well i thought it would be a good diea to have my dad with me since hes dealt with the law plenty of time, they offered me 30 days, no fines, and the jail there is 2 for 1, so it would be 2 weeks.... he wouldnt let me take it if i wanted to live with him...

 

I guess that depends on if we're talking about a month in the "country club" low security or the ***-pounding big house!

 

Alright, so one year of probation, did they assess any points to your license or anything to your record at all concerning this? It sounds like this would be plenty of points ot just finish off your license. If so, and you get the money, it may be worth an appeal to you.

 

Well there are a few factors here. What was the exact citation you received from the officer? Was it an ordiance on drag racing or did you get something like a reckless or carless driving? 99% of the time you are not going to see jail time. It was not a violent crime and I would be surprised if the judge throws the book at you (Depending on your record) There are a few things you can do even if your court appointed defender does not tell you about them. If you want to get the best possible chances of the officer not showing up, you can request that your court date gets moved. I believe you can do this twice before you are required to show up. Most of the time it doesn't work because the officer is paid to show up in court and they schedule around that accordingly. There are many other things and stories you can tell but without seeing a police report its hard to give any advice. In the end the truth can be your best ally. You basically say you are sorry and be honest and they might show leniency on you. You have to understand that the judge you will end up seeing has probably heard everything before from, "I was holding it for a friend" to "I didn't know it was there." As far as paying for an attorney, I personally would advise you not to retain anyone for this depending on the charge. You can call and get free consultations from many attorneys and they might tell you they can win but like in most cases, DUI and DWI especially, you are basically just paying for the attorney to stand with you and talk for you in court. The only advantage of an attorney would be that he knows what judges are more lenient than others but for the most part a public defender will know that better than any attorney you can hire. In the end it comes down to luck. Luck of what judge you get, luck if he/she is in a good mood, luck if maybe they love cars, you never know. GOOD LUCK!