Court

[Chi Town Sox]

I am not very knowledgable with law (neither is my son as you will read.) He went to court last week in Will County for a traffic violation in which his license was taken, pleaded guilty...then it all went downhill. He kind of lost his "thinking cap" for a moment, swore the judge said OK you plead not guilty and are subject to court supervision (which is only if you plead guilty) then rambled off a date of March 16 at 9 AM and said this case is dismissed before he even had a second to think. He then went over to one of the ladies (clerk?) and asked when/if he would be getting his license back, she was not very helpful to him and insisted (not very helpful to him) that he will need to come back in March and that the case was ruled as not guilty.

 

My question is, does anyone know if there is a way to contact the clerk or ANYONE and change the ruling (if it was indeed ruled not guilty) and/or just pay the fine to get the license back? We do not want to get ourselves into court fees, etc.

[G&T]

Any information I give is not legal advice, and I am not licensed in Illinois.

 

Nevertheless, and for those who might be of more assistance, I am confused by what you are seeking. Your son pleaded guilty, was given a sentence that would only be given if he pleaded guilty, but swears that the judge said "not guilty"? I don't understand what changing the plea is going to do if in fact he was given a proper sentence.

 

I can tell you this: changing a plea or a ruling is not easy. Generally, it requires a motion to the court and will only be granted in a few circumstances. Traffic courts might be different, however.

Edited February 16, 2010 by G&T

[Chi Town Sox]

Any information I give is not legal advice, and I am not licensed in Illinois.

 

Nevertheless, and for those who might be of more assistance, I am confused by what you are seeking. Your son pleaded guilty, was given a sentence that would only be given if he pleaded guilty, but swears that the judge said "not guilty"? I don't understand what changing the plea is going to do if in fact he was given a proper sentence.

 

I can tell you this: changing a plea or a ruling is not easy. Generally, it requires a motion to the court and will only be granted in a few circumstances. Traffic courts might be different, however.

 

Trust me, we know how confusing it got. He thought the judge had said not guilty but then spoke of court supervision (which would entail driving school I believe) and said a date of March 16 at 9 AM (which sounds more like a court date than a driving school time to me,) then immediately said case closed/dismissed and called on to the next one. He did not want to argue/interrupt the judge so he stepped over to the clerk who and had asked how to get his license back and she had insisted he had pleaded not guilty and to come back March 16.

 

We are just wondering if contacting the clerk or any other official will help so we can just pay the fine and move on (barring whatever ruling they had actually made) and stay away from further court fees by returning in March (for what is most likely a court date)

[G&T]

Court supervision will either entail a fine, traffic school, or both. It could be that the Judge set a date to render his decision on what the requirements will be. It is possible that the judge just misspoke and said "not guilty" by accident, but gave a proper sentence.

 

Call the clerk's office and find out what the record states and what he is supposed to do to comply with the judge's order. At this point, you don't even know what is supposed to happen in March. Find out whatever you can from them. At this point, you can't just contact someone and have the ruling changed.

[SoxFan562004]

Any information I give is not legal advice, and I am not licensed in Illinois.

 

Nevertheless, and for those who might be of more assistance, I am confused by what you are seeking. Your son pleaded guilty, was given a sentence that would only be given if he pleaded guilty, but swears that the judge said "not guilty"? I don't understand what changing the plea is going to do if in fact he was given a proper sentence.

 

I can tell you this: changing a plea or a ruling is not easy. Generally, it requires a motion to the court and will only be granted in a few circumstances. Traffic courts might be different, however.

from my experience, and I am a licensed attorney, it is different in traffic court. Usually they are granted because a person goes in there pleads to something and the SOS jacks their driving privileges. Now, there are ways to massage the system and if you get certain things changed or amended the SOS can give privileges back. So if you or an attorney files the motion and explains to the judge what happened most judges I've seen will grant it if it's in a reasonable time.

 

Also, for small claims court it is basically the same for default judgments. Basically if you or an attorney on your behalf doesn't show up for whatever reason and a default judgment is issued, within 30 days you can file a motion to vacate and a judge will vacate the judgment.

Edited February 17, 2010 by SoxFan562004

[Chi Town Sox]

from my experience, and I am a licensed attorney, it is different in traffic court. Usually they are granted because a person goes in there pleads to something and the SOS jacks their driving privileges. Now, there are ways to massage the system and if you get certain things changed or amended the SOS can give privileges back. So if you or an attorney files the motion and explains to the judge what happened most judges I've seen will grant it if it's in a reasonable time.

 

Also, for small claims court it is basically the same for default judgments. Basically if you or an attorney on your behalf doesn't show up for whatever reason and a default judgment is issued, within 30 days you can file a motion to vacate and a judge will vacate the judgment.

 

Thank for your help guys, we contacted the clerk earlier today and she had said to just come to the next court date a little early and tell them that he would like to change his plea to guilty. The judge will then decide his fine

[G&T]

Thank for your help guys, we contacted the clerk earlier today and she had said to just come to the next court date a little early and tell them that he would like to change his plea to guilty. The judge will then decide his fine

 

Court clerks are awesome. I'm still confused as to why the judge issued a sentence of court supervision if he thought the plea was "not guilty", but I don't spend time in traffic courts.

[Chi Town Sox]

Court clerks are awesome. I'm still confused as to why the judge issued a sentence of court supervision if he thought the plea was "not guilty", but I don't spend time in traffic courts.

 

A familty friend who has other friends of friends had said he has heard of judges pretending they didn't hear somebody say guilty and playing it off as if they said "not guilty." Why this happens or if it does, I don't know?