So I go to the dragon in 2008 and get caught doing 89 in a 60 road by the Cherokee County Sheriff. Court is set for December of 08 and I failed to show up. NC contacts Texas and Texas pulls my drivers license.

Now its 2010 and I need to go to NC to get this fixed. Can't drive since Texas revoked my drivers license.

I decide to go by bus, greyhound. Its about $170 round trip. Wait, the bus does not go all the way to Murphy, NC. The closest I can get is Cleveland, TN, about 65 miles away. I thought about contacting forum members I met at the dragon but did not want to impose. Asheville is far from Cleveland, TN.

So what will it cost me?

 

Cost you to what?

 

Tried the phone thing. No go, NC requires out of Staters to appear in person. Then I found a NC attorney that would handle it for $755 but not in May nor in June maybe in July but not certain. Why? It's a small town. Traffic court is not done every day.
Attorney travels from town to town handling these cases all over NC
Clearing the ticket with Texas is my problem not NC's

So I decide to go. Do my Internet research. Leave early Wednesday morning and arrive sometime Thursday morning. Bus should arrive in Cleveland, TN by 10:35am but is running late by about 30 minutes or so. Traffic court is not until 9am Friday so have a day to hitchhike the 65 miles from Cleveland, TN to Murphy, NC. (If I arrived there on Friday, I would not make it to court on Friday.)

Ask the bus driver how can I get to Murphy and he says, "that's your problem". I waste about 30 minutes trying to find a local bus stop. Give up and start walking. I know it's illegal to hitchhike on interstates so I just walk to the feeder road and wait. Soon someone stops and gives me a ride from there (STG Paul Huff/I-75) to by-pass 64. After 6 rides I arrive in Murphy. Made good time, it's about 1:00pm.

I go to the place I will be staying, (Hurlbert Johnson Friendship House.) It's a homeless shelter for men, women and families.
No one there, I later find out it basically closes from 8:30 to 4pm.
I then go to the Murphy Public Library and get use of the internet. I stay there until 4pm or so.

I go to the Friendship House. Go in and ask if I can stay there. I take a drug test, ie pee test. I am given a form that I take to the Murphy police department. It is a block away. There they run a check which takes all of 5 minutes. I do have to show them my Id so they can run the check.
They fill out the form and back I go to the Friendship House. I am shown a what seems like a million page form. I read, sign and whatever. Am given a small 6 by 10 room. Has a twin bed. Place has a bathroom with shower, place to wash clothes with free soap, kitchen facilities with free food. One has to cook ones meals and wash whatever dishes one dirties, small price to pay for free food.

 

GOING TO TRAFFIC COURT
It's Friday morning. I get up early. Well 7AM is early in my book. Last night it rained all nite long and it sounded so nice. I eat breakfast and hurry to the court. Its almost 9AM.

I pass thru the metal detector thingy but it did not catch my house keys I had hanging around my neck. Some metal detector! I proceed upstairs to the clerk's
So I decide to go. Do my Internet research. Leave early Wednesday morning and arrive sometime Thursday morning. Bus should arrive in Cleveland, TN by 10:35am but is running late by about 30 minutes or so. Traffic court is not until 9am Friday so have a day to hitchhike the 65 miles from Cleveland, TN to Murphy, NC. (If I arrived there on Friday, I would not make it to court on Friday.)

Ask the bus driver how can I get to Murphy and he says, "that's your problem". I waste about 30 minutes trying to find a local bus stop. Give up and start walking. I know it's illegal to hitchhike on interstates so I just walk to the feeder road and wait. Soon someone stops and gives me a ride from there (STG Paul Huff/I-75) to by-pass 64. After 6 rides I arrive in Murphy. Made good time, it's about 1:00pm.

I go to the place I will be staying, (Hurlbert Johnson Friendship House.) It's a homeless shelter for men, women and families.
No one there, I later find out it basically closes from 8:30 to 4pm.
I then go to the Murphy Public Library and get use of the internet. I stay there until 4pm or so.

I go to the Friendship House. Go in and ask if I can stay there. I take a drug test, ie pee test. I am given a form that I take to the Murphy police department. It is a block away. There they run a check which takes all of 5 minutes. I do have to show them my Id so they can run the check.
They fill out the form and back I go to the Friendship House. I am shown a what seems like a million page form. I read, sign and whatever. Am given a small 6 by 10 room. Has a twin bed. Place has a bathroom with shower, place to wash clothes with free soap, kitchen facilities with free food. One has to cook ones meals and wash whatever dishes one dirties, small price to pay for free food.

window and tell her I am here to get my speeding traffic ticket on my 8 fixed. She tells me to go to the court and wait, she will have all paperwork sent there. I go to the court and am surprised that there are 5 rows filled up. I am first on row 6. Its 9ish. By about 10, court starts. There are now 12 rows filled up with about 10 ppl per row.

It is going slow but now it's my turn to go. I approach the prosecuting attorney and she asks "Name"? I state my name and tell her my court date was in December of '08. She asks if I have talked to the clerk and I say "Yes'am". She looks at the paper work and says, "89 in a 60, we are gonna get monies from you". I say, "You don't understand, I do not have a job". She says, "We need to get monies from you". Fearing she did not understand my Spangish ie Tex-Mex, I show her my Social Security annual form. It's the one SS sends you every year. She looks at it and does a re look. She says, "Step aside, you will see the judge". I do as requested.

After a few minutes the judge motions me to approach him. He says, "I see you have fallen on ruff times. This is what I can do if you agree, I will give you a PJC at no cost". NO idea what PJC is but I did understand AT NO COST. He then says that if I do not get any tickets in NC, this one will erase from NC records. You don't have to tell this county boy that twice. I quickly agreed and was out of that court as fast as I could before the judge or the prosecuting attorney changed their minds. In Texas we call a PJC a deferred adjudication. In essence I got a delayed dismissal at no cost.

I then went to the clerk's window and told her I needed copies of the paperwork so I could send them to Texas Department of Public Safety so could get my drivers license back and be able to legally drive my 8 again. She says court is not over until 2:30PM or so and I can have my paperwork by 2:33PM. Wow! Time so precise.

I decide to go and tell the staff of the friendship house the news. I go to the RE Cellers store. It's run by the same people who run the friendship house. I had made arrangements to work there. Hey, just in case the court decided I had to do community service.

It started raining so did not go to pick up the paperwork until 4ish or so.
Too late to catch the bus back to Texas. It leaves around 2:35pm weekdays. No way I could make it from Murphy, NC to Cleveland TN before the bus left. One quick call to the uhaul greyhound place in Cleveland and I found out they would be closed Sat, Sun and Mon because of the Memorial day weekend. Decided I would leave on Tuesday morning.

Weather in Murphy was 73 degrees felt like 75 with the heat index.
In Texas it would be 90 feels like 120 with the heat index.

Saturday I spent exploring downtown Murphy. I go to the library and make copies of my paperwork. I meet a lady while using the computers at the library. We make small talk. She has just moved to Murphy looking for a job. She is a nurse. I go downtown and eat at a local eatery place. Spend 8 bucks or so on lunch. A bit high for lunch in my books.

Sunday I go to church. A van comes and picks up people from the friendship house and takes them to the Church of God. I enjoy the service. I meet Daniel on the van. On my way back I figure out my mission. I give Daniel the message I was sent to deliver. He accepts it.

 

Taxi 65 miles? 100-150 prob.

 

Call the court house or look them up on the internet.

Tell them you want to pay the fines. Ask them then to clear the ticket with Texas DMV

 

Yeah, you can't handle this over the web or phone? The only way I would see them requiring you to be present is if there was an actual warrant out for your arrest. Then all you have to do is get to the border

That plus it being almost the 3 year public limit on speeding tickets. ....unless it was actually a criminal citation.

If you were issued a simple speeding ticket, then there is no reason you need to go there to clear it up. Just handle it over the phone or in writing and mailing back and forth at worst case.

If it has gone criminal for some reason, then all bets are off.

If you are just looking for someone to help you in to the court house, you might want to just state that

 

That is not true ^

Many judges will make you appear in court from out of state.

Why? To teach you a lesson. To respect the law and to respect him.

This means there is a bench warrent.

I have been to court so many times and seen and experienced most of it.

No hit and runs or killing or maiming of people but I have seen people in court that did it when I was present.

My experience is they let you see all that crap, then call up the minor offenses so you experience what not to do by seeing it live in person.

Those days of the young and wrestless are over.

Thank God!

If it is a bench.... The Judge is GOD, don't believe the Bible. The judge is GOD as long as your here on earth.

 

I hear you. Spent plenty of time in court myself. Witness to the prosecution almost exclusively , hence my comment about the warrant. If he does have a warrant, then it has turned criminal at that point, even if the lowest possible grade.

 

Take a bicycle on the bus. 65 miles...no prob.
________
Web shows

 

North Carolina law REQUIRES a court appearance for 80+ or +15. Both of which are achieved in this case. Second worst state in the Union to speed in.

OP: Hire a NC ticket attorney. Find one on google and call tomorrow. In NC, you just have to throw your money at a local attorney and they will most likely make it go away. The state just wants its $$. They may also be able to represent you in court.

 

I kind of understand why the little texas thread tag thing was used... but at the same time, the topic is on north carolina...

Like others have mentioned, I'd imagine you should be able to take care of it by mail and phone.

 

GOING BACK HOME
Tuesday morning I get up early and decide I am not hungry. Have been eating too much. I leave around 7ish. The morning is too nice to waste. I walk down Peachtree towards the main road, 64/74. Make a right towards TN, cross the Hiwassee bridge then the other main street, Bus19. Still no ride. Whatever happened to all the nice friendly people in NC? Cars, trucks, vans, bikes, all kinds of vehicles pass me but no one stops to give me a ride.

After walking what seemed like miles, but I can still see the courthouse so know I have not really gone that far, I finally get a ride. It's a young Hispanic male. He is going to work in GA. "How far are you going" I ask, He says, "As far as the flea market". Hey, I am not local, no way I know where that is. Later find out it's where 129 makes a left, south towards GA. Find out he is an illegal alien working in GA. Thank GOD for illegals.

I continue walking. Again no ride. I walk and walk what seems 100 miles or so. I get close to a Camping (Rivers Edge RV Resort ) site. I see a small car do a uturn. The car stops and the lady asks, aren't you the man I met at the library Saturday? She says she will take me all the way to Cleveland. Wow.

I get there around 10AM so am early. Bus leaves at 2:35PM. I have time to kill so I go next door to Hardee's, a hamburger joint like Mickeys D but more expensive. I get a burger, shake and onion rings. $9.41, ouch that's too expensive for a burger.

Boarded the bus to Texas on Tuesday afternoon and arrived in Texas on Wednesday afternoon. Got home early enough to call Texas DPS and ask what, where and how to send the paperwork. Made it to the post office in time to send the paper work in (illegally driving of course)

So how much did it cost me?

BTW Jobless so no time lost in fact it was an adventure, a mini vacation. Got to know Murphy, made friends, ie one male who lives right on the tail of the dragon. Good contact for my next trip to the dragon.

Also want to get a small Travel trailer like scamp, casita or burro and haul it with the 8 and travel but that's another post/thread.

I also collected 3 more Holy Bibles: Contemporary English Version, The New King James Version, and The New English Bible, New Testament.
I collect Holy Bibles and have a pretty good collection.

 

nice story sucks that you had to appear ...

 

wow, pretty epic adventure.

props man.

 

Too bad I didn't see this before.

North Carolina General Statute 20-138 subsection A states the officer has to observe you visually for a distance of 3/10 of a mile to determine a speed and this observation supercedes any evidence gained by subsection B.

Subsection B allows the use of other electronic or timer devices such as a time between two measured points (with some certification of distance accuracy) or radar, laser etc. The key here is the officer's VISUAL estimate of Subsection A can override any number on the radar unit.

NC has long been a fan of the Kustom Signals moving radar systems and I am assuming you were clocked via moving radar. If so, you might be able to beat it.

Its that 3/10s of a mile that causes a little problem. Pay attention.

On the cross examination you have to ask the officer some questions that could suggest he may have confused your car with another. So if there were other RX-8's of the same color, or even other similar cars of the same color like an infinity or a Z car, you want to bring that up. The point is to get the officer ready to indicate to the judge that he saw your car long enough to make a positive ID it was indeed your car with you driving.

So officer Jones, how long did you observe me for then?

Thats the clincher. If you've made him think he might have confused your car with another he will say a longer then he really saw you for, everytime.

Typically they say 20-30 seconds.

Give enough time for the court stenographer to enter his testimony.

Then ask him how fast he was moving. After he answers again give enough time for the court stenographer to enter his testimony.

Get ready to do some math very quickly. Lets try a scenario.

So officer Jones, how long did you observe me for then?

About 20 seconds.

How fast were you going?

About 60 MPH.

And you observed me over the prescribed distance of 3/10's of a mile?
Yes.

So officer Jones, according to your testimony, you were traveling 60 miles per hour which is equal to 90 feet per second. You also testified that you observed me for 20 seconds. You also testified that you observed me over a distance of 3/10s of a mile which is a distance of 1584 feet. So according to your own testimony it is physically impossible for me to have been traveling at 89 miles per hour.

You see to observe me for 20 seconds while you were traveling at a velocity of 90 feet per second means that you had traveled a distance of 1800 feet during the obervation. That also means that I could not have been traveling in an oncoming direction but in the same direction as you, as though I was running in reverse.

Your testimony does not support the requirements of a valid speed observation per General Stature 138 subsection A.

Now be prpared for the Officer to get really nervous and a little pissed off. It doesn't matter, he just admitted he doesn't have a case.

Now at this point the decision is up to the judge. I've used this same defense over 30 times in NC and only once did a judge find me guilty. In that case I appealed, it went to a state appellate court with a jury and just before the trial the DA tried to threaten me and I held firm - so he dismissed the case. Probably because had I won (I would have) I would also have had grounds for a lawsuit.

This was all back in the days of the 55MPH speed limits. I had one judge who had seen me so many times it got to a point where when my name was called he summarily dismissed my case. That happened more then once.

I haven't had a speeding ticket in about 17 years now, and have lived in Texas the last 11.

 

Thats one hell of a story...

 

That does sound like quite the adventure, at least you got your license back, and like you said, made some new friends haha

 

Awesome story dude! Can you explain this part about the message/mission? I didn't get it.

And how did you manage to interject one of your other posts into the middle of this one?

 

Can you explain this part about the message/mission? I didn't get it
============================================
Well, every time I go where I don't have to go, I find myself on a "mission" ie, something inside me tells me to say something to someone.
In this case this young man had a huge problem thinking he had committed the ultimate sin. I explained to him the way things are and that he is still ok in God's eyes.

In other cases, message has been that life, family, etc is more important than monies, ie quit this job and enjoy life ( long long stories)
Has happened a few times. The times I do not give the message, I hear voices asking me, "why did you not deliver ......"

Note that these are not everyday events. Not where I would normally be.
Like Murphy, NC is a bit over 1000 miles from my home. Something puts me in those places. Guess I could somehow handled this traffic ticket without going. Me not having to hitch hike 65 miles each way. Something told me to go that route. Hard to explain.

===============================
And how did you manage to interject one of your other posts into the middle of this one?
=====================
when one posts and wants to interject as above, just make 1, 2 or 3 almost empty posts. One can edit after.

 

that's pretty cool man, God directs those willing to be directed.

 

Should ask the mods if they can shift some of those other people's posts in between below your entire story. It'll help the continuity.

Other than that - nice that you got it back!

 

Posts are listed by the date/time stamp. Changing that isn't possible. The OP could cut and paste edit his first post to make his complete story in the first post, if he so wishes.

 

wicked story, very much so enjoyed it. You could probably compile a book of short stories or start a blog. If you tell them all like this, I bet they'd be quite the good read.

 

WTF is this BS? Is it me or the guy is trying to ram his religion up others in some lame ways?