If you’re charged in Arlington with reckless driving you’re probably swamped by lawyer advertising. You’re probably seeing it online, getting it in the mail, and maybe even receiving phone calls. Lawyers are saying, “Call me!” Worse yet, some are saying, “You’re going to jail, you need to call me.”
Don’t call anyone yet.
You really should educate yourself about reckless driving, about possible defenses you might have, and what outcomes might happen in court before you start talking with attorneys.
That’s what my book is all about. On this page you can request your own free copy. It’ll be emailed right to you, so you can begin learning about your charge and what might happen in court.
What is reckless driving in Arlington?
As you probably know by now, reckless driving is a class 1 misdemeanor. It’s the same level of offense as DUI and marijuana possession. Reckless driving has many types and so one of the first things you’re going to learn in my book is to look at the ticket and figure out which type of reckless driving you’re charged with. That is going to determine what possible defenses and different arguments you can make about your case in court.
What defenses might I have for my Arlington reckless driving case?
For a case of reckless driving in Arlington County, the defenses are going to be same as the regular defenses under Virginia law. The Commonwealth has to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that you drove recklessly. This means that for every element of the offense you can argue that the Commonwealth hasn’t met their burden.
For example, you might be able to make an argument about the officer’s tuning fork calibrations. The Virginia Code says tuning forks have to be checked for accuracy in the past six months and there’s specific requirements about what actually constitutes a valid certificate. If the officer doesn’t have the appropriate paperwork to show that his equipment was calibrated in the past six months, you would have a strong argument to have your reckless by speed case dismissed.
Chapter 3 of my book will go into more detail about what types of defenses might work. It certainly can’t cover every one, and this is where you want to start maybe thinking about talking with a local, experienced attorney. However, it will give an idea of the types of defenses that could work for an Arlington reckless driving case.
What other outcomes might be possible in Arlington?
This area is where it will be best to talk with a local attorney in Arlington who’s familiar with the local court and judges. In some areas of Virginia, the judges will consider giving you driving school or maybe community service to have the case reduced or dismissed. That’s not possible in every court under every circumstance. And it would be just about impossible for anyone to write a book and claim that it applies for every court in Virginia due to the varied way reckless driving charges are handled.
However, Chapter 5 of my book does have great information for you about the basics. And it gives you an overview of what kinds of outcomes might be possible even if the Commonwealth can prove their case. This gives you a starting point for talking with attorneys about your case.
What if I lose my Arlington reckless driving case?
If you lose your case completely in the general District Court, you have the absolute right in Virginia to appeal the case for a new trial in the Arlington Circuit Court. This gives you basically a do-over. It is not advised in every case because you can get worse results. If the judge just gives you a small fine, for example, and it’s a pretty difficult case, it might not make sense to appeal because the Circuit Court judge could give you a higher fine, jail, and license suspension. However, you have that right in Arlington to appeal your reckless driving case if you’re not happy with the first result and it gets you a brand new trial. Chapter 7 of my book will cover those details.
How do I choose a reckless driving lawyer in Arlington?
This is one of the most critical questions my book is going to help you with. You are going to find a great list of questions starting on page 49 that gives you a great perspective on the lawyer that you should hire for your case. It’ll give you a start with simple questions like “Where are you located?”
Chapter 8 will go into questions that you may have never even thought about. One of the most important ones, in my opinion, is: “Do you ever pass your cases off other attorneys?” You’d be surprised how often lawyers pass their cases off to somebody else to do the case . If you’re aware of what’s going on and are familiar with the other attorney, then that could be okay. But if you’ve never even met this other attorney and don’t know anything about them, then you might not want to have your case passed off to a stranger.
At this point, what are you waiting for? Go ahead and fill out the form below to request your free copy of my book about reckless driving defense. It will be immediately emailed to you, so you can begin reading it right away.