Hi,

I'm a California resident and was pulled over for speeding at the
Putnam I395 area of Conn.  I was pulled over at 4 AM by a state
trooper who said he had me on radar going 78 mph (which I thought was
incorrect).  He gave me a speeding ticket for the offense and now I
have to decide how to handle the situation.  I talked to the CA DMV
and did some research and found out that this will affect my driving
record in CA and my auto insurance rate will rise.  I have nothing on
my record and I was definitely going below 78 mph.

Some other random information on this: My friend (from massachusetts)
was also pulled over 2 minutes ahead of me and he had a radar
detector.  it never went off and he was pulled over for also going 78
(coincidence?).  I believe the cop saw my CA driver's license and
assumed that I would just pay the fine and not try to appeal this
ticket.

So my questions are:

1. When I plead Not Guilty, is there a trial by mail process in Conn
for out of state residents like myself?

2. Should I hire a lawyer in this situation so that I won't need to
fly back to defend myself in Conn courts?  If so, are there any that
are recommended for this type of case?

3. Assuming I don't hire a lawyer, during the discovery process, I am
going to request records of the radar gun, its calibration, tuning
fork, speed surveys...etc.  how often are cases dismissed based on the
technicalities with equipment and such?

The whole purpose of me fighting this ticket is that I simply did not
speed and I don't want to have this ruin my driving record.  the
entire process seems fishy (that my friend and I were both ticketed
going '78' mph by two different cops when I know I wasn't and his
radar detector did not pick anything up).  any help is greatly
appreciated.

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Clarification of Question by robertlyan-ga on 15 Feb 2006 15:47 PST

Actually, i did more research and talked to the CT DMV.  an operator
told me that if I paid the ticket, CT would not report the offense to
CA DMV and nothing would show up on my record due to the Non-Resident
Violator Compact (NRVC).  Is this true?  I called the CA DMV and they
told me that if i took care of the ticket, nothing would happen to my
record.  I would like someone to confirm that CA and CT still follow
the NRVC and it is still in effect.  Thank you.

First, you do not know what the radar detector picked up. Radar
tickets are almost impossible to beat. Your options to respond to the
ticket should be on the back of the ticket.