Can I Just Mail The Judge A Letter For my Virginia Reckless Driving Case?
A number of potential clients that I talk with ask me about just mailing a letter to the judge. This is an option that some people think might work if they’re not able to attend court either due to their work schedule, or they are a long distance from the court. For example, if you’re an out of state defendant.
I don’t recommend this approach.
The main problem with just sending a letter to the judge instead of appearing in person, or having an attorney appear for you is that a letter is only one way. You can send that letter in but you’re not there to actually have a conversation with the judge about your case. If the judge has a question, or if the judge does not accept what you ask for in the letter, you’re not there to offer an alternative, or to continue to argue the case.
The other much more serious problem is that the judge may not accept the letter in terms of being an appearance. By signing a reckless driving summons in Virginia, typically you’re agreeing to appear in court on the day and time indicated. If you don’t appear in court and instead just send a letter the judge could issue a capias for your arrest. Now that doesn’t happen in every case, but you don’t want to be the case where the judge said “No a letter is not sufficient” and he issues a bench warrant and you end up being arrested for basically a speeding ticket.
Instead of just thinking you can send a letter, I recommend calling me for a free consultation. We can discuss the specifics of your case and what you might do about it. We can go over what might happen in court, what options you have for a case of your specific nature and of course we can talk about how I can help you with that. So instead of just thinking that you need to send a letter and not hire an attorney, I implore you to call me today for free so I can explain what your options are.
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