I was pulled over this morning going 33 in a 25. This doesn't make me nervous since it's only 8 mph but the fact it was in a school zone does. The infraction occurred in Marietta and the officer used a laser. What can I expect in court? I have been to Cobb County court and Paulding County Court both are completely different. Cobb County has a solicitor there to talk to before seeing the judge and Paulding doesn't, you either plead guilty or not guilty and set up a court date. Also, the school zone ceases at 8:30 and the infraction occurred at 8:21. Any chance this could help strengthen my case? And I didn't have to sign the citation, don't usually have to.

The City of Marietta Court has a reasonable judge (Roger Rozen) and solicitor (Robert Donovan). When you go to court and they call your name out, announce “pre-trial.” This means that you want to discuss your case with the solicitor. If you have a decent driving record, he may very well offer you a “no points” resolution to your case, which usually means the infraction won’t show on your record. In exchange, you may have to pay a modest fine and attend traffic school on a Saturday. If the solicitor doesn’t make a desirable offer, you can still ask for a bench trial with Judge Rozen, or bind the case over to the Cobb Co. State Court. There, you would have a new opportunity to negotiate with the court there. 

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