[martelds]

I need some advice. I'm out here in Phoenix AZ. I got myself a criminal speeding ticket out in a small town about an 1 1/2 hour outside of Phoenix. So this is my question. I'm lucky to live in AZ where once a year if you get a civil speeding ticket you can take a driving course and have the ticket not add points to your record. So I was doing 93 in a 65. Thanks to my radar detector it would have been much worse. Here is the question. In the Phoenix areas courts they are so busy it's almost a given that they offer you a plea deal and plead the ticket to civil. But I got my ticket out in nowhereville. I had my initial hearing and because the judges said she could not plead it down at this time, I decided to plead not guilty. Now should I represent myself and hope they let me plead it down to civil, which I'm ok with. Luckily the judge made the next meeting a phone call. Or should I pay a local traffic lawyer 1200.00 to try and completely get rid of the ticket. I'm pretty sure the lawyer can at least plead me down to civil, something I might be able to do myself. BTW I have a completely clean driving record with the exception of this ticket. Hey I've had my car for 1 year and this is my first ticket. Should I get a 1200 lawyer or should I just represent myself? That 1200 was my half way point to new custom rims. : If they don't plead it down I'll have a misdemeanor on my record, but because i wasn't doing 96 I can still take the driving course and not get points on my record. Judge said 3 more MPH and I would have been taken to jail.