Court advice - plea in abeyance

[notlovinit]

Okay, so I have a 4 year degree in Criminal Justice, in which I took many, many classes on Courts and how they work and such, but we never talked about pleas of abeyance. Or I was absent that day. I don't know.

Anyway, I have consistently been a bad enough driver that I get pulled over a lot, but for some reason cops have always liked me and given me warnings until this year when they all had a meeting and decided to give me lots of tickets.

So I got a speeding ticket and went to court and did a plea in abeyance with my terms being one year. I don't feel the need to describe this further, because if you don't know what a plea of abeyance is then I don't know how your advice will do me any good.

Then I went and fucked up my entire life by blocking an intersection in front of another cop. I went to court for that and the prosecutor swore up and down that it wouldn't affect (or is it effect?) my plea. But he was wrong!

I got a very threatening letter from the original city that I have my plea with and now I have to go back to court. However, this is where I am confused. Originally, when I did this plea I asked the prosecutor what would happen if I got another traffic ticket. He said I would have the speeding ticket go on my record, I would get the points for it, and I might have to pay an additional fine for breaking my plea. Okay, fair enough.

However, the letter they sent me sounds like they want to chop my head off and throw it to the wolves. It talks about how I am in "contempt of court" for not following a "lawful order of the court" and that I need to show myself and "explain cause" for why they should not punish me. Basically, they are making it seem like I am being charged with contempt of court.

Does anyone know if this is right? Or if I am just going to have to show myself for my original conviction? I'm fine with being charged with the speeding and having it go on my record. It is my fault for being a dumbass and not learning to drive properly. I really don't want a contempt of court charge though.

I feel like that will look really bad for my future career choice of being a police officer. What happens when someday I am in court to give my affidavit and account of what happened with some criminal and then the defense attorney turns to the jury and says, "But can you really trust Officer Notlovinit? She has a contempt of court charge on her record!" and then the jury gasps and lets all the criminals go that I catch? All because when I was 21 I decided that I didn't have money for a lawyer so I went to 7-11 and got legal advice for a cop on his break and he told me to enter a plea in abeyance?









Okay, please ignore all my stupidity in this post. I am really tired and think I'm funny right now. Basically, does anyone know what happens when you break your plea in abeyance agreement?

I'm in Utah if that helps, but google did nothing for me. I decided that this was the next best place to get legal advice, because I still can't afford a lawyer at 22.

[BookstoreEscapee]

I guess if you break the terms of your plea agreement, technically you are in contempt of court. The letter sounds like it's probably pretty standard legalese. I can't give you advice, not being a lawyer or really having any familiarity with traffic court. You might see if there are any sort of legal aid groups in your area that might be able to at least give you some knowledgable advice, or a lawyer might give you at least a free phone consultation and help you to understand exactly what it is the letter is saying. Or is there an alumni association or anyone at your school that might be able to help you?

[notlovinit]

Yeah, I'm actually a part of the alumni association so that I could get a free parking pass, but they don't really do much at my school except for the parking pass.

I have thought about this for a minute, after posting this and spending more time on google, and realized that when I got the ticket I just took it to the court clerk and asked her a million questions about it and she answered them nicely and didn't mock me for being an idiot. So I think that I will just bring her the letter and ask her what I'm being charged with.

[Seshat]

Okay, so I have a 4 year degree in Criminal Justice,

<snippage>

I'm in Utah if that helps, but google did nothing for me. I decided that this was the next best place to get legal advice, because I still can't afford a lawyer at 22.

You probably have the most legal knowledge of anyone on these boards, given that degree.

I'd recommend going to the court clerk, or Legal Aid, or to your university's student legal assistance department.

Also, may I make a suggestion? Do some post-licence driver training. Make sure the training includes road courtesy, and the reasons behind it.

[Raveni]

Even a good natured partol cop isn't an attorney.

In most jurisdictions, breaking the terms of your agreement will mean that they haul you back in front of the judge and simply find you guilty of whatever you were originally charged with. No one will persue that contempt of court charge if you actually show up.

Be warned that, since you have already given up your rights to a trial, you may get some fierce punishment that you wouldn't normally get for a speeding ticket.

If you haven't talked to a real lawyer yet, you might want to consider doing so... I second the Legal Aid advice.

[notlovinit]

Also, may I make a suggestion? Do some post-licence driver training. Make sure the training includes road courtesy, and the reasons behind it.

I'm actually not that bad of a driver. I'm just really tired and for some reason think making jokes about being a bad driver is funny.
The only other times I have gotten pulled over was for a broken tail light I didn't know I had and then another time I forgot to turn my headlights back on after going onto the air force base.
Also, I didn't even actually block the intersection. I just didn't feel like fighting it since the prosecutor told me it wouldn't affect (effect?) anything.
And if you are still worried about my driving, rest assured that I have taken a defense driving class and I had to go to traffic school as part of this plea.

In most jurisdictions, breaking the terms of your agreement will mean that they haul you back in front of the judge and simply find you guilty of whatever you were originally charged with. No one will persue that contempt of court charge if you actually show up.

This is what I am hoping. I would blame no court system for doing this.