Wake County Speeding Ticket

www.kisslinglaw.com

Tomorrow is the primary for District Attorney in Wake County.  It has been 30 years since we had a new District Attorney in Wake County.  Last week, I sent the following e-mail to all candidates.:

My name is Lawrence Kissling.  I am an attorney in Wake County who represents clients who have received traffic tickets. Over the past 10 years, I have represented approximately 20,000 clients.  I have received request from most of them in the past month seeking my recommendation for the Wake County District Attorney race .  

My typical client’s only interaction with the court system is a traffic ticket.  As a result, they are not overly concerned with issues like violent crimes or new programs for decreasing crime.  What they are mostly concerned with is what will happen if and when they or someone in their family receives a traffic ticket.  Mostly, they want the know if you intend on changing the current policy and offering a reduction to Improper Equipment.  If  so, under what circumstances would you offer such a reduction.

The second question they are asking is about stop sign violations.  Currently, if you race through a stop sign and cause an accident, the District Attorneys Office will dismiss your charges if your insurance company pays the damages incurred by the other vehicle.  However, if you merely fail to come to a complete stop, you receive no reduction at all.  Do you plan on changing this policy or keeping it the same?

Thank you for your kind consideration in these matters.  My clients look forward to your response.

I received responses from three (3) of the candidates.  Here are there responses:

From Jeff Cruden:

I worked as an ADA in the 1st district for the first 3 years out of law school and we did IE's there and I did not notice a lack of security because of it. I see no reason not to offer them here also.

I have often thought about the unfairness of the dismissal in a wreck case upon delivery of an insurance letter but you can't get comparable treatment if your driving is less egregious and you don't cause a crash. I have not thought about that situation in a long time to be honest but when I become DA I would welcome the opportunity to talk with you & other members of the bar to hear your recommendations on how that should be handled. Thanks for your questions.

From Lorrin Freeman:

Mr. Kissling

Thank you for your email and questions.

At this time I have not committed to changing the policy on offering improper equipment pleas in traffic cases.  I do believe however that all tools to dispose of minor traffic offenses need to be considered in shaping policies as we move forward because court time needs to be used in a way to maximize time focused on more serious offenses such as driving while impaired.  I look forward to continuing this dialogue with the Defense Bar and our law enforcement community as we move forward.

Sincerely,

Lorrin Freeman

And from John Bryant:

I do not object to Improper Equipment reductions, but probably not for foolish driving or for multiple violations. 

Stop sign rolls, I’d find a creative way to help those with relatively clean records avoid having to burn the family PJC on rolling a stop sign. 

My goal would be to strengthen the driving habits of the people riding around in the County to help avoid some of the traffic in the Courthouse which is not necessary to accomplish the initial goal in this sentence.

Glad to speak with you about this, if you wish.  


 I did not not hear from any of the other candidates.

So why is this important.  Most of you will never be the victim of a violent crime.  Your only interaction with the court system is going to be with a traffic citation.  Wake County is currently one of the few counties where you cannot receive a reduction to Improper Equipment.  If you listen to those candidates who are currently working in the DA's office, there is a lot of talk about being tough on crime.  I would think that anyone elected with be though on violent crimes.  The question you need to ask yourself is how am I going to be treated when I have a speeding ticket or minor traffic offense.  Am I going to be treated like a criminal?