texas speeding
Can a speeding ticket be legally amended by the court?
<p>I recently received a speeding ticket (73 in a 55) in Texas. I didn't realize the speed had changed, but that is neither here nor there. The offense occurred on 2-27-2016; however, the officer listed the date on the ticket as 3-27-2016. I called the courts and they said that they could amend it and send me a new copy.</p>

<p>When an officer signs a ticket, he is saying that all information is correct; but if one piece of information, namely the date (an important fact) is incorrect, then I think there is reason to believe the rest could be incorrect as well. </p>

<p>Is this grounds for dismissal? Is this legal? Should I just pay the ticket because I would lose fighting it in court?</p>

<p>The officer is saying that he believes the information to be correct, but a clerical error or typo isn't a question of saying something that you don't believe to be correct, it is a question of incorrectly putting what the officer believes to paper, often in a context where the mistake is obvious, without an intent to mislead.</p>

<p>You would not prevail in court. Courts have broad authority to correct clerical errors even years after the fact. In civil actions in federal court this is authorized by Rule 60. But, almost all courts have this authority with respect to court process which includes traffic tickets.</p>

<p>Since it is clearly a typo, it would not cast doubt on the integrity or accuracy of other statements in the ticket. A typo reflects fat fingers, not dishonesty.</p>
