Ticket advice...lawyer?

Question

I got a ticket for my tint being too dark....any suggestions as far as getting an attorney to maybe reduce it?

I really do not want to remove it and would just assume pay the ticket and keep the tint. But can an attorney get it reduced to a different type of ticket so it is cleared?

Answer 1

Doubtful since a tint ticket is basically the lowest level of ticket you can get.  Also, why leave the tint dark since you'll run the risk of getting another one later anyhow?  Heck, it's probably a lot cheaper to peel the tint off, pay the ticket and re-tint the windows than it would be to pay a lawyer.

Answer 2

Get a copy of the law and manufacturer specs for your tint, see if it is in fact darker then the law allows.  If it's not then you can provide it to the judge to show the ticket isn't justified.  Cheaper then a lawyer.

The less reliable option is to plead not guilty, often the ticketing officer doesn't show up and in many places you can have the ticket thrown out on failure to prosecute since they failed to produce the only witness against you.  Go to a court session ahead of time to see if this applies in your region.  When I went to court the judge was actually telling people, "What you want to say at this point is, 'Your honor I'd like to move for dismissal due to failure to prosecute.'"  More then half the people there for tickets "got off" that way.

Answer 3

If you are ticketed once for tint then you will eventually get ticketed again and the fines raise for multiple citations for the same reason.  Mirror tint is illegal in Virginia and a friend of mine had it and he was ticketed 5 times for it and had to pay the fine each time.  The judge told him if he would just take the tint off or make it a legal color and darkness then he would have dropped the charges in court.  Well after the 5th ticket the guy came back to court and the judge took him outside with a police office and scraped the tint off with a razor blade in front of the guy.