Fogey1

Hi, Ron H, and just a reminder to all y'all: ALWAYS GO TO COURT! Put 'em to their proof.

I was ready to fight hard for justice, but neither revenooer bear (air or ground) showed up. That makes it really simple.

The Judge said, "I bet you didn't still believe in Santa Claus?"

I said, "I love it when justice triumphs."

The Judge chuckled and the Prosecutor said, "I wouldn't go that far."

Will
free again

hacker-pschorr

Did you share the entire story in a different thread?

SharkSkin

Good for you, Will! Another example of why you should never just lie down -- er -- bend over.

Nicole

Awesome!!!

danglerb

If you are clearly in the right, or at least have a strong case, I am pretty sure AAA as part of membership will make an appearance for you if the court isn't local. Always contest the tickets.

scott863

WOW! Did you get out of a ticket?

Bill Ball

I've felt like fighting tickets too, but when the court is 300 miles away and I found out that if the ticket ever reached my insurance company, it would only raise my rates $10, I decided to just let it go. I applaud your victory, but I hope the cost of time off work to fight it was less than the ticket fine. Ron is self-employed, so he doesn't have to dock himself a day's pay. He can just make it up at night or on the weekend.

Mike Frye

Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good.

I recently won a court decision against the towing company that delivered my shark in September . Now I have to figure out how to collect because HE didn't show up in court either...

Congrats on your win and 'get out of jail free card'.

Fogey1

Not much to tell. Thanksgiving. 86 in a 65 on I-70. By airplane. There were four troopers on the side of the road, jumping out into traffic to point and wave people over, then jumping back in their cars to abruptly peel out into traffic to get to where the dangerous driver had come to a stop. The whole operation didn't seem very dafe to me.

Bill, I take your point, but this court was only 30 miles away and I'm basically retired.

I'd have probably done yet another defensive driving course except that in Ohio:

The ticket stays on your record,

You have to pay the whole fine, and the school,

You go on probation for a year and have to pay those fees, too,

The only upside is the points are scrubbed.

Ohio seems to have re-designed the whole process to appeal to the DUI-level offender.

heinrich

Congrats Will. Many know I am quite passionate about how inequal and unfair the US system is. They will write tickets en masse and assume you'll pay the ticket, cause THEIR time is worth more to them than going to court against YOU. I've had them in such a hurry that they got my car colour wrong, as well as a totally wrong licence number (not one digit/character matched mine). My driving record is clear. I know how their system works, and you can win or you can lose. Your choice. Will, tell us EXACTLY what you did. Did you read the code, did you have deadlines, what were they, what exactly did you send and to whom?

atb

There's been a huge emphasis on speed infractions in the local area here in the Pac NW which has resulted in a lot of cross jurisdictional (out of county officers writing tickets in the local county) citations. When I was in court last week, one of the defendants (not my client) stated that when the officer (out of county) pulled him over, she had to ask the defendant for their location because she had no idea where they were. The infraction was written for 45 in a 40, yet the report stated 41 in a 35. Dumped.

Many of the infractions on the docket that day just flat out had contradictory information written down by the officers. They are writing them so fast that they can't even keep track. The local courts have added extra dockets during the week to hear all of the additional citations. Pretty crazy.


On the airplane tickets a common basis for getting them dismissed is failure to provide sufficient foundation for the markers painted on the shoulder, or calibration of the timing equipment. You have the officer in the patrol car who writes the citation, and the officer in the air who provides the basis for speed. Neither of them are the ones who painted the mile markers on the road and therefore they are assuming that they are correctly spaced for the speed calculation. That assumption calls for conjecture on the part of the court if evidence isn't submitted by someone who has actually measured the distance between the markers and can confirm it, and can serve as a basis for dismissal. Just like any of the speed measuring equipment, whether radar, laser, or pace (officer's speedo) the timing equipment (stop watch) must be proven to have been properly calibrated in order for the citation to stick. Without proof of calibration of the stop watch, the citation may be dismissed.

Sounds like Will supbpoenaed the officers and they didn't show. Normally that's an automatic win, but I have seen one judge ask the defendant "well what were going to ask of the officer?". The defendant didn't have a response so the judge found it committed. Harsh!

danglerb

Most of the time regardless of the law, its how the judge runs the courtroom.

Last time I was in court, the judge sent everybody who contested the ticket out in the hall to plea bargain with a DA. The DA cut deals right and left for maybe 10 minutes, back in the courtroom the deals went through in a few minutes. I forget exactly when the judge checked each case to see if everybody was present, but if the officer wasn't there the case was dismissed then. I fumbled my case on the stand, turned out the judge owned a porsche and gave me a presumption of speeding.

Bites to lose a ticket when you aren't guilty, but I make up for it.

fraggle

"Presumption of speeding"?

That's a BS citation if I ever heard one. Can I be charged guilty for presumption of theft? I think I'll go arrest everyone.

Ron_H

That makes my day !!

Will, you did it in an oppressive state that uses illegally founded traffic control devices, making the victory even sweeter. Good for you. I hope you have reproduced yourself, so we may benefit by having more of you in our midst.

Adam:

Thanks for the information. I haven't heard of that strategy, but it seems well founded. Of course, I knew that both the airplane officer and the ground officer needed to be present to prevail, but not the certification of the marker measurements.

A word of caution about counting on the non-appearance of the officer. Not too long ago, I had one in Oregon and the cop was no longer with the department. He had been gone for several months and was not expected to testify. Luckily we had an attorney present at the trial because the goon showed up even though he no longer worked for the police there. You never know until the trial is over and the appeal, if there is one, is decided.

Who said the price of liberty is etenal vigilence? He was right. Only we can protect the freedoms we enjoy as some of the luckiest peoples the world has ever known.

Flott Leben

Nice work! If only everyone contested their tickets the officers would have to spend more time in the courtroom and less time patrolling the roads. This would cause a re-evaluation of the whole process and what the trooper's, CHP's, sheriff's, etc. role really should be. I can't tell you how many times I pass a broken-down car only to see an officer a mile or two away pulling someone over for speeding. Is that really their purpose???