TexasCHLforum.com

Well, I guess I will jump in. First, to answer a secondary question. There is no requirement in Texas to show anyone the radar gun at any time, or even to actually lock in the reading. Since the actual gun will not be in the courtroom (unless you specifically subpoena it and have a good reason for it), it all comes down to the officer's testimony anyway. You can also testify to what you saw on your speedometer with just as much weight. Then it comes down to who has more credibility with the judge.

In Texas, you have three choices when it comes to a ticket. You can plead not guilty and request a trial. You can plead either no contest or guilty and pay the ticket. Or you can ask for deferred adjudication - either straight up or by taking defensive driving. If you plead not guilty, you have two basic options for fighting the ticket. You can argue how fast you were going or you can argue the safety of what you were doing. Arguing how fast you were going includes all of the arguments about the accuracy of the gun or the officer's training, etc.

For example, in this case, the OP could ask the officer how far from the light he was clocked at. People are notoriously inaccurate in judging distances, especially from memory, and generally underestimate the actual distance (proven in research studies). This is a benefit to this specific case because then he can use manufacturer specs and physics to show if it was possible to accelerate to that speed or not. You can sometimes win by arguing the speed, but it is rare. The problem with this is that you are basically agreeing (by not fighting) that the posted speed limit is the maximum legal speed. You are not charged with going 48 in a 30. You are charged with exceeding the posted limit. This means that even if you prove you were not doing 48, the prosecution wins if they prove you did 31 in a 30. And the fines the court can give are the same no matter how fast he finds you were going, if it is an illegal speed.

But you can also argue the safety aspect. The actual Texas law still says speeding is going faster than that speed which is reasonable and prudent for the conditions. The posted limit is just a prima facie case. This means that the burden of proof is shifted to you to prove that what you did was reasonable and prudent. The really cool part is that this means all you need to do is prove that the 30 was an unreasonably slow posted limit and you win. I will stipulate this is a really hard thing to do, because most judges will assume the speed limits are really properly set (and most of the time, I think they are). There is even one old case on reasonableness that ruled that exceeding the 55 mph limit was unreasonable, even though it was safe and the highway had been designed for 70 or more. The logic was that it jeopardized the federal highway funds the state gets, and this was very unreasonable.

When you fight the case, or even when you just discuss it with the prosecutor, you may represent yourself or you may hire a lawyer. The law does not change based on who is representing you. What does change is the knowledge and skill set involved. The prosecutor is probably fairly confident of beating you in court while he knows which lawyers handle traffic cases and just how good they are. This is one reason he is usually much more willing to give a layer a break than just the defendant. Though most prosecutors are so wrapped up with win rates and court costs that they will offer deferred adjudication to almost anyone if approached right.

Also, remember the words of SCOTUS Chief Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes: "The attorney who represents himself in court has a fool for a client". My experience on the stand says he was being kind to the client.

So, my recommendation is to take defensive driving if you are eligible, request deferred adjudication if you cannot take DD, and fight it only if you have a commercial driver's license where you cannot take either of these legally. A good lawyer can work some deals then that may prove very beneficial (such as a plea bargain to some other offense so your driving record stays clear).