Hillmann
Regular Member
imported post
I had Municipal court last week over a traffic violation.
My question is, when you plead not guilty do you have topay the court costs.
I am paraphrasing what was said.
When I asked the judge about the costs of pleading not guilty he basically said it would cost me 150 in court costs to plead not guilty and if found guilty would have to pay the fine on top of that.
I asked him, so basically I have to buy my right to a trial to be found innocent?
He basically agreed with what I said.
I pointed out as best I could from memory that justice should be received freely and should not need to be purchased. (WI Constitution, ART. 1, Section 9)
His response was basically, to bad, that is the way it is,
I told him that I wasn't going to plead anything and would just pay the fine. I then asked him how to get a transcript of the proceedingswith him admitting that the court was denying my civil rights.
He said that wont be necessary since I was going to pay the fine.
I said I needed a transcript for when I file a suet against the court for violating my civil rights by making me purchase them instead of being freely given.
At that point our he said that it was just a misunderstanding and that the $150 was only necessary in DWI cases.
He later said the $150 was only needed to be paid if I was found guilty and wanted appeal it in a higher court with a jury. So I plead not guilty and am waiting for the date for the trial to be set.
Also after pleading not guilty he used the phrase civil rights several times but the way he emphasized it he seemed to find it amusing like he was making fun of me for bring it up.
What I am wondering is was it really a misunderstanding, or is that how it is normally done and when I pushed back he realized that the stuff would hit the fan if I didn't get what I wanted?
I had Municipal court last week over a traffic violation.
My question is, when you plead not guilty do you have topay the court costs.
I am paraphrasing what was said.
When I asked the judge about the costs of pleading not guilty he basically said it would cost me 150 in court costs to plead not guilty and if found guilty would have to pay the fine on top of that.
I asked him, so basically I have to buy my right to a trial to be found innocent?
He basically agreed with what I said.
I pointed out as best I could from memory that justice should be received freely and should not need to be purchased. (WI Constitution, ART. 1, Section 9)
His response was basically, to bad, that is the way it is,
I told him that I wasn't going to plead anything and would just pay the fine. I then asked him how to get a transcript of the proceedingswith him admitting that the court was denying my civil rights.
He said that wont be necessary since I was going to pay the fine.
I said I needed a transcript for when I file a suet against the court for violating my civil rights by making me purchase them instead of being freely given.
At that point our he said that it was just a misunderstanding and that the $150 was only necessary in DWI cases.
He later said the $150 was only needed to be paid if I was found guilty and wanted appeal it in a higher court with a jury. So I plead not guilty and am waiting for the date for the trial to be set.
Also after pleading not guilty he used the phrase civil rights several times but the way he emphasized it he seemed to find it amusing like he was making fun of me for bring it up.
What I am wondering is was it really a misunderstanding, or is that how it is normally done and when I pushed back he realized that the stuff would hit the fan if I didn't get what I wanted?