It is usually at the judge’s discretion to impose a lighter sentence if first time offenders have a clean driving history prior to being charged with reckless driving.
The difference between VA and CA reckless driving is in VA it is a criminal record.
我在VA和加州的驾驶记录良好，而且是首次。上Fairfax District Court法庭前有几个问题请教：
1. 出庭时到底要Plea "Guilty" 还是"Not Guilty" 。 据说如果Plea "Guilty" 就连向法官陈述事件请求减罪的机会都没有。法官会直接定罪。是这样吗？看到有帖子说出庭当天见法官前可以和prosecutor 讨论Plea "Guilty"可以减罪到多少，真是这样吗？据说我将去的General District Court in Fairfax是非常繁忙和严苛的。
2. 出庭前要准备什么。有朋友建议我画图显示当时路由窄变宽(one lane to four lanes)，所以加速。但我觉得用处可能不大。警察说我67mph， 我没有证据证明他不对。有人建议查 speedometer，相信即使查出不对法官也很难相信。所以我会带新办的VA driver license，VA和CA clean driving record， 也会画个图备用。Anything else you would suggest?
