When you plea by mail, there are risks and rewards
In a number of the local village, town, and city traffic courts in the Catskills and Hudson Valley, it’s possible to work out a plea agreement by mail with a prosecutor. This became much more common during the early months of the pandemic, and is still preferred in some traffic courts. Negotiating a plea by mail is certainly more convenient, but there are downsides to doing this without an attorney.
Typically, a prosecutor will want the following information to offer a plea by mail:
a copy of the ticket, and
the record of your driving history.
For more serious charges such as reckless driving and DWI, and whenever someone was injured when you got the ticket, you will probably not be given an offer by mail and should contact an attorney right away.
Many prosecutors are extremely particular about how to submit the information, and may not give you an offer at all if you fail to follow those instructions to the letter. On the other hand, prosecutors make mistakes. For example, I received an offer for one client that was really terrible, and it turns out it was beause the offer was based on my client driving 83 in a 55 mph zone, when my client was given a ticket for going only 72 mph.
Someone who is not an experienced traffic attorney might not know what a good offer looks like, and may even agree to taking points on a license when that’s not necessary. I have negotiated hundreds of plea bargains, either in person or through the mail, and I know what to expect based on what I know about the judge and my client’s driving record.
If you want to get a better idea of what to expect pleading by mail, call for a free consultation about your traffic ticket.