Skubiak & Rivas (Traffic Lawyers)

[DSM95Hybrid]

OK guys, I told you that I would keep the list posted on this Skubiak and Rivas firm. I plead not guilty to reckless driving in January after when I arrived at court at traffic county courthouse, the judge proceeded to tell me that if I plead anything other than "not guilty", then I was going straight to jail. :flamemad: *Note the max penalty is $500 and/or 90 days jail time.
Well alrighty then, not guilty I plead and hired on Rob Skubiak and Alain Rivas. $1,500 later, they took over and filed their discovery phase and rec'd statements by the 2 FHP's that pulled me over. Those 2 ass clowns got together and compared notes so that their stories matched. Even witnessed each other's statements.. So they went to the next court date prepared to work it out when they got the worst State Att'y possible who wanted to do everything short of stick me in the gas chamber :( . They continued the NG plea by setting it for trial, banking on the fact that the trial division gets a new judge and State Att'y assigned and hopefully be able to work it out with them. New State Att'y wanted 30 days jail time and a conviction on my record plus 6 pts on the license. Down to the wire it came-- late last night I got a call from Rob stating that upon doubleteaming the State Att'y over and over, they had come to a happy median. Deal was to change plea to No contest - withhold adjudication- no pts., no record and no jail :bowdown: ! There are some stips though. Court costs $187.5, 48hrs comm svc., driver improvement in order to get the withhold. In and out of court downtown this morning in about 45 min. So given my driving record- I give Skubiak and Rivas my recommendation. :D
All in all this whole ordeal wasn't cheap- I did some figuring.
$1,500 Att'y Fee
$300 suit for court
$410 ValentineOne- (so this doesn't happen again)
$187.50 court costs
$80 total travel from Lakeland
_________________________________
$2,477.50- Guilty or innocent - that shit ain't cheap

Scott D.
GVR4 #56/2K

[awd2liter]

:eek: OMG! Refresh my memory.. what did you go again?

[Dustin]

hey man i have a court date the 25th for careless driving.not a really big deal and i actually wasn't racing my friend but anyways.would you recommend just pleading "no contest" and paying whatever fines,ect...?

[DSM95Hybrid]

I was on my way home from Otown and b/t SR 528 and Disney "managing the staggered traffic" like normal where I neglected to see the 2 troopers that were supposedly stationary under the overpass. They only clocked me @ 81 mph which most times is with the flow of traffic ;) . Their quam (sp?) was with the amount of lane changes they claimed had taken place during the time they were observing me. In their statement they made a point to state that during the course of the ordeal "the car never slowed or braked". I mean, what more can you ask for- it's perfect timing :cool: . They didn't seem to think so... Oh Well, glad it's over:) :) .

Scott D.
GVR4 #56/2K

[DSM95Hybrid]

316.1925 Careless driving.--

(1) Any person operating a vehicle upon the streets or highways within the state shall drive the same in a careful and prudent manner, having regard for the width, grade, curves, corners, traffic, and all other attendant circumstances, so as not to endanger the life, limb, or property of any person. Failure to drive in such manner shall constitute careless driving and a violation of this section.

(2) Any person who violates this section shall be cited for a moving violation, punishable as provided in chapter 318.



First and foremost check the ticket.. If the exact number sequence doesn't match, you're "Scott" free :D . Every so often, probably almost 1 out of 30 are written for the wrong subsection. If you plead not guilty, you are not guilty because the offense is different from what he wrote.
Most times, they have it right though. You can plea nolo contendere if they offer you a deal. Or try Skubiak for $175 and the firm should get it handled for you pending you're previous record. I have no luck there with 27 recorded citations on record, I'm F-ed anytime they review the records.

Hope this helps!

Scott D., P. A. :D
GVR4 #56/2K

[Dustin]

well i only have like one speeding ticket on my record thats why i thought about the "no contest" but anyways what does that mean exactly?

[ScrappyJack]

Scott - glad things worked out in the end. It wasn't cheap for sure, but it was probably the cheapest and most satisfactory of your alternatives. The lesser of many evils, unfortunately. So, that's two thumbs up for S & B from your local DSMers.

Dustin - Traffic courts are not courts of justice. They are courts of revenue, so things are a little different. With most traffic infractions, you have three main options in court.
(1) Guilty - stupid. If you're gonna do that, just pay the fine in the mail and save yourself the time. Sometimes, if you get a laid back judge, you can plea "guilty with an explanation." However, most of these courts are there to make money and don't give a rat's ass.
(2) Not Guilty - good luck without an attorney. This is where you prove you did not do what you were cited for. Typically, your word against an officer's. Or officers' if there were partners involved. They rehearse from scripts on what to say in order to comply with the letter of most laws.
(3) No Contest - usually your best bet without an attorney. You basically don't admit guilt, but you take a punishment. This is obviously a gross simplification, but typically you will get a driving school and possibly a fine but no points.

When I was in court for my ticket, the one person who got confused and plead guilty got screwed. The few people who plead not guilty looked pathetic. Imagine if some person we have a predisposed prejudice against (Honda driver who likes stickers) comes up to one of our meets and begins to bad mouth someone with a generally good reputation (Glenn, Keith, Hector, etc). Who are you going to be more apt to believe? Same deal with the judges and officers - they see each other all the time and consider themselves professionals. You are considered a criminal until proven otherwise. The one guy who tried to say the cops were harrassing him got fried. Personal attacks on the cops = :nono:

The people who plead no contest got a driving school and that was it. We did have a pretty laid back judge, though.

[Dustin]

well jack i know i talked to you that one night about goin to court but then i found about the whole "no contest" thing. I'd rather pay some money and go to school then try my word against theirs.and i have a pretty good driving record(1 speeding ticket that i went to school for) so i think that may help.

[ScrappyJack]

I dug up this thread looking for a friend of mine that got screwed by the friendly neighborhood Orange County Sheriff's Office and thought it would be good to have for future reference.

Skubiak & Rivas, P.A. Orlando law firm specializing in traffic violations. They are located in Downtown Orlando, phone number is 407-894-4449. Both Scott D. and I have used them successfully.

[Jason]

Doing your homework before pleding not guilty is a good idea. Go to the library and check the statutes. Copy them, read them word for word. Most times, if the cop had you on radar, your done for. Ive seen one case, where the cop radared a person above the speed limit. Then the judge asked for documetation of the radar being properly calibrated. The dates it was calibrated was AFTER the date of the ticket and therefore, not applicable in court.

Ive personaly had 3 "muffler" tickets in Cassleberry. I won them all. My friends on the other hand, werent as fortunate and lost. There are alot of variables, the judge, the cop, his/her info,your info and PROOF! Review what you can and you may come out on top, otherwise plead the "4th option". Agree to pay the ticket and take the recquired class. It doesnt go against YOUR option of 1 every year or 5 in a life time.