Michigan Constitutional Rights Denied

[DearbornJ]

In one of you posts the question was as follows:
If I schedule a formal hearing in front of the judge (this is one of the options spelled out on the back of the ticket if I choose to "deny responsibility") and demand a "jury trial" would the judge have any lawful basis to deny me a jury trial?

My experience was the sound of the Gavel and Guilty, pay the clerk after asking for a Jury trial.

My questions are one (1), were my civil rights violated or denied and two (2) do I have a recourse.

In my opinion they were.

 

[army judge]

In one of you posts the question was as follows:
If I schedule a formal hearing in front of the judge (this is one of the options spelled out on the back of the ticket if I choose to "deny responsibility") and demand a "jury trial" would the judge have any lawful basis to deny me a jury trial?

My experience was the sound of the Gavel and Guilty, pay the clerk after asking for a Jury trial.

My questions are one (1), were my civil rights violated or denied and two (2) do I have a recourse.

In my opinion they were.

Your opinion is noted.
Thanks for sharing with us.

Now, here's the "legal poop" on jury trials in traffic cases.

In my state, Texas, you can demand a jury trial for almost any charge, including a divorce proceeding, an eviction, traffic cases, etc...
Texas, and a few other states CONSTITUTIONALLY guarantee a defendant a jury trial.

On the other hand, in most of the other 49 states, you don't have the right to a jury trial in a traffic case.
That is to say, there is no constitutional guarantee to a jury trial.
This means a judge alone gets to decide your guilt or innocence.

It doesn't take anyone without a law degree to see the deck is probably stacked against you, the dice shaved, and the games are scams.
When only a judge is present, traffic violation trials tend to be fairly informal—certainly more so than trials are portrayed in movies or on TV.
Informality is particularly likely when the only witness for the state is the police officer and no prosecutor is present. (This is common in many states.)


Some states (including Florida, Massachusetts, YOUR State of Michigan, Rhode Island, Oregon, and Washington) have completely "decriminalized" traffic offenses. In most cases, this means that the procedures for fighting traffic tickets are much less formal than in states where traffic cases are decided in criminal court. Though this may sound reassuring, unfortunately it also means that along with formality you lose some of the important rights and procedures guaranteed in criminal court.

The Judge of The 37th District Court, (explains it for you) all testimony is recorded, and every person who appears before the Court has a right to have his case tried by the Judge, or by a jury of six citizens (except in Small Claims cases and civil infraction traffic violations.) All appeals from the 37th District Court are made to the Macomb County Circuit Court.

http://www.37thdistrictcourt.net/
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