Little Bit’s day in court (sort of)

You may remember that we got Little Bit a Mini Cooper S for her birthday. When we bought the car, the salesman asked if we weren’t getting “too much car” for a 16 year old. We laughed him off but after Little Bit got a speeding ticket (61 in 45), we wondered if perhaps he was right.

We went to court on the ticket and because Little Bit was indeed guilty of speeding, we opted for deferred disposition, defensive driving, a road test with a DPS officer, and 90 days probation. During the probation period, Little Bit was pulled over and ticketed again. This time, however, she wasn’t speeding.

We were quite worried about this new ticket and went to court to fight it. When Little Bit pleaded not guilty, the judge spent several minutes trying to dissuade her. Little Bit was told that if she went to trial, she would be able to receive no assistance from me and would likely lose. She was told that if she lost, her probation would be revoked on the first ticket. Little Bit said that she understood, but she wasn’t guilty and would go to trial.

We went to court this morning and, while waiting, the prosecutor offered deferred disposition on the new ticket and a fine of $145 plus costs. We explained that Little Bit was already on probation for speeding and she wasn’t guilty of the current charge. Moments later we were invited to speak to the judge (different than the first) in his office. He said that there wouldn’t be time today for Little Bit’s case. He offered to reschedule. Little Bit explained that she was already missing class to appear and that she shouldn’t be punished because the court couldn’t see her. She asked the judge to dismiss the case. He declined by saying the prosecutor was ready to proceed but the court didn’t have time and then offered to reschedule during her winter break. I mentioned that we travel during that time and asked to call my husband to see if we had already purchased tickets.

After learning that we hadn’t yet purchased tickets, we went back to the judge’s office to agree to rescheduling. The judge then offered deferred disposition with probation until February 10th, $96 fine (no costs), with conditions of the first probation covering both cases. Little Bit asked if the officer made it court and the judge answered that he presumed so. Little Bit and I thought that answer inaccurate but we decided to take the offer. She pleaded no contest and we went to pay the fine.

I don’t quite know how I feel about the outcome. On one hand, I feel a bit railroaded. We took the time to research the law and we appeared in court ready for the trial. It’s not our problem that the court was backed up. We presume that the officer didn’t show and think the case should have been dismissed. On the other hand, Little Bit is a 16 year old driver and the avenue taken was a sure shot at avoiding a guilty verdict and two tickets on her record. If you are a parent of a teen driver you know what that would do to our insurance rate.

Sadly, today it became very clear to me why innocent people accept plea deals; sometimes it is just easier than fighting the system for the right thing. I wonder what kind of lesson I provided my daughter when I encouraged her to accept the deal. Did I just teach her to abandon principle in favor of a quick, cheap solution? Did I show her hypocrisy in a way that I’ve avoided all her life?

She’s in a class now, but I think we are going to have to skip Guitar Hero and have a nice long talk tonight.

~ by Miche on November 12, 2007.