Back in July I posted about getting a speeding ticket in Macon. I have “a few” points on my license already, and have never seen the inside of a municipal courtroom, so I decided to try my luck at throwing myself on the mercy of the court, you know, for fun. 🙂
I figured that worse case I pay the same fine and get the same points against my license. Best case, the judge likes my stunning good looks and throws the whole thing out (Don’t put money on that).
Also, the more knowledge I have the more dangerous I am. I might just learn something here that arms me with tips and tricks for beating any ticket I ever get again. Unlikely!
But, I come to Macon once a week anyway so I thought this would be like a middle school field trip. On second thought I really hope that today doesn’t involve being taken somewhere I don’t want to go on a bus with a bunch of my “peers” against my will. Hmmm.
It was finally my turn at about 11:30. The judge was moving through people pretty quick (about 1-3 minutes per person) but there were a LOT of people. When I got there at 8 there were probably 50 people there. By about 8:15 there were probably 75 or more.
You get separated by grade (if you are pleading not guilty you have to go to the window and get a new date, etc) then if pleading guilty you are herded into the courtroom through the metal detector. Then you stand in line inside the courtroom and your name is put on a list. Once the judge comes in they start calling people up one at a time and he decides what to do with you.
So when my turn came I went up and he asked me how I was pleading. I said “Well, guilty unless you think not guilty by reason of physical handicap would work”. He looked at me for a moment, and you could tell he was thinking hard about that. Then he fell for it …. he said with his head sideways “what physical handicap?“. I said …. “Lead Foot”. 😉
He said he didn’t think that would do it, but how about nolo contendere? Same fine, no points. Works for me! He said that in the future I could “go to the window” and they would accept that plea there as well. So, I could have saved myself about 2 hours of time but it was a fun experience, something I had never done before.
So, I am free, and didn’t end up on the bus. Funny thing is I parked in a 2 hour parking space because I didn’t think I would be there that long. When I walked back to the truck ……