For police officers, even the most mundane of duties carries the risk that it can escalate into violence. That is what happened to Florida Highway Patrol trooper John Paikai on Tuesday. Paikai attempted to execute a routine traffic stop after Robert Swank ran a red light in Avon Park. The officer was most likely just planning on writing a traffic ticket to the Florida driver but that’s when things took a deadly turn according to an AP press story last week. After Paikai pulled Swank over he exited his cruiser and began to approach Swank’s car. At that point the 37-year-old struck the officer with his car. In order to stop the assualt Paikai fired his weapon and shot and killed the car’s passenger, 33-year-old Amber Gregory. Paikai was taken to the hospital and an investigation is under way. If you have received a traffic ticket, make sure you don’t mouth off to the police and you should not do anything that will get you shot. Let the Traffic Ticket Team do the fighing for you. Our lawyers have handled over 1,000,000 traffic tickets and we have a 99% success rate in keeping points off our client’s records. Please call anytime at 1-866-433-3363 or go to our website www.TrafficTicketTeam.com or email me at Jason@trafficticketteam.com
Browsing Posts tagged red light
Two separate lawsuits involving red-light cameras in Aventura and Temple Terrace, Florida have officials in Pembroke Pines worried that their Broward city could be next. Critics of the red light cameras assert that the cameras violate drivers’ due process rights. A few months earlier, Florida’s legislature killed a bill that would have allowed municipalities to install red-light cameras at intersections. In response to these concerns, city officials are working to amend their contact with American Traffic Solutions (ATS) so that ATS would shoulder part of the burden of any lawsuits. Last March, Pembroke Pines became the first city in Broward County to fine drivers for speeding using red-light cameras. The first camera is at Pines Boulevard and 129th Avenue. They have since added five more, and violators are fined $125. Twelve other Broward County municipalities are either researching this option or are about to vote on it. Hollywood, Fort Lauderdale, and Hallandale Beach have all approved red-light camera programs, despite it being a legal gray area. If you get a traffic ticket for a red light camera, you don’t need to worry about points on your license, but the fines are hefty. If you need some advice, please call me at (954) 967-9888 or email me at jason@trafficticketteam.com
Florida Leading The Way Among State That Are Cracking Down On Aggressive Driving Those of us who live in Florida are aware of all the new laws and regulations that are being instituted to crack down on aggressive drivers but apparently the whole country knows about it now thanks to a recent article in USA Today. The article talks about the new Florida traffic ticket law that will go into effect on January 1 that sends a driver found to be at fault in three traffic accidents in a three year period back to school for a strict driver education test that also requires a road test. That law is joined on the books by another that will go into effect in less than a month. That law makes traffic school mandatory for first-time offenders of certain moving violations traffic tickets. That used to be an option for drivers but not a requirement. The new laws are said to be aimed at people who are aggressive drivers, which in the state’s eyes are those who speed, tailgate, change lanes without indicating, weave in and out of traffic and ignore traffic signals. According to reports, this type of behavior on the road causes more fatalities than drunk driving. If you have received a traffic ticket anywhere in Florida please do not hesitate to contact Florida Traffic Ticket Team to discuss the matter 954-967-9888 or jason@trafficticketteam.com. Our lawyers have handled over 1,000,000 traffic tickets.
Florida’s laws on license suspensions are some of the toughest in the United States. According to recent statistics from the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, approximately 30 percent of Florida’s motoring public is currently under some sort of a suspension. That equates to nearly 4.6 million people – many of whom don’t even know it.
D-6 suspensions
According to Jason Diamond an attorney whose practice focuses on Florida suspended license issues, a D-6 suspension is a serious matter and something that many drivers just don’t understand. Diamond explains:
One example of a D-6 suspension would be a failure to appear in criminal court to address a charge. It’s called a D-6 because the court is taking action through the clerk because you didn’t do something with your citation. Let’s say you get a criminal driving while license suspended citation and you don’t show up for your court date.
In lieu of issuing a bench warrant, the judge may say, ‘I’m just going to D-6 his or her license.’ Basically, it’s telling the DHSMV to suspend the license and not to reinstate it until the person comes before that court and gets an order from the judge reinstating the license.
It’s almost in lieu of issuing a bench warrant. In some situations, the D-6 is used interchangeably when somebody didn’t take care of a traffic ticket within a certain time period, then they D-6 the license.
Judges issuing more warrants
While D-6 suspensions are still common, Diamond says that judges seem to be issuing warrants more and more warrants these days. He continued, “Unfortunately, you’re seeing fewer D-6ing of licenses and more warrants. That’s a whole problem in and of itself because that just clogs the court docket even more and clogs the state attorney’s office because now the prosecutor is getting involved and having to put that case or that ticket into a warrants file. So then, that little ticket for $115 now becomes a criminal offense, and if you missed your court date, now you’ve got a warrant and it just goes on and on and on.” If your license has been suspended in Florida, contact an attorney whose practice focuses on license suspension issues. Click here, to contact a the Traffic Ticket Team. So if you get charged with anything from a traffic ticket to any criminal charge, call the traffic ticket team or go to www.TrafficTicketTeam.com. Our traffic ticket team of lawyers have handled over 1 million traffic tickets and Jason Diamond has presented traffic ticket clinics before audiences for over ten years.
This was a question from a client. “I was involved in a car accident and received a citation. How can the officer issue a ticket for something that he didn’t observe?” The important thing to know is that the officer can only PROVE his case in court through the testimony of the other drivers or through the testimony of lay witnesses who may have witnessed the accident. Regardless of what may have been said at the accident scene, once a hearing is elected then the Judge will only consider the live in-court testimony in rendering his/her decision. This is called the “accident report privilege.” What that means is that anything said at the scene of the accident is immaterial. It’s only what happens in the courtroom that matters, and if there are no witnesses against you at trial, your case will be dismissed. In fact, if all the witnesses appear but the officer doesn’t, then your case will be dismissed at trial as well. The second most common accident question is “I was involved in an accident and although a deputy arrived on the scene first, a long period of time passed until the Florida Highway Patrol trooper who issued the ticket appeared on the scene. Why did it happen that way?” The Florida Highway Patrol is just that, a highway patrol agency whose sole purpose is to enforce the traffic laws in the State of Florida and to investigate traffic crashed in the unincorporated areas of the State. So when there is an accident in many areas of the State, a deputy sheriff will arrive on the scene first and call for a trooper to investigate the crash. The Trooper will issue any citations for any violations that they believe was committed. So whether you think the ticket is your fault or not, call us to fight your accident ticket or you will automatically get points on your license. So if you get charged with anything from a traffic ticket to any criminal charge, call the traffic ticket team or go to www.TrafficTicketTeam.com. Our traffic ticket team of lawyers have handled over 1 million traffic tickets and Jason Diamond has presented traffic ticket clinics before audiences for over ten years.
South Florida is a vacationer’s paradise. Beaches, clubs, nightlife abound. Our resort area hotels draw many successful businessmen from around the country and the world. Imagine this scenario: Alcohol flows after hours. Your judgment gets a little impaired. An attractive woman starts flirting with you. In the course of it she makes you an offer. You flirt back, maybe say something you don’t really mean or intend….next thing you know you’re being arrested for solicitation of prostitution. Unfortunately, law enforcement targets “known” areas for prostitution sting operations. While it is laudable that law enforcement is aggressive in enforcing Florida prostitution and solicitation laws, could you have been a victim of entrapment? Entrapment is the act of inducing a citizen to commit a crime he or she ordinarily wouldn’t have considered. Usually some form of pressure or coercion is used. Or maybe you acted on your own bad judgment. Should you pay the rest of your life by having a permanent criminal record? For a conviction of prostitution or solicitation in Florida, punishments can include jail time, fines, community service, counseling, etc. Sometimes, an automatic license revocation may occur. First time offenders face up to a maximum $500 fine and up to 60 days in jail. Second time offenders face up to a minimum of $1000 fine and one year in jail for a solicitation or assignation of prostitution charge. Some first offenders may be eligible for a diversion program wherein the charges will be dropped against you if you successfully complete the program. So if you are charged with Solicitation, call us for a discreet consultation. So if you get charged with anything from a traffic ticket to any criminal charge, call the traffic ticket team or go to www.TrafficTicketTeam.com. Our traffic ticket team of lawyers have handled over 1 million traffic tickets and Jason Diamond has presented traffic ticket clinics before audiences for over ten years.
After running red lights, running stop signs cause the most deaths from traffic infractions. Tickets for running stop signs are also very common and we handle tens of thousands of these types of tickets. A lot of people tell me that they almost stopped, that they rolled through the stop sign at like one mile per hour. This is also called a California stop for some reason, but its all still a violation of the law. Avoiding a stop sign ticket is easy, just make a full stop. In other words, your forward motion must stop at least for an instance. There is a myth that you must stop for a full three seconds at a stop sign before proceeding, and if you don’t stop for the complete three seconds, you are guilty of a crime and should be charged. This myth is simply NOT TRUE. Unfortunately many police officers do not have a great deal of traffic training and believe this myth to be true and will hand out Stop Sign tickets to people that have not stopped for a full three seconds! So if you get a ticket for running a stop sign, do not pay it. If you do, you will get three points on your license and your insurance will surely go up. Call us and we will fight back for you.
