere on the ticket. There may be a brief description of the violation after the number. You will be able to confirm this by looking up the vehicle code violation number in the vehicle code book (should be available at your motor vehicle dept.). My quess is that if you had been charged with wreckless operation (which is a misdemeanor in California), you would have received some type of formal "notice to appear" in the mail. You were probable just given a speeding ticket, considered an infraction.
In order to avoid making two trips to Toledo, you may be able to "post bail" rather than go to your arraignment(the first court appearance - where you plead guilty or not guilty). Check the back of the ticket for instructions or call the court house. Tell them you want to plead "not-guilty" and
avoid arraignment. You can probably still mail your "bail" (the amount of the ticket - this is forfeited if you fail to appear at trial, in which case you will be found quilty by default and the court treats you bail as if you had paid the fine) as long as it is post-marked before your arraignment date. Then you will only need to go to Toledo once, for your trial.


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Dave
1982 300TD Wagon 211,000 miles

Aaron,

For REAL information on the Ohio points system check out http://www.state.oh.us/odps/division/bmv/mvdigest.html

Basically there is a sliding scale. If it is your first speeding offense in the last year it is a 2pt violation. If not it depends on how fast and how many violations you have - see the chart on page 46 (51) of the PDF file they provide. As to fines etc your mileage may vary, i.e., local laws vary as do judges rulings. If a 2pt does not bug you, i'll bet that if you contact the court they will let you pay via mail/VISA as you live so far away.

Good luck,

Dale Mitchell

84 300SD

Without knowing the details of what your first court appearance is supposed to accomplish - I would think you could/can mail in a certified response of not guilty, and requesting a continuance because you will need to prepare for your defense/retain an attorney, etc. Send your request for discovery production to the county prosecutors office. There is probably some time frame/limit that is triggered once you have appeared in cour for your arraignment. Once you have established a dialouge with the prosecutors office, and they see that you will make them spend "precious" time to your case, you will have an opportunity to plea bargain to simple points, cheap fine.

BTW, Wreckless Operation is only a misdemeanor for 1-20 mph over the speed limit. at 20+ mph over the speed limit, it can also be written up as a felony at the discretion of the citing officer.

Oh, yeah..I was referring to California :)