El Paso Traffic Ticket Firm - Attorney Robert Navar

Interview with Traffic Ticket Lawyer Robert Navar.  Discussing the ins and outs of the traffic courts in El Paso County.  Topics range from Class C misdemeanors including moving violations, paper violations, and warrant removal. He handles speeding tickets, police warrants, and much more.   Robert Navar has been a ticket lawyer for more than a decade defending drivers in El Paso and protecting their driving records.  As an attorney, he knows how to navigate the Municipal court system to get you the best possible outcome for your citation.  If you need a lawyer for traffic tickets and warrants give him a call.   

Experience matters having worked for both the prosecutor's side and the defense side, Robert has honed a skill set that yields amazing results for his clients.  CDL holders seek his counsel to keep their driving records spotless. 

There are plenty of choices when looking for traffic ticket lawyers in the 915 area.  Experience, trust, and due diligence make him the right choice for all your traffic ticket needs.  He simply is the best at fighting traffic tickets and getting warrants removed from your record. Give him a call for a free consultation. 


El Paso Traffic Ticket Firm – Attorney Robert Navar
Address: 11860 Vista Del Sol Dr. #119 El Paso, TX 79936
Phone: 915-503-1600
Website: https://elpasotrafficticket.com
Social Media:  https://www.facebook.com/trafficfirmelpaso
                                https://www.instagram.com/ticketlawyerselpaso/


 

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:04

Okay. We're here with Robert Navarro traffic ticket lawyer here in El Paso, Texas. My name is David and we're going ahead and just going to learn about more of the ins and outs of traffic tickets and traffic ticket law here in El Paso, Texas. Robert, how are you doing today?

Speaker 2: 0:18

Good. Thank you, David. Appreciate you having me.

Speaker 1: 0:21

Yeah, no problem, man. It's a pleasure. Um, well basically what we want our audience to know is just kind of like what a traffic ticket lawyer does. So maybe can kind of explain the ins and outs of that. And, uh, maybe if you, um, let's see, I came to you, I'm like, Hey man, I got a traffic ticket. Can you help me? What would you say to me?

Speaker 2: 0:40

Well, first I would say, uh, absolutely I can help you. And I'm glad that you contacted me. Uh, it's important that, uh, if you get a traffic citation that you, uh, try to address, have it addressed immediately, uh, there are certain time limits that you have to, um, appear to court and you certainly don't want to miss those time limits, uh, and risk having a warrant issued for your arrest. So, uh, it's important that you, uh, either deal with it yourself, uh, or I recommend you contact an attorney who has experience in dealing with traffic tickets. Um, and, and the benefit for hiring an attorney such as myself, is that you, um, we go through and handle your case from the beginning to the end, so that you don't have to worry about going to court. Uh, if you contact my office, we'll take down your information. We'll look to see if, uh, in fact we can pull that up on the online system, or if not, we will contact the court to get more information and we'll file an entry of appearance. And what that means is that we're going to be pleading, not guilty to your citation, and we're going to also be requesting any and all documents that are in possession of the state's, including your, a copy of your actual citation that you received from the officer, as well as the criminal complaint, which is a charging instrument that they use to, uh, formally charge you in a court. Now it is a class C misdemeanor, however, it's still a criminal offense. And so it's very important that you deal with these, uh, because you don't want it affecting your record. And there's a lot of problems that can happen. Uh, if you don't, uh, deal with a traffic ticket.

Speaker 1: 2:33

Yeah. That's good information to know. So, you know, a lot of people will ask me, like if they get a traffic ticket, can they just kind of just put it in their glove box and ignore it? Um, I can imagine that's just a bad idea. Can you explain what would happen if somebody just ignored a traffic citation that they got pulled over?

Speaker 2: 2:50

Yeah, it's a very bad idea because what will happen is normally you have 10 days to 20 days, depending on which court where you have to go to court and they will ask you to, uh, how do you plead if you want to sign a plea form and you can either plead guilty or not guilty if you don't show up within that 10 to 20 day timeframe from the time that you received the citation, the court will actually issue a another citation. And what they will issue is a citation for a violation of promise to appear. And basically what the violate promise to appear is that when the officer gave you the citation and asked you to sign it, you were signing, uh, verifying that you understood that you were receiving a traffic citation and that if you don't appear in court within the time indicated on the ticket, a warrant for your arrest may be issued. And so what most courts are doing now is if they don't get that response from you, whether you pleading guilty or not guilty after the expiration of 20 days, they will go ahead and issue you another citation for violate promise to appear, which will also include with that a warrant for your arrest. So that will, uh, just incur additional fines and warrant fees. And that's something you just definitely want to make sure you avoid happening.

Speaker 1: 4:19

Yeah, I get it. So when it's a class C misdemeanor, what kind of stuff like that you're going to get a warrant, you can get arrested, it could stay on your record. Uh, what ways would that affect you employment opportunities?

Speaker 2: 4:31

Absolutely, absolutely. Especially, uh, very much so employment. Most employers now are doing background checks. Uh, if they see, uh, that you have, uh, active warrant, obviously that's going to, uh, most likely, uh, hinder you from getting that job opportunity. The employer will tell you to go ahead and address your warrant, uh, before we can, uh, seriously consider you. And especially if you're going to be involved in any type of government position, government, uh, will do a check and you absolutely cannot have anything on your record, uh, governments, uh, really, uh, uh, looking at, uh, your criminal history, your record, even though it's a traffic ticket, it definitely, uh, will come up and you'll have to address it. And it puts you in a higher risk category, as far as an employer wanting to hire you. And the reason why is because they don't want to take the possibility of any potential liability down the road, if they hire an individual whom has outstanding tickets, or has a history of traffic tickets, if the, uh, employee is to ever have gotten involved in any type of an accident, uh, injured somebody, the other injured party can potentially Sue the employer for what's called Nagel and trust mint by, uh, hiring that employee knowing or when they knew or should have known that they had a potential, uh, dangerous driving record. So, uh, it's definitely gonna, uh, hurt your chances from getting any type of employment.

Speaker 1: 6:05

Okay. That's good information. Um, let me ask you another question, because like, you know, the past, I used to get traffic tickets and I would just take like a defensive driving class. Well, what was the benefit of hiring an attorney? If I can just go take a defensive driving class?

Speaker 2: 6:19

Well, the benefit for hiring an attorney of course, is that, um, I have a very good track record for getting tickets dismissed, and there is a very good chance that we can get that dismissed because even if you take the defensive driving course, your still going to have to pay a court cost, uh, which court costs are approximately, um, had they have gone up as of late. And you're looking at approximately close to$150 just in court costs, then you have to take the, uh, driving class and most courts were, uh, require you to do a Texas certified approved driving course. So you're looking at spending more money on taking the class, which is usually a six to eight hour class that you'll have to endure if, especially if you're busy, that's definitely takes time out of your day. So hiring a lawyer, such as myself, we can potentially avoid from you haver having to take defensive driving.

Speaker 1: 7:22

Yeah, that's great. Um, save some time and your prices are pretty reasonable, right? Like it, it, like if you were not an attorney now, knowing what, you know, would you recommend everybody, you know, to hire like say you have family out of town, would you ask them to, or guide them to hire an attorney to handle their traffic tickets? Oh,

Speaker 2: 7:44

Absolutely. And the benefit for hiring an attorney is an attorney's going to be more experienced in to know what, uh, the state is required to prove if you go to trial. All my cases that I take on, I always request a trial. And the reason why I do that is because, uh, officers prosecutors for the, uh, district attorney's office, they always make mistakes. And I, uh, am, have become an expert in finding those mistakes and using that to my client's advantage. And so hiring an attorney that has some experience and expertise on what to look for, what questions to ask, uh, how to review the evidence, to determine if there's any, uh, problems or mistakes that, uh, may have been made, which is very much, uh, very often the case. I can bring those up. And I know the appropriate motions to make with the courts that we can try to go ahead and get that dismissed outright so that you don't have to worry about paying court costs, having to, uh, go against your record. And, uh, so I recommend everybody that you, you really should hire an attorney, uh, because you don't, um, you don't have necessarily a want to have to, uh, go through the whole process because it's very intimidating. If you're a lay person and you're going to court trying to get information, and you're asking them what to do. Uh it's it's um, if you don't have the experience, you're not going to know what to look for. So I strongly recommend you hire an attorney.

Speaker 1: 9:23

Yeah. Leave it to the experts, right? Yes, absolutely. So, yeah, you talked about earlier that if people just ignore their ticket, it could turn into a warrant, lead to an arrest, just create more problems than it needs to be. But what happens to, uh, like for example, I see I did all that. I got a warrant. Can you still help us with that?

Speaker 2: 9:42

Yes, absolutely. Uh, so what happens is if you get a warm, because let's say you disregarded the ticket, you didn't go to court in time though. They issue you another citation. Plus the warrant. Most of the time, what will happen is if you contact the court to try to get your warrant resolved, they're going to make you pay the full amount of the warrant, a bond, basically what it is, is a bond for your arrest. If you pay that bond, you can remain, um, uh, you know, uh, you, you can remain not being arrested. You can get a chance to, uh, go to court, but you are going to have to pay that warm bond amount, which is generally, um, anywhere from 250 to$500. So you're going to have to pay that at the very outset. And then you're also going to then have to deal not only with the original citation that you received, let's say you received citation for speeding or, uh, failing to say, nor running a red light, you're going to have to also deal with a citation that was issued for, you're not appearing within the 20 days that the ticket citation instructed you to do. That's a separate ticket that you will also have to deal with and keep in mind that these are class C misdemeanors, which are punishable by up to$500 in fines. That's not including court costs. So, uh, it's very likely that you could end up potentially, uh, having to pay, uh, thousands of dollars, uh, for a ticket that you, uh, have that has turned into a warrant, but I can definitely help you all with that. And I'd be happy to explain the process of what we do when you do have a warrant.

Speaker 1: 11:33

Wow. That sounds like a lot of money for just a traffic ticket. Um, you know, sometimes people just don't want to deal with the headache. What if they just decide to just pay the fine directly or, you know, just pay their ticket off? Well, why can't I do something like that?

Speaker 2: 11:46

Um, well you can do that, but I strongly recommend that you don't do that because once you do that, then that becomes a conviction on your record. And that that conviction will stay on your record. It will make it very difficult. Uh, when, if you are looking for a work and employed is gonna likely do a background check and they'll see that you have a ticket, uh, and that's definitely going to be an issue that you'll have to address with any potential employer. And, uh, also, uh, in, in the state of Texas, they do still suspend licenses for people who have multiple violations. Uh, they, the state, even though they did away with the surcharge program, back in 2019, they're still, uh, suspending licenses for people who have a poor driving record. So you run the potential of not only, um, affecting your potential and, uh, future employment by you just paying the fine. You also run the risk that, uh, because it's a guilty conviction and it'll stay on your record that at some point, the state of Texas could potentially, uh, file a violate, what's called a petition to suspend your license.

Speaker 1: 13:03

Okay. Wow. That's, that sounds like bad. And usually you'll end up saving more money anyway, even after the lawyer fees. Right?

Speaker 2: 13:10

Right. Absolutely. And the lawyer fees are very, very reasonable. Um, we, we, we, we probably charge, um, the lowest rates of any attorney in, in the, uh, El Paso county area. We are very competitive. Uh, we have a tremendous, um, uh, clientele with a tremendous amount of, um, uh, positive reviews. We do not charge very much. Um, and, and, and I'll tell you why we don't charge very much is B and it's because I love what I do. Um, that's part of the reason why I decided to become a lawyer was that, um, my, uh, when I was a lot younger, before I went to law school, I had gotten pulled over by police officers, uh, for minor traffic violations and having to deal with that in the stress of trying to fight it. When, you know, you possibly may be in the right, uh, in going to court and trying to represent yourself. I realized back then that first of all, this is what I love to do is fight, uh, these tickets. And also, uh, I think that, um, through my experience, I've actually enjoy, um, finding the mistakes, because I think that by me doing my job very thoroughly, I am actually helping, uh, you know, police officers to do their job better and to not issue citations when they shouldn't be issuing them. And so, uh, that to me is a, is become a tremendous benefit that I enjoy doing. And, uh, and, uh, just, just, uh, I just love it.

Speaker 1: 14:53

Okay, great. Yeah, you sound, it sounds like that, um, you know, as you're talking, it occurred to me, like, let's say, you know, somebody hires you for their traffic citation. Usually how long does it take for the, um, the whole process for it to resolve itself?

Speaker 2: 15:08

Well, it depends on the court, but for, for, uh, for give you approximation, um, from the time that you hire me, we file an entry of appearance. We request all the documents and the state's custody that they intend to use to prove at trial, we request a trial date, and it depends on the, uh, the amount of, uh, cases that are set for trial by the courts. They, uh, set their own cases, uh, based on, based on their availability, based on the officer's based on when they can get a prosecutor. So it generally can take anywhere from, uh, approximately three to six months on average. But as a defense lawyer, I will tell you that, uh, the longer it takes to get your citation resolved, it's actually maybe to your benefit because over time, uh, witnesses tend to lose their memory, uh, especially police officers who is going to be the primary and only witness that may be testifying against you. Uh, they oftentimes forget because he's pleased officers, uh, deal with issuing thousands of tickets, uh, and in, uh, in a month. And so the longer you push the delay out, generally the better, uh, chances are of you actually ultimately eventually getting a dismissal. Now, if you're on a time constraint, let's say you're, uh, trying to get a job. And your employer wants you to, uh, resolve your traffic tickets that are still outstanding. Uh, oftentimes we will definitely try to put pressure on the courts to go ahead and give you as quickly as possible court dates. Uh, and we will, um, file a motion to expedite your traffic ticket. If, if, if, if that is a requirement that you're asking us to do, but, uh, just, uh, but if not, I say the benefit is that the longer delay that your tied citation takes with the courts, the chances are better that you are going to possibly get the citation dismissed so that you don't have to pay any fines, any court costs, and it won't be on your record.

Speaker 1: 17:26

Great. Great. I just got a couple more questions for you before I let you go. I know you're pretty busy guy, but, uh, you know, obviously you're going to do moving violations, like speeding tickets failure to, you know, signal on a change of lanes. But do you also do like, just paper violations, like when people don't have inspection or registration, no insurance, stuff like that.

Speaker 2: 17:45

Yes, absolutely. And you definitely want to hire an attorney for types of violations, because if you don't deal with a registration citation, not only we can, you possibly get, uh, a warrant issued for your arrest for that, but you also won't be able to register your vehicle. You're likely going to get pulled over again and again and again, and you'll keep getting pulled over and those tickets will keep stacking up. They'll keep piling up. And, uh, you certainly don't want to have, uh, the problem of having to deal with thousands of dollars in fines and court costs and not being able to get your vehicle registered, being able to get a driver's license, the, uh, an outstanding ticket that becomes into a warrant. We'll put a hold on, you having the ability to renew your driver's license. If it expires, you will also get a ticket for that. So those tickets and fines can keep adding up. So you definitely want to hire a lawyer to deal with those paper violations. And I absolutely handle those paper violations, and we've been very successful at getting those dismissed, uh, and just like our traffic tickets. We require the state to prove their case. They have to provide us with all the documents, and oftentimes I can find mistakes in those documents because of my skill and expertise in knowing what to look for, knowing what the state law requires. Um, we can, uh, get those, uh, expedited fast-tracked and very possibly get those dismissed so that you don't have to worry about it so that those holds are removed so that you can go and get your vehicle registered. You can get your license renewed, just simply giving me a call. I can take care of everything. You don't have to worry about putting dates or having to show up to court, or, um, we can handle all that for you. And we, um, have a very good track record in getting those paper violations dismissed, because believe it or not, uh, they do make a lot of mistakes on what they're required to prove. Uh, and, uh, we find those mistakes and we get those tickets dismissed.

Speaker 1: 19:48

Okay, great. I'm looking at your website here and associate guys take care of all class C misdemeanors, animal control tickets, open containers, and other things as well. That's pretty good to know. Um, do you also do other cities around El Paso, like Cano, Tio, horizon city, so coral Clint, Anthony Vinton.

Speaker 2: 20:06

We absolutely do. Uh, technically, uh, all those, um, municipalities that you mentioned, uh, are still within the El Paso county, Texas, so we can handle anything that's within El Paso county, including Clint's, including San Elizario, including horizon, including Vinson, including Anthony, Texas, uh, anywhere within El Paso county district. We, we definitely can handle and help you with that.

Speaker 1: 20:35

Okay. So, you know, I'm not a truck driver myself, but I understand if you have a commercial driver's license or a CDL, you're not eligible to take defensive driving. So, um, obviously you can't guarantee a dismissal every time can you?

Speaker 2: 20:52

No. The, the, the way the law is right now is they're very, very strict on commercial driver's licenses, uh, who get traffic citations. And the reason why is because they, uh, have a tremendous greater responsibility, because they're usually the ones that you see on the roadway driving the semis, the 18 wheelers, uh, the S the state of Texas wants to prevent people from having a license. If they, um, have, uh, multiple violations or collect, uh, convictions on their record, the state does not want you operating those types of vehicles, because they can potentially be very deadly on the road. And employers, certainly aren't going to hire a commercial driver if they have anything on their record. So, uh, the way the law works. So unfortunately, is that you can't do any type of deferred disposition so that it doesn't go on your record. The state wants, uh, and, uh, wants to get a conviction on your record. And, and the reason why is because they have no other alternatives to offer you as a defense lawyer, the best that they can offer you as a reduced fine. So I handle commercial driver's license tickets a little bit differently in that. Um, we will do everything we can to try to get those dismissed. Oftentimes we'll actually end up having to go to a jury trial on those, especially the officer are members, and there are no mistakes on the documents that the state provides us. And we, uh, also handle with the whole appellate process as well. Uh, because we understand that, uh, commercial driver's licenses cannot have anything affecting their record. And so we have to fight those very, very vigorously because the state prosecutors, they have a, um, uh, let's say a stronger desire to try to prosecute commercial driver's license to the full extent, because they don't want, uh, drivers who have, uh, anything on their record driving commercial vehicles. And the also the other tricky thing with commercial driver's licenses is that they can be in their personal vehicle. And if they're in their personal vehicle and Getty citation that still can potentially affect their commercial driver's license and results in that license getting suspended. And what will happen is of course, the employer will no longer be able to hire you if you have a suspended commercial driver's license. So if you have a commercial driver's license, which is a class, a type license in Texas, you definitely need to hire a lawyer because you, uh, the stakes are very, very high, and you cannot have that go on your record. And, um, you can't go to court and ask for defensive driving. They won't allow it. Uh, you, your only option is if you try to represent yourself, they're going to charge you a$500 fine is going to be a guilty conviction on your record, guaranteed. Right? So we have to, uh, you

Speaker 1: 23:52

Have an

Speaker 2: 23:53

Attorney. Absolutely. You have to hire an attorney is no question about it. If you have a commercial driver's license,

Speaker 1: 24:00

Well, Robert, I just want to thank you for your time. And, uh, I know your office is I'll pass a traffic ticket from, and, uh, I know you that you just do mostly focus on traffic tickets. So that's good to know. A few people are looking for a traffic ticket attorney here in the El Paso area. I think this is the guy to go to, and, um, I'll go ahead and post this information on this podcast, so you can see where he is. Um, location is as well as the website and phone number, but Roberts want to thank you very much for coming on in, and, um, during this interview,

Speaker 2: 24:30

Thank you very much for having me. And please again, if anybody gets a traffic ticket, please call me and I guarantee you, I will fight for your ticket to the fullest extent. I will use all my abilities, all my skills, all my law knowledge to get your traffic ticket dismissed.

Speaker 1: 24:46

Yeah. I believe that we're looking at those Google reviews. So anyway, thanks again, and take care.

Speaker 2: 24:50

Okay. Thank you very much. Thank you for having me your work.