Question:
If a person gets a ticket for a not wearing a seatbelt can they get a trial by jury?
Heart of the Matter
2013-04-09 20:09:52 UTC
if so, how?

can a person get a trial by jury for any and every law?
Nine answers:
Kenneth
2013-04-09 20:33:36 UTC
No. A ticket is an ordinance violation, not a criminal charge, so the constitutional right to jury trial does not apply. And as a matter of simple logistics, States do not allow every person who wants to fight a traffic ticket get a jury trial.



Additionally, banking on winning on jury nullification isn't a smart idea. You can't argue nullification to the jury, so you would have to hope and pray that the jurors know that its an option and decide to apply it to you. If you argued nullification the Judge would shut you up and possibly start a new trial with a new jury with an appointed counsel (at your expense).



And on top of all that, if you did take it to trial after the cop decided to be nice and write you a lesser ticket than the one you should have gotten, the prosecutor would charge you with the original moving violation and dismiss the seatbelt violation. So now you aren't even hoping for nullification on the seatbelt issue, you are hoping for it on lane deviation charge, which no juror is going to nullify.



Edit: The Supreme Court has ruled (in 1895 in the case Sparf v. United States) that there is no right to argue nullification because juries are supposed to decide on the facts of the case as applied to the law as it exists, not to ignore the law. And 49 of the 50 States (New Hampshire is the exception) expressly ban the arguing of nullification to the jury.



And I already told you what will happen if it "slips out", the Judge will shut you up, instruct the jury to disregard the comments, and potentially dismiss the jury, start a new trial, and appoint an attorney (at your expense) to handle the case since you have proven an inability to follow the rules of procedure.



But its all irrelevant anyway, because you do not have the right to a jury trial for traffic tickets.
Anthony
2016-03-01 20:45:57 UTC
Idk where the hell everyone else is getting their information, but yes you can request a jury trial for a seatbelt violation. First, show up to traffic court on the date specified in your ticket. When the judge asks you how you plead, plead not guilty. He will then give you two options: trial by judge or trial by jury. If you request a trial by jury, the majority of judges will just throw out the charge. It's such a minor offense and a minor fine that the court won't want to spend money on a jury. They'll spend more than what they are trying to collect off of you. Other judges will play chicken with you to see how stubborn you are and if you'll go through with it as mine did. I'm currently waiting on my jury trial which will be next month. I personally chose to go through with my case bc I WAS wearing my seatbelt when I got pulled over and the cop has no evidence otherwise. If anything, his dash cam and body cam will show that I AM wearing it. This is a profiling case.
2013-04-09 20:20:00 UTC
No, the Supreme Court has held that you are not entitled to a jury trial for offensives not punishable by jail time. That said, you can challenge the ticket in traffic court.



Broadly pretty much any violation or minor misdemeanor does not warrant a jury trial. Anything else and you are entitled to a trial with a jury. Either way you should get a relatively fair trial.
Saurian
2013-04-09 20:12:15 UTC
Jury trials are not used for seatbelt tickets and most other minor offenses.

You would go to traffic court if you want to dispute the ticket.
R K
2013-04-09 20:18:30 UTC
juries aren't picked for ticket cases. if you plead not guilty, you will go to trial with a judge and the officer that gave you the ticket. juries are picked for criminal and civil cases. not for trivial things like seat belt tickets.
John
2013-04-09 20:14:19 UTC
No jury for you. A seatbelt violation is just a misdemeanor. Pay the fine and shut up. If you go to court, there will be a judge who has heard a million stupid stories and he/she will kick your ***.
TedEx
2013-04-09 20:22:38 UTC
For a fine between $ 50.,00 and $ 150.00 you are going to get a lawyer who you will pay $ 400.00 an hour????
?
2013-04-09 20:20:24 UTC
Just pay the ticket, dude. Go to court and you'll lose---plus have court costs tacked onto your ticket.
garrytoo
2013-04-09 20:13:58 UTC
yes you can go to the court and plead not guilty.


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