Reckless Driving Lawyer in Mesa, AZ

Inside the city, reckless driving, racing and criminal speeding citations come from Mesa Police patrol officers or from the Traffic Section's motorcycle officers, a section that says it works to cut collisions through selective enforcement and task force details. Its own page names excessive speed and impaired driving as the cause of many crashes. On US-60, Loop 202 and Loop 101 a state trooper usually writes the ticket instead, and the court named on it, often one of the four justice courts housed at 222 E. Javelina Ave., hears the case.

Enforcement can also follow a neighbor's complaint. Mesa's street safety pages let residents request more police enforcement in an area, online or by phone, and say an officer is assigned to each request. A run of stops on one residential street can trace back to a request like that.

A Mesa Police misdemeanor goes to the Mesa City Prosecutor's Office, which brings misdemeanor crimes and city code violations committed inside city limits, and Mesa Municipal Court names reckless driving among the misdemeanors it hears. First-offense racing and criminal speeding are misdemeanors too. The court's ticket page leaves no room on criminal traffic charges: you have to show up at the date and time on the citation, and that first hearing is the arraignment.

Two charges leave 1st Avenue. Wilfully fleeing a pursuing police car is a class 5 felony, and racing again within two years after a first racing conviction is a class 6 felony. The City Prosecutor's page sends felonies that occur in Mesa to the Maricopa County Attorney's Office, whose Vehicular Crimes Bureau lists drivers found to be driving recklessly among the cases it prosecutes. An arrest on either felony means processing at the Mesa Police holding facility and then a transfer to the county's ITR booking center on South 28th Drive, where Rule 4.1 requires a first appearance within 24 hours.

Look at the ticket's checked box before doing anything else. According to the justice courts, that mark tells you which counts are civil and which are criminal, and one criminal count is enough to require an appearance before a judge. Civil matters at Mesa's court can simply be paid or contested at a civil hearing; reckless driving, racing and criminal speeding are criminal charges that require an appearance. A guilty or no contest plea to any of them is a criminal conviction, and a reckless driving conviction is one the judge must report to MVD.

Do not assume the court will appoint you a lawyer. Arizona Rule of Criminal Procedure 6.1(b) entitles an indigent defendant to appointed counsel in a proceeding that may result in punishment by loss of liberty. In misdemeanor court, the prosecutor can avow that no jail will be requested and the judge can rule that no jail will be imposed, and once that happens, there is no right to appointed counsel at all. Arizona's Court of Appeals upheld exactly that in Campa v. Fleming, 134 Ariz. 330 (App. 1982). Mesa Municipal Court's public defender page adds that no public defender is assigned before the first court date, and that the judge decides in the courtroom whether a case qualifies at all.

Avoiding jail is not the same as avoiding a conviction. A reckless driving or racing conviction can bring a license suspension, stays on your driving history and can matter to an employer who needs you behind the wheel. It can also count as a prior: a second reckless driving offense within 24 months, or a new racing violation within 24 months after a first racing conviction, is punished more harshly. If you are not a U.S. citizen, get immigration advice before entering any plea.