September 28, 2021 • 25 mins
Interview with Traffic Ticket Lawyer Robert Navar. Discussing the ins and outs of the traffic courts in El Paso County. Topics range from Class C misdemeanors including moving violations, paper violations, and warrant removal. He handles speeding tickets, police warrants, and much more. Robert Navar has been a ticket lawyer for more than a decade defending drivers in El Paso and protecting their driving records. As an attorney, he knows how to navigate the Municipal court system to get you the best possible outcome for your citation. If you need a lawyer for traffic tickets and warrants give him a call.
Experience matters having worked for both the prosecutor's side and the defense side, Robert has honed a skill set that yields amazing results for his clients. CDL holders seek his counsel to keep their driving records spotless.
There are plenty of choices when looking for traffic ticket lawyers in the 915 area. Experience, trust, and due diligence make him the right choice for all your traffic ticket needs. He simply is the best at fighting traffic tickets and getting warrants removed from your record. Give him a call for a free consultation.
El Paso Traffic Ticket Firm – Attorney Robert Navar
Address: 11860 Vista Del Sol Dr. #119 El Paso, TX 79936
Phone: 915-503-1600
Website: https://elpasotrafficticket.com
Social Media: https://www.facebook.com/trafficfirmelpaso
https://www.instagram.com/ticketlawyerselpaso/
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
Okay.
We're here with Robert Navarrotraffic ticket lawyer here in El
Paso, Texas.
My name is David and we're goingahead and just going to learn
about more of the ins and outsof traffic tickets and traffic
ticket law here in El Paso,Texas.
Robert, how are you doing today?
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Good.
Thank you, David.
Appreciate you having me.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
Yeah, no problem, man.
It's a pleasure.
Um, well basically what we wantour audience to know is just
kind of like what a trafficticket lawyer does.
So maybe can kind of explain theins and outs of that.
And, uh, maybe if you, um, let'ssee, I came to you, I'm like,
Hey man, I got a traffic ticket.
Can you help me?
What would you say to me?
Speaker 2 (00:40):
Well, first I would say, uh, absolutely I can help
you.
And I'm glad that you contactedme.
Uh, it's important that, uh, ifyou get a traffic citation that
you, uh, try to address, have itaddressed immediately, uh, there
are certain time limits that youhave to, um, appear to court and
(01:02):
you certainly don't want to missthose time limits, uh, and risk
having a warrant issued for yourarrest.
So, uh, it's important that you,uh, either deal with it yourself
, uh, or I recommend you contactan attorney who has experience
in dealing with traffic tickets.
Um, and, and the benefit forhiring an attorney such as
(01:24):
myself, is that you, um, we gothrough and handle your case
from the beginning to the end,so that you don't have to worry
about going to court.
Uh, if you contact my office,we'll take down your
information.
We'll look to see if, uh, infact we can pull that up on the
online system, or if not, wewill contact the court to get
(01:47):
more information and we'll filean entry of appearance.
And what that means is thatwe're going to be pleading, not
guilty to your citation, andwe're going to also be
requesting any and all documentsthat are in possession of the
state's, including your, a copyof your actual citation that you
received from the officer, aswell as the criminal complaint,
(02:09):
which is a charging instrumentthat they use to, uh, formally
charge you in a court.
Now it is a class C misdemeanor,however, it's still a criminal
offense.
And so it's very important thatyou deal with these, uh, because
you don't want it affecting yourrecord.
And there's a lot of problemsthat can happen.
Uh, if you don't, uh, deal witha traffic ticket.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
Yeah.
That's good information to know.
So, you know, a lot of peoplewill ask me, like if they get a
traffic ticket, can they justkind of just put it in their
glove box and ignore it?
Um, I can imagine that's just abad idea.
Can you explain what wouldhappen if somebody just ignored
a traffic citation that they gotpulled over?
Speaker 2 (02:50):
Yeah, it's a very bad idea because what will happen is
normally you have 10 days to 20days, depending on which court
where you have to go to courtand they will ask you to, uh,
how do you plead if you want tosign a plea form and you can
either plead guilty or notguilty if you don't show up
(03:12):
within that 10 to 20 daytimeframe from the time that you
received the citation, the courtwill actually issue a another
citation.
And what they will issue is acitation for a violation of
promise to appear.
And basically what the violatepromise to appear is that when
the officer gave you thecitation and asked you to sign
(03:34):
it, you were signing, uh,verifying that you understood
that you were receiving atraffic citation and that if you
don't appear in court within thetime indicated on the ticket, a
warrant for your arrest may beissued.
And so what most courts aredoing now is if they don't get
that response from you, whetheryou pleading guilty or not
(03:55):
guilty after the expiration of20 days, they will go ahead and
issue you another citation forviolate promise to appear, which
will also include with that awarrant for your arrest.
So that will, uh, just incuradditional fines and warrant
fees.
And that's something you justdefinitely want to make sure you
(04:17):
avoid happening.
Speaker 1 (04:19):
Yeah, I get it.
So when it's a class Cmisdemeanor, what kind of stuff
like that you're going to get awarrant, you can get arrested,
it could stay on your record.
Uh, what ways would that affectyou employment opportunities?
Speaker 2 (04:31):
Absolutely, absolutely.
Especially, uh, very much soemployment.
Most employers now are doingbackground checks.
Uh, if they see, uh, that youhave, uh, active warrant,
obviously that's going to, uh,most likely, uh, hinder you from
getting that job opportunity.
The employer will tell you to goahead and address your warrant,
(04:51):
uh, before we can, uh, seriouslyconsider you.
And especially if you're goingto be involved in any type of
government position, government,uh, will do a check and you
absolutely cannot have anythingon your record, uh, governments,
uh, really, uh, uh, looking at,uh, your criminal history, your
record, even though it's atraffic ticket, it definitely,
(05:14):
uh, will come up and you'll haveto address it.
And it puts you in a higher riskcategory, as far as an employer
wanting to hire you.
And the reason why is becausethey don't want to take the
possibility of any potentialliability down the road, if they
hire an individual whom hasoutstanding tickets, or has a
history of traffic tickets, ifthe, uh, employee is to ever
(05:40):
have gotten involved in any typeof an accident, uh, injured
somebody, the other injuredparty can potentially Sue the
employer for what's called Nageland trust mint by, uh, hiring
that employee knowing or whenthey knew or should have known
that they had a potential, uh,dangerous driving record.
So, uh, it's definitely gonna,uh, hurt your chances from
(06:02):
getting any type of employment.
Speaker 1 (06:05):
Okay.
That's good information.
Um, let me ask you anotherquestion, because like, you
know, the past, I used to gettraffic tickets and I would just
take like a defensive drivingclass.
Well, what was the benefit ofhiring an attorney?
If I can just go take adefensive driving class?
Speaker 2 (06:19):
Well, the benefit for hiring an attorney of course, is
that, um, I have a very goodtrack record for getting tickets
dismissed, and there is a verygood chance that we can get that
dismissed because even if youtake the defensive driving
course, your still going to haveto pay a court cost, uh, which
court costs are approximately,um, had they have gone up as of
(06:43):
late.
And you're looking atapproximately close to$150 just
in court costs, then you have totake the, uh, driving class and
most courts were, uh, requireyou to do a Texas certified
approved driving course.
So you're looking at spendingmore money on taking the class,
(07:04):
which is usually a six to eighthour class that you'll have to
endure if, especially if you'rebusy, that's definitely takes
time out of your day.
So hiring a lawyer, such asmyself, we can potentially avoid
from you haver having to takedefensive driving.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
Yeah, that's great.
Um, save some time and yourprices are pretty reasonable,
right?
Like it, it, like if you werenot an attorney now, knowing
what, you know, would yourecommend everybody, you know,
to hire like say you have familyout of town, would you ask them
to, or guide them to hire anattorney to handle their traffic
(07:42):
tickets?
Oh,
Speaker 2 (07:44):
Absolutely.
And the benefit for hiring anattorney is an attorney's going
to be more experienced in toknow what, uh, the state is
required to prove if you go totrial.
All my cases that I take on, Ialways request a trial.
And the reason why I do that isbecause, uh, officers
(08:08):
prosecutors for the, uh,district attorney's office, they
always make mistakes.
And I, uh, am, have become anexpert in finding those mistakes
and using that to my client'sadvantage.
And so hiring an attorney thathas some experience and
expertise on what to look for,what questions to ask, uh, how
(08:29):
to review the evidence, todetermine if there's any, uh,
problems or mistakes that, uh,may have been made, which is
very much, uh, very often thecase.
I can bring those up.
And I know the appropriatemotions to make with the courts
that we can try to go ahead andget that dismissed outright so
that you don't have to worryabout paying court costs, having
(08:51):
to, uh, go against your record.
And, uh, so I recommendeverybody that you, you really
should hire an attorney, uh,because you don't, um, you don't
have necessarily a want to haveto, uh, go through the whole
process because it's veryintimidating.
If you're a lay person andyou're going to court trying to
(09:12):
get information, and you'reasking them what to do.
Uh it's it's um, if you don'thave the experience, you're not
going to know what to look for.
So I strongly recommend you hirean attorney.
Speaker 1 (09:23):
Yeah.
Leave it to the experts, right?
Yes, absolutely.
So, yeah, you talked aboutearlier that if people just
ignore their ticket, it couldturn into a warrant, lead to an
arrest, just create moreproblems than it needs to be.
But what happens to, uh, likefor example, I see I did all
that.
I got a warrant.
Can you still help us with that?
Speaker 2 (09:42):
Yes, absolutely.
Uh, so what happens is if youget a warm, because let's say
you disregarded the ticket, youdidn't go to court in time
though.
They issue you another citation.
Plus the warrant.
Most of the time, what willhappen is if you contact the
court to try to get your warrantresolved, they're going to make
(10:03):
you pay the full amount of thewarrant, a bond, basically what
it is, is a bond for your arrest.
If you pay that bond, you canremain, um, uh, you know, uh,
you, you can remain not beingarrested.
You can get a chance to, uh, goto court, but you are going to
(10:24):
have to pay that warm bondamount, which is generally, um,
anywhere from 250 to$500.
So you're going to have to paythat at the very outset.
And then you're also going tothen have to deal not only with
the original citation that youreceived, let's say you received
citation for speeding or, uh,failing to say, nor running a
(10:45):
red light, you're going to haveto also deal with a citation
that was issued for, you're notappearing within the 20 days
that the ticket citationinstructed you to do.
That's a separate ticket thatyou will also have to deal with
and keep in mind that these areclass C misdemeanors, which are
punishable by up to$500 infines.
(11:08):
That's not including courtcosts.
So, uh, it's very likely thatyou could end up potentially,
uh, having to pay, uh, thousandsof dollars, uh, for a ticket
that you, uh, have that hasturned into a warrant, but I can
definitely help you all withthat.
And I'd be happy to explain theprocess of what we do when you
(11:31):
do have a warrant.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
Wow.
That sounds like a lot of moneyfor just a traffic ticket.
Um, you know, sometimes peoplejust don't want to deal with the
headache.
What if they just decide to justpay the fine directly or, you
know, just pay their ticket off?
Well, why can't I do somethinglike that?
Speaker 2 (11:46):
Um, well you can do that, but I strongly recommend
that you don't do that becauseonce you do that, then that
becomes a conviction on yourrecord.
And that that conviction willstay on your record.
It will make it very difficult.
Uh, when, if you are looking fora work and employed is gonna
(12:09):
likely do a background check andthey'll see that you have a
ticket, uh, and that'sdefinitely going to be an issue
that you'll have to address withany potential employer.
And, uh, also, uh, in, in thestate of Texas, they do still
suspend licenses for people whohave multiple violations.
Uh, they, the state, even thoughthey did away with the surcharge
(12:32):
program, back in 2019, they'restill, uh, suspending licenses
for people who have a poordriving record.
So you run the potential of notonly, um, affecting your
potential and, uh, futureemployment by you just paying
the fine.
You also run the risk that, uh,because it's a guilty conviction
(12:53):
and it'll stay on your recordthat at some point, the state of
Texas could potentially, uh,file a violate, what's called a
petition to suspend yourlicense.
Speaker 1 (13:03):
Okay.
Wow.
That's, that sounds like bad.
And usually you'll end up savingmore money anyway, even after
the lawyer fees.
Right?
Speaker 2 (13:10):
Right.
Absolutely.
And the lawyer fees are very,very reasonable.
Um, we, we, we, we probablycharge, um, the lowest rates of
any attorney in, in the, uh, ElPaso county area.
We are very competitive.
Uh, we have a tremendous, um,uh, clientele with a tremendous
(13:33):
amount of, um, uh, positivereviews.
We do not charge very much.
Um, and, and, and I'll tell youwhy we don't charge very much is
B and it's because I love what Ido.
Um, that's part of the reasonwhy I decided to become a lawyer
was that, um, my, uh, when I wasa lot younger, before I went to
(13:54):
law school, I had gotten pulledover by police officers, uh, for
minor traffic violations andhaving to deal with that in the
stress of trying to fight it.
When, you know, you possibly maybe in the right, uh, in going to
court and trying to representyourself.
I realized back then that firstof all, this is what I love to
(14:16):
do is fight, uh, these tickets.
And also, uh, I think that, um,through my experience, I've
actually enjoy, um, finding themistakes, because I think that
by me doing my job verythoroughly, I am actually
helping, uh, you know, policeofficers to do their job better
(14:39):
and to not issue citations whenthey shouldn't be issuing them.
And so, uh, that to me is a, isbecome a tremendous benefit that
I enjoy doing.
And, uh, and, uh, just, just, uh, I just love it.
Speaker 1 (14:53):
Okay, great.
Yeah, you sound, it sounds likethat, um, you know, as you're
talking, it occurred to me,like, let's say, you know,
somebody hires you for theirtraffic citation.
Usually how long does it takefor the, um, the whole process
for it to resolve itself?
Speaker 2 (15:08):
Well, it depends on the court, but for, for, uh, for
give you approximation, um, fromthe time that you hire me, we
file an entry of appearance.
We request all the documents andthe state's custody that they
intend to use to prove at trial,we request a trial date, and it
(15:31):
depends on the, uh, the amountof, uh, cases that are set for
trial by the courts.
They, uh, set their own cases,uh, based on, based on their
availability, based on theofficer's based on when they can
get a prosecutor.
So it generally can takeanywhere from, uh, approximately
(15:51):
three to six months on average.
But as a defense lawyer, I willtell you that, uh, the longer it
takes to get your citationresolved, it's actually maybe to
your benefit because over time,uh, witnesses tend to lose their
memory, uh, especially policeofficers who is going to be the
(16:13):
primary and only witness thatmay be testifying against you.
Uh, they oftentimes forgetbecause he's pleased officers,
uh, deal with issuing thousandsof tickets, uh, and in, uh, in a
month.
And so the longer you push thedelay out, generally the better,
uh, chances are of you actuallyultimately eventually getting a
(16:36):
dismissal.
Now, if you're on a timeconstraint, let's say you're,
uh, trying to get a job.
And your employer wants you to,uh, resolve your traffic tickets
that are still outstanding.
Uh, oftentimes we willdefinitely try to put pressure
on the courts to go ahead andgive you as quickly as possible
court dates.
(16:57):
Uh, and we will, um, file amotion to expedite your traffic
ticket.
If, if, if, if that is arequirement that you're asking
us to do, but, uh, just, uh, butif not, I say the benefit is
that the longer delay that yourtied citation takes with the
courts, the chances are betterthat you are going to possibly
(17:19):
get the citation dismissed sothat you don't have to pay any
fines, any court costs, and itwon't be on your record.
Speaker 1 (17:26):
Great.
Great.
I just got a couple morequestions for you before I let
you go.
I know you're pretty busy guy,but, uh, you know, obviously
you're going to do movingviolations, like speeding
tickets failure to, you know,signal on a change of lanes.
But do you also do like, justpaper violations, like when
people don't have inspection orregistration, no insurance,
stuff like that.
Speaker 2 (17:45):
Yes, absolutely.
And you definitely want to hirean attorney for types of
violations, because if you don'tdeal with a registration
citation, not only we can, youpossibly get, uh, a warrant
issued for your arrest for that,but you also won't be able to
register your vehicle.
You're likely going to getpulled over again and again and
(18:07):
again, and you'll keep gettingpulled over and those tickets
will keep stacking up.
They'll keep piling up.
And, uh, you certainly don'twant to have, uh, the problem of
having to deal with thousands ofdollars in fines and court costs
and not being able to get yourvehicle registered, being able
to get a driver's license, the,uh, an outstanding ticket that
(18:27):
becomes into a warrant.
We'll put a hold on, you havingthe ability to renew your
driver's license.
If it expires, you will also geta ticket for that.
So those tickets and fines cankeep adding up.
So you definitely want to hire alawyer to deal with those paper
violations.
And I absolutely handle thosepaper violations, and we've been
very successful at getting thosedismissed, uh, and just like our
(18:50):
traffic tickets.
We require the state to provetheir case.
They have to provide us with allthe documents, and oftentimes I
can find mistakes in thosedocuments because of my skill
and expertise in knowing what tolook for, knowing what the state
law requires.
Um, we can, uh, get those, uh,expedited fast-tracked and very
(19:12):
possibly get those dismissed sothat you don't have to worry
about it so that those holds areremoved so that you can go and
get your vehicle registered.
You can get your licenserenewed, just simply giving me a
call.
I can take care of everything.
You don't have to worry aboutputting dates or having to show
up to court, or, um, we canhandle all that for you.
(19:33):
And we, um, have a very goodtrack record in getting those
paper violations dismissed,because believe it or not, uh,
they do make a lot of mistakeson what they're required to
prove.
Uh, and, uh, we find thosemistakes and we get those
tickets dismissed.
Speaker 1 (19:48):
Okay, great.
I'm looking at your website hereand associate guys take care of
all class C misdemeanors, animalcontrol tickets, open
containers, and other things aswell.
That's pretty good to know.
Um, do you also do other citiesaround El Paso, like Cano, Tio,
horizon city, so coral Clint,Anthony Vinton.
Speaker 2 (20:06):
We absolutely do.
Uh, technically, uh, all those,um, municipalities that you
mentioned, uh, are still withinthe El Paso county, Texas, so we
can handle anything that'swithin El Paso county, including
Clint's, including San Elizario,including horizon, including
Vinson, including Anthony, Texas, uh, anywhere within El Paso
(20:30):
county district.
We, we definitely can handle andhelp you with that.
Speaker 1 (20:35):
Okay.
So, you know, I'm not a truckdriver myself, but I understand
if you have a commercialdriver's license or a CDL,
you're not eligible to takedefensive driving.
So, um, obviously you can'tguarantee a dismissal every time
can you?
Speaker 2 (20:52):
No.
The, the, the way the law isright now is they're very, very
strict on commercial driver'slicenses, uh, who get traffic
citations.
And the reason why is becausethey, uh, have a tremendous
greater responsibility, becausethey're usually the ones that
you see on the roadway drivingthe semis, the 18 wheelers, uh,
(21:12):
the S the state of Texas wantsto prevent people from having a
license.
If they, um, have, uh, multipleviolations or collect, uh,
convictions on their record, thestate does not want you
operating those types ofvehicles, because they can
potentially be very deadly onthe road.
And employers, certainly aren'tgoing to hire a commercial
(21:33):
driver if they have anything ontheir record.
So, uh, the way the law works.
So unfortunately, is that youcan't do any type of deferred
disposition so that it doesn'tgo on your record.
The state wants, uh, and, uh,wants to get a conviction on
your record.
And, and the reason why isbecause they have no other
alternatives to offer you as adefense lawyer, the best that
(21:57):
they can offer you as a reducedfine.
So I handle commercial driver'slicense tickets a little bit
differently in that.
Um, we will do everything we canto try to get those dismissed.
Oftentimes we'll actually end uphaving to go to a jury trial on
those, especially the officerare members, and there are no
(22:18):
mistakes on the documents thatthe state provides us.
And we, uh, also handle with thewhole appellate process as well.
Uh, because we understand that,uh, commercial driver's licenses
cannot have anything affectingtheir record.
And so we have to fight thosevery, very vigorously because
the state prosecutors, they havea, um, uh, let's say a stronger
(22:42):
desire to try to prosecutecommercial driver's license to
the full extent, because theydon't want, uh, drivers who have
, uh, anything on their recorddriving commercial vehicles.
And the also the other trickything with commercial driver's
licenses is that they can be intheir personal vehicle.
And if they're in their personalvehicle and Getty citation that
(23:05):
still can potentially affecttheir commercial driver's
license and results in thatlicense getting suspended.
And what will happen is ofcourse, the employer will no
longer be able to hire you ifyou have a suspended commercial
driver's license.
So if you have a commercialdriver's license, which is a
class, a type license in Texas,you definitely need to hire a
(23:28):
lawyer because you, uh, thestakes are very, very high, and
you cannot have that go on yourrecord.
And, um, you can't go to courtand ask for defensive driving.
They won't allow it.
Uh, you, your only option is ifyou try to represent yourself,
they're going to charge you a$500 fine is going to be a
guilty conviction on yourrecord, guaranteed.
(23:50):
Right?
So we have to, uh, you
Speaker 1 (23:52):
Have an
Speaker 2 (23:53):
Attorney.
Absolutely.
You have to hire an attorney isno question about it.
If you have a commercialdriver's license,
Speaker 1 (24:00):
Well, Robert, I just want to thank you for your time.
And, uh, I know your office isI'll pass a traffic ticket from,
and, uh, I know you that youjust do mostly focus on traffic
tickets.
So that's good to know.
A few people are looking for atraffic ticket attorney here in
the El Paso area.
I think this is the guy to goto, and, um, I'll go ahead and
post this information on thispodcast, so you can see where he
(24:21):
is.
Um, location is as well as thewebsite and phone number, but
Roberts want to thank you verymuch for coming on in, and, um,
during this interview,
Speaker 2 (24:30):
Thank you very much for having me.
And please again, if anybodygets a traffic ticket, please
call me and I guarantee you, Iwill fight for your ticket to
the fullest extent.
I will use all my abilities, allmy skills, all my law knowledge
to get your traffic ticketdismissed.
Speaker 1 (24:46):
Yeah.
I believe that we're looking atthose Google reviews.
So anyway, thanks again, andtake care.
Speaker 2 (24:50):
Okay.
Thank you very much.
Thank you for having me yourwork.
Okay.
We're here with Robert Navarrotraffic ticket lawyer here in El
Paso, Texas.
My name is David and we're goingahead and just going to learn
about more of the ins and outsof traffic tickets and traffic
ticket law here in El Paso,Texas.
Robert, how are you doing today?
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Good.
Thank you, David.
Appreciate you having me.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
Yeah, no problem, man.
It's a pleasure.
Um, well basically what we wantour audience to know is just
kind of like what a trafficticket lawyer does.
So maybe can kind of explain theins and outs of that.
And, uh, maybe if you, um, let'ssee, I came to you, I'm like,
Hey man, I got a traffic ticket.
Can you help me?
What would you say to me?
Speaker 2 (00:40):
Well, first I would say, uh, absolutely I can help
you.
And I'm glad that you contactedme.
Uh, it's important that, uh, ifyou get a traffic citation that
you, uh, try to address, have itaddressed immediately, uh, there
are certain time limits that youhave to, um, appear to court and
(01:02):
you certainly don't want to missthose time limits, uh, and risk
having a warrant issued for yourarrest.
So, uh, it's important that you,uh, either deal with it yourself
, uh, or I recommend you contactan attorney who has experience
in dealing with traffic tickets.
Um, and, and the benefit forhiring an attorney such as
(01:24):
myself, is that you, um, we gothrough and handle your case
from the beginning to the end,so that you don't have to worry
about going to court.
Uh, if you contact my office,we'll take down your
information.
We'll look to see if, uh, infact we can pull that up on the
online system, or if not, wewill contact the court to get
(01:47):
more information and we'll filean entry of appearance.
And what that means is thatwe're going to be pleading, not
guilty to your citation, andwe're going to also be
requesting any and all documentsthat are in possession of the
state's, including your, a copyof your actual citation that you
received from the officer, aswell as the criminal complaint,
(02:09):
which is a charging instrumentthat they use to, uh, formally
charge you in a court.
Now it is a class C misdemeanor,however, it's still a criminal
offense.
And so it's very important thatyou deal with these, uh, because
you don't want it affecting yourrecord.
And there's a lot of problemsthat can happen.
Uh, if you don't, uh, deal witha traffic ticket.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
Yeah.
That's good information to know.
So, you know, a lot of peoplewill ask me, like if they get a
traffic ticket, can they justkind of just put it in their
glove box and ignore it?
Um, I can imagine that's just abad idea.
Can you explain what wouldhappen if somebody just ignored
a traffic citation that they gotpulled over?
Speaker 2 (02:50):
Yeah, it's a very bad idea because what will happen is
normally you have 10 days to 20days, depending on which court
where you have to go to courtand they will ask you to, uh,
how do you plead if you want tosign a plea form and you can
either plead guilty or notguilty if you don't show up
(03:12):
within that 10 to 20 daytimeframe from the time that you
received the citation, the courtwill actually issue a another
citation.
And what they will issue is acitation for a violation of
promise to appear.
And basically what the violatepromise to appear is that when
the officer gave you thecitation and asked you to sign
(03:34):
it, you were signing, uh,verifying that you understood
that you were receiving atraffic citation and that if you
don't appear in court within thetime indicated on the ticket, a
warrant for your arrest may beissued.
And so what most courts aredoing now is if they don't get
that response from you, whetheryou pleading guilty or not
(03:55):
guilty after the expiration of20 days, they will go ahead and
issue you another citation forviolate promise to appear, which
will also include with that awarrant for your arrest.
So that will, uh, just incuradditional fines and warrant
fees.
And that's something you justdefinitely want to make sure you
(04:17):
avoid happening.
Speaker 1 (04:19):
Yeah, I get it.
So when it's a class Cmisdemeanor, what kind of stuff
like that you're going to get awarrant, you can get arrested,
it could stay on your record.
Uh, what ways would that affectyou employment opportunities?
Speaker 2 (04:31):
Absolutely, absolutely.
Especially, uh, very much soemployment.
Most employers now are doingbackground checks.
Uh, if they see, uh, that youhave, uh, active warrant,
obviously that's going to, uh,most likely, uh, hinder you from
getting that job opportunity.
The employer will tell you to goahead and address your warrant,
(04:51):
uh, before we can, uh, seriouslyconsider you.
And especially if you're goingto be involved in any type of
government position, government,uh, will do a check and you
absolutely cannot have anythingon your record, uh, governments,
uh, really, uh, uh, looking at,uh, your criminal history, your
record, even though it's atraffic ticket, it definitely,
(05:14):
uh, will come up and you'll haveto address it.
And it puts you in a higher riskcategory, as far as an employer
wanting to hire you.
And the reason why is becausethey don't want to take the
possibility of any potentialliability down the road, if they
hire an individual whom hasoutstanding tickets, or has a
history of traffic tickets, ifthe, uh, employee is to ever
(05:40):
have gotten involved in any typeof an accident, uh, injured
somebody, the other injuredparty can potentially Sue the
employer for what's called Nageland trust mint by, uh, hiring
that employee knowing or whenthey knew or should have known
that they had a potential, uh,dangerous driving record.
So, uh, it's definitely gonna,uh, hurt your chances from
(06:02):
getting any type of employment.
Speaker 1 (06:05):
Okay.
That's good information.
Um, let me ask you anotherquestion, because like, you
know, the past, I used to gettraffic tickets and I would just
take like a defensive drivingclass.
Well, what was the benefit ofhiring an attorney?
If I can just go take adefensive driving class?
Speaker 2 (06:19):
Well, the benefit for hiring an attorney of course, is
that, um, I have a very goodtrack record for getting tickets
dismissed, and there is a verygood chance that we can get that
dismissed because even if youtake the defensive driving
course, your still going to haveto pay a court cost, uh, which
court costs are approximately,um, had they have gone up as of
(06:43):
late.
And you're looking atapproximately close to$150 just
in court costs, then you have totake the, uh, driving class and
most courts were, uh, requireyou to do a Texas certified
approved driving course.
So you're looking at spendingmore money on taking the class,
(07:04):
which is usually a six to eighthour class that you'll have to
endure if, especially if you'rebusy, that's definitely takes
time out of your day.
So hiring a lawyer, such asmyself, we can potentially avoid
from you haver having to takedefensive driving.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
Yeah, that's great.
Um, save some time and yourprices are pretty reasonable,
right?
Like it, it, like if you werenot an attorney now, knowing
what, you know, would yourecommend everybody, you know,
to hire like say you have familyout of town, would you ask them
to, or guide them to hire anattorney to handle their traffic
(07:42):
tickets?
Oh,
Speaker 2 (07:44):
Absolutely.
And the benefit for hiring anattorney is an attorney's going
to be more experienced in toknow what, uh, the state is
required to prove if you go totrial.
All my cases that I take on, Ialways request a trial.
And the reason why I do that isbecause, uh, officers
(08:08):
prosecutors for the, uh,district attorney's office, they
always make mistakes.
And I, uh, am, have become anexpert in finding those mistakes
and using that to my client'sadvantage.
And so hiring an attorney thathas some experience and
expertise on what to look for,what questions to ask, uh, how
(08:29):
to review the evidence, todetermine if there's any, uh,
problems or mistakes that, uh,may have been made, which is
very much, uh, very often thecase.
I can bring those up.
And I know the appropriatemotions to make with the courts
that we can try to go ahead andget that dismissed outright so
that you don't have to worryabout paying court costs, having
(08:51):
to, uh, go against your record.
And, uh, so I recommendeverybody that you, you really
should hire an attorney, uh,because you don't, um, you don't
have necessarily a want to haveto, uh, go through the whole
process because it's veryintimidating.
If you're a lay person andyou're going to court trying to
(09:12):
get information, and you'reasking them what to do.
Uh it's it's um, if you don'thave the experience, you're not
going to know what to look for.
So I strongly recommend you hirean attorney.
Speaker 1 (09:23):
Yeah.
Leave it to the experts, right?
Yes, absolutely.
So, yeah, you talked aboutearlier that if people just
ignore their ticket, it couldturn into a warrant, lead to an
arrest, just create moreproblems than it needs to be.
But what happens to, uh, likefor example, I see I did all
that.
I got a warrant.
Can you still help us with that?
Speaker 2 (09:42):
Yes, absolutely.
Uh, so what happens is if youget a warm, because let's say
you disregarded the ticket, youdidn't go to court in time
though.
They issue you another citation.
Plus the warrant.
Most of the time, what willhappen is if you contact the
court to try to get your warrantresolved, they're going to make
(10:03):
you pay the full amount of thewarrant, a bond, basically what
it is, is a bond for your arrest.
If you pay that bond, you canremain, um, uh, you know, uh,
you, you can remain not beingarrested.
You can get a chance to, uh, goto court, but you are going to
(10:24):
have to pay that warm bondamount, which is generally, um,
anywhere from 250 to$500.
So you're going to have to paythat at the very outset.
And then you're also going tothen have to deal not only with
the original citation that youreceived, let's say you received
citation for speeding or, uh,failing to say, nor running a
(10:45):
red light, you're going to haveto also deal with a citation
that was issued for, you're notappearing within the 20 days
that the ticket citationinstructed you to do.
That's a separate ticket thatyou will also have to deal with
and keep in mind that these areclass C misdemeanors, which are
punishable by up to$500 infines.
(11:08):
That's not including courtcosts.
So, uh, it's very likely thatyou could end up potentially,
uh, having to pay, uh, thousandsof dollars, uh, for a ticket
that you, uh, have that hasturned into a warrant, but I can
definitely help you all withthat.
And I'd be happy to explain theprocess of what we do when you
(11:31):
do have a warrant.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
Wow.
That sounds like a lot of moneyfor just a traffic ticket.
Um, you know, sometimes peoplejust don't want to deal with the
headache.
What if they just decide to justpay the fine directly or, you
know, just pay their ticket off?
Well, why can't I do somethinglike that?
Speaker 2 (11:46):
Um, well you can do that, but I strongly recommend
that you don't do that becauseonce you do that, then that
becomes a conviction on yourrecord.
And that that conviction willstay on your record.
It will make it very difficult.
Uh, when, if you are looking fora work and employed is gonna
(12:09):
likely do a background check andthey'll see that you have a
ticket, uh, and that'sdefinitely going to be an issue
that you'll have to address withany potential employer.
And, uh, also, uh, in, in thestate of Texas, they do still
suspend licenses for people whohave multiple violations.
Uh, they, the state, even thoughthey did away with the surcharge
(12:32):
program, back in 2019, they'restill, uh, suspending licenses
for people who have a poordriving record.
So you run the potential of notonly, um, affecting your
potential and, uh, futureemployment by you just paying
the fine.
You also run the risk that, uh,because it's a guilty conviction
(12:53):
and it'll stay on your recordthat at some point, the state of
Texas could potentially, uh,file a violate, what's called a
petition to suspend yourlicense.
Speaker 1 (13:03):
Okay.
Wow.
That's, that sounds like bad.
And usually you'll end up savingmore money anyway, even after
the lawyer fees.
Right?
Speaker 2 (13:10):
Right.
Absolutely.
And the lawyer fees are very,very reasonable.
Um, we, we, we, we probablycharge, um, the lowest rates of
any attorney in, in the, uh, ElPaso county area.
We are very competitive.
Uh, we have a tremendous, um,uh, clientele with a tremendous
(13:33):
amount of, um, uh, positivereviews.
We do not charge very much.
Um, and, and, and I'll tell youwhy we don't charge very much is
B and it's because I love what Ido.
Um, that's part of the reasonwhy I decided to become a lawyer
was that, um, my, uh, when I wasa lot younger, before I went to
(13:54):
law school, I had gotten pulledover by police officers, uh, for
minor traffic violations andhaving to deal with that in the
stress of trying to fight it.
When, you know, you possibly maybe in the right, uh, in going to
court and trying to representyourself.
I realized back then that firstof all, this is what I love to
(14:16):
do is fight, uh, these tickets.
And also, uh, I think that, um,through my experience, I've
actually enjoy, um, finding themistakes, because I think that
by me doing my job verythoroughly, I am actually
helping, uh, you know, policeofficers to do their job better
(14:39):
and to not issue citations whenthey shouldn't be issuing them.
And so, uh, that to me is a, isbecome a tremendous benefit that
I enjoy doing.
And, uh, and, uh, just, just, uh, I just love it.
Speaker 1 (14:53):
Okay, great.
Yeah, you sound, it sounds likethat, um, you know, as you're
talking, it occurred to me,like, let's say, you know,
somebody hires you for theirtraffic citation.
Usually how long does it takefor the, um, the whole process
for it to resolve itself?
Speaker 2 (15:08):
Well, it depends on the court, but for, for, uh, for
give you approximation, um, fromthe time that you hire me, we
file an entry of appearance.
We request all the documents andthe state's custody that they
intend to use to prove at trial,we request a trial date, and it
(15:31):
depends on the, uh, the amountof, uh, cases that are set for
trial by the courts.
They, uh, set their own cases,uh, based on, based on their
availability, based on theofficer's based on when they can
get a prosecutor.
So it generally can takeanywhere from, uh, approximately
(15:51):
three to six months on average.
But as a defense lawyer, I willtell you that, uh, the longer it
takes to get your citationresolved, it's actually maybe to
your benefit because over time,uh, witnesses tend to lose their
memory, uh, especially policeofficers who is going to be the
(16:13):
primary and only witness thatmay be testifying against you.
Uh, they oftentimes forgetbecause he's pleased officers,
uh, deal with issuing thousandsof tickets, uh, and in, uh, in a
month.
And so the longer you push thedelay out, generally the better,
uh, chances are of you actuallyultimately eventually getting a
(16:36):
dismissal.
Now, if you're on a timeconstraint, let's say you're,
uh, trying to get a job.
And your employer wants you to,uh, resolve your traffic tickets
that are still outstanding.
Uh, oftentimes we willdefinitely try to put pressure
on the courts to go ahead andgive you as quickly as possible
court dates.
(16:57):
Uh, and we will, um, file amotion to expedite your traffic
ticket.
If, if, if, if that is arequirement that you're asking
us to do, but, uh, just, uh, butif not, I say the benefit is
that the longer delay that yourtied citation takes with the
courts, the chances are betterthat you are going to possibly
(17:19):
get the citation dismissed sothat you don't have to pay any
fines, any court costs, and itwon't be on your record.
Speaker 1 (17:26):
Great.
Great.
I just got a couple morequestions for you before I let
you go.
I know you're pretty busy guy,but, uh, you know, obviously
you're going to do movingviolations, like speeding
tickets failure to, you know,signal on a change of lanes.
But do you also do like, justpaper violations, like when
people don't have inspection orregistration, no insurance,
stuff like that.
Speaker 2 (17:45):
Yes, absolutely.
And you definitely want to hirean attorney for types of
violations, because if you don'tdeal with a registration
citation, not only we can, youpossibly get, uh, a warrant
issued for your arrest for that,but you also won't be able to
register your vehicle.
You're likely going to getpulled over again and again and
(18:07):
again, and you'll keep gettingpulled over and those tickets
will keep stacking up.
They'll keep piling up.
And, uh, you certainly don'twant to have, uh, the problem of
having to deal with thousands ofdollars in fines and court costs
and not being able to get yourvehicle registered, being able
to get a driver's license, the,uh, an outstanding ticket that
(18:27):
becomes into a warrant.
We'll put a hold on, you havingthe ability to renew your
driver's license.
If it expires, you will also geta ticket for that.
So those tickets and fines cankeep adding up.
So you definitely want to hire alawyer to deal with those paper
violations.
And I absolutely handle thosepaper violations, and we've been
very successful at getting thosedismissed, uh, and just like our
(18:50):
traffic tickets.
We require the state to provetheir case.
They have to provide us with allthe documents, and oftentimes I
can find mistakes in thosedocuments because of my skill
and expertise in knowing what tolook for, knowing what the state
law requires.
Um, we can, uh, get those, uh,expedited fast-tracked and very
(19:12):
possibly get those dismissed sothat you don't have to worry
about it so that those holds areremoved so that you can go and
get your vehicle registered.
You can get your licenserenewed, just simply giving me a
call.
I can take care of everything.
You don't have to worry aboutputting dates or having to show
up to court, or, um, we canhandle all that for you.
(19:33):
And we, um, have a very goodtrack record in getting those
paper violations dismissed,because believe it or not, uh,
they do make a lot of mistakeson what they're required to
prove.
Uh, and, uh, we find thosemistakes and we get those
tickets dismissed.
Speaker 1 (19:48):
Okay, great.
I'm looking at your website hereand associate guys take care of
all class C misdemeanors, animalcontrol tickets, open
containers, and other things aswell.
That's pretty good to know.
Um, do you also do other citiesaround El Paso, like Cano, Tio,
horizon city, so coral Clint,Anthony Vinton.
Speaker 2 (20:06):
We absolutely do.
Uh, technically, uh, all those,um, municipalities that you
mentioned, uh, are still withinthe El Paso county, Texas, so we
can handle anything that'swithin El Paso county, including
Clint's, including San Elizario,including horizon, including
Vinson, including Anthony, Texas, uh, anywhere within El Paso
(20:30):
county district.
We, we definitely can handle andhelp you with that.
Speaker 1 (20:35):
Okay.
So, you know, I'm not a truckdriver myself, but I understand
if you have a commercialdriver's license or a CDL,
you're not eligible to takedefensive driving.
So, um, obviously you can'tguarantee a dismissal every time
can you?
Speaker 2 (20:52):
No.
The, the, the way the law isright now is they're very, very
strict on commercial driver'slicenses, uh, who get traffic
citations.
And the reason why is becausethey, uh, have a tremendous
greater responsibility, becausethey're usually the ones that
you see on the roadway drivingthe semis, the 18 wheelers, uh,
(21:12):
the S the state of Texas wantsto prevent people from having a
license.
If they, um, have, uh, multipleviolations or collect, uh,
convictions on their record, thestate does not want you
operating those types ofvehicles, because they can
potentially be very deadly onthe road.
And employers, certainly aren'tgoing to hire a commercial
(21:33):
driver if they have anything ontheir record.
So, uh, the way the law works.
So unfortunately, is that youcan't do any type of deferred
disposition so that it doesn'tgo on your record.
The state wants, uh, and, uh,wants to get a conviction on
your record.
And, and the reason why isbecause they have no other
alternatives to offer you as adefense lawyer, the best that
(21:57):
they can offer you as a reducedfine.
So I handle commercial driver'slicense tickets a little bit
differently in that.
Um, we will do everything we canto try to get those dismissed.
Oftentimes we'll actually end uphaving to go to a jury trial on
those, especially the officerare members, and there are no
(22:18):
mistakes on the documents thatthe state provides us.
And we, uh, also handle with thewhole appellate process as well.
Uh, because we understand that,uh, commercial driver's licenses
cannot have anything affectingtheir record.
And so we have to fight thosevery, very vigorously because
the state prosecutors, they havea, um, uh, let's say a stronger
(22:42):
desire to try to prosecutecommercial driver's license to
the full extent, because theydon't want, uh, drivers who have
, uh, anything on their recorddriving commercial vehicles.
And the also the other trickything with commercial driver's
licenses is that they can be intheir personal vehicle.
And if they're in their personalvehicle and Getty citation that
(23:05):
still can potentially affecttheir commercial driver's
license and results in thatlicense getting suspended.
And what will happen is ofcourse, the employer will no
longer be able to hire you ifyou have a suspended commercial
driver's license.
So if you have a commercialdriver's license, which is a
class, a type license in Texas,you definitely need to hire a
(23:28):
lawyer because you, uh, thestakes are very, very high, and
you cannot have that go on yourrecord.
And, um, you can't go to courtand ask for defensive driving.
They won't allow it.
Uh, you, your only option is ifyou try to represent yourself,
they're going to charge you a$500 fine is going to be a
guilty conviction on yourrecord, guaranteed.
(23:50):
Right?
So we have to, uh, you
Speaker 1 (23:52):
Have an
Speaker 2 (23:53):
Attorney.
Absolutely.
You have to hire an attorney isno question about it.
If you have a commercialdriver's license,
Speaker 1 (24:00):
Well, Robert, I just want to thank you for your time.
And, uh, I know your office isI'll pass a traffic ticket from,
and, uh, I know you that youjust do mostly focus on traffic
tickets.
So that's good to know.
A few people are looking for atraffic ticket attorney here in
the El Paso area.
I think this is the guy to goto, and, um, I'll go ahead and
post this information on thispodcast, so you can see where he
(24:21):
is.
Um, location is as well as thewebsite and phone number, but
Roberts want to thank you verymuch for coming on in, and, um,
during this interview,
Speaker 2 (24:30):
Thank you very much for having me.
And please again, if anybodygets a traffic ticket, please
call me and I guarantee you, Iwill fight for your ticket to
the fullest extent.
I will use all my abilities, allmy skills, all my law knowledge
to get your traffic ticketdismissed.
Speaker 1 (24:46):
Yeah.
I believe that we're looking atthose Google reviews.
So anyway, thanks again, andtake care.
Speaker 2 (24:50):
Okay.
Thank you very much.
Thank you for having me yourwork.
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