What to Expect in Manassas Court for General Reckless Driving Charges

What to expect from general reckless driving charges in Manassas court is going to depend on what exactly someone is being accused of, because general reckless driving is a vague charge. The types of evidence that will be presented might vary as well. This category of offense has various underlying behaviors which are going to change the type of evidence quite a bit. Generally, there are two pretty common ways that general reckless is charged: by accident and by a failure to maintain control.

For each of these the officer has to present evidence to show that the behavior he is accusing someone of occurred beyond a reasonable doubt and through the fault of the defendant. Usually in any sort of general reckless driving situation, the evidence is just the officer’s testimony of what happened. A lot of times, depending on exactly what the alleged behavior is, the officer’s testimony is not enough for the conviction to stand.

A reckless driving lawyer in Manassas can help determine if there are enough facts present for a conviction and can also provide an alternative explanation for the behavior and whatever it is the office is alleging.

How These Charges Are Handled in Court

General reckless driving is the most subjective type of reckless driving charge in Manassas. Because of this, a lot more is considered in court than just the statute laying out what reckless driving is. It is possible for an officer to issue a reckless driving ticket for general reckless for any behavior, which sometimes may not be criminal in nature. Therefore, the defense may rely much more heavily on case law from similar cases, on cross examination of the officer, and on the attorney’s own argument as to why the driver is not guilty of reckless driving. These types of reckless driving have a lot more subjective wiggle room, and it almost always benefits a person’s defense to have an attorney because there’s a lot of experience and knowledge involved in beating these charges.

Contesting the Evidence

Sometimes the evidence in these cases may just be the officer’s opinion, and without more than that it is questionable that a conviction will stand. A lawyer can help refute this evidence by providing reasonable doubt about the officer’s testimony and can also help figure out whether what someone is being accused of is enough to amount to reckless driving. A lawyer can research the case law and see if there are any similar cases that support their client’s position and can present this is in a convincing manner in court.

General Reckless Driving v. Other Reckless Driving Charges

The general reckless driving charge is different than other reckless driving charges because it is much broader. Other reckless driving charges have very specific behavior that needs to have occurred in order for a conviction for reckless driving to stand. General reckless driving has a lot more room for interpretation and opinion, and this can make it a lot harder for an officer to prove his case. But on the other side, because there is a lot of room for interpretation, it can be harder to prepare for these cases, because it is difficult to determine exactly how the officer is going to present what he believed happened.

Ways an Attorney Can Help

An attorney can help figure out what happened and can determine whether there is enough evidence from the officer to have a conviction stand. An attorney can figure out a good court strategy to prevent a conviction. If this isn’t possible, then an attorney can argue to have it reduced or at least argue to obtain lesser consequences if a conviction seems inevitable.