Cole

This is a huge misconception. The written statement on the back of the ticket is the cops testimony, he/she does not have to show up!

They might dismiss it at trial if there is additioinal testimony required that the the testimony on the back of the ticket does not cover or there is an error and the cop is not there to cross examine. But the officer simply not being there is not a dismissal.

Cole

.....just for a second imagine if a cop had to spend an hour in court for every 10 min he spent writing a ticket! In a 40 hour work week the cop would only spend about 5.5 hours of time on the street and the rest of it in court. Not including the time to actually do the paper work and travel time.

This is why the statement on the back of the ticket is considered their testimony.

MBMB

This probably depends on your jurisdiction. In Texas, traffic tickets are criminal cases with jury trials and confrontation of witnesses. So the cop has to show up for the state to prove its case. I am not a Colorado lawyer (actually, I'm licensed there, but my license is inactive), so I couldn't speak to Colorado law.

I've long been a fan of the V1 arrows, not because they help me avoid tickets (I could avoid tickets by slowing down every time an arrowless detector beeps) but because they help me go safely faster by telling me which way that bogey is heading (and therefore whether I need to worry about it).

I don't get enough false positives to feel the need for a GPS-enabled radar detector. Escort Live seems like a good idea, though (how many of you use Trapster on your iPhones or iPads?).

A detector with all three features (arrows, GPS, and networking) would be nifty; put it in a magnesium case, and I might give up my V1.

Cole

FWIW, I'm retired Colorado LEO. I know there are exceptions to the method but it can't be many these days with such short handed departments and heavy workloads of court systems.


As for the V1......I would rather know where the man with the gun is rather than just knowing that he is "somewhere" out there and in range of me.

Speedtoys

The thing is..only a fraction of tix are contested.

Round here, they are paid to do court on certain days..so they write tix to appear on those days.

2 or 3 may contest..no big time sink at all.

Even if he spent all DAY in court, that's still a valid work week. I got no problems with that.

On the notes with the ticket..cops take GOOD notes. Your only defense is showing from the moment he leaves, you took better notes at the time.

blown 87

Have you ever used one of these three RD's, a STI-R, Redline or a 9500Ci?

pcar928fan

AMEN TO THAT! Hell, we ought to start a company making just that! Even if we charged exactly what Valentine charges we would crush him and everyone else!

Greg, the IQ is not all that bad! I needed a GPS more than I needed the radar detection but wanted both and that is the only game in town for both...I prefer the Nav to my NUVI as I pointed out earlier too.

NoVector

Thank you for your service.

Fogey1

Jurisdictions do matter. Ohio is as Texas is (I'm admitted but inactive in both states.) Kentucky was also the same way 40 years ago, when I got my last ticket there.

Cole, does that mean the State of Colorado does not have a "points" system and cannot revoke a license for an excessive number of speeding tickets? If not, I regret that the citizens of Colorado live in a police state and have had their rights usurped.

Tom. M

Best bet is to do Discovery (request all notes associated with the ticket). The courts usually don't respond (they have to within two weeks of the court date) and then when you go to court just state that you couldn't prepare a case due to the lack of their notes. The next is to review their radar calibration.

Many jurisdictions here in Washington now have prosecutors on staff that are assigned directly to handle speeding tickets (courts were losing too many cases). Now they respond quickly to discovery requests and you'll have to fight on the technical details. I used to contest myself, but lack of time has forced me to use local lawyers. Now the lawyers work a deal with the prosecutors office that gives you a deferral or dismissal with a fee paid to the prosecutors office...

Speedtoys

Which Right?

blown 87

I have to admit that I have never used a IQ, but the folks over at the RD forum really did not like it at all, and the test results were not good at all, so if it works for you that is great.

Maybe one of the GA guys will get one to test, they have a bunch of RD's plus radars and lasers.

I have friends that will use their police cars for local testing for me.

We have a HEAT unit here that wrote more citations for the last two years per officer than any other department in the US, you simply can not talk these guys out of a ticket, they even gave the Sheriff's best friend a ticket last year.
Not that it matters, but they keep really up to date equipment.

As far as a RD with all those features, the only people that could make that is Bellscort, they have a patent lock on the GPS and I think on the RD networking, the arrows, well any company can make one with that feature now, but none have so far.

The bottom line is that when faced with IO, no detector is any good, so you better be lucky.

it is my understanding that Bellscort owns over 80% of the current RD patents.

jheis

The right to confront and cross-examine the witness against you.

James

Speedtoys

Well said..

blown 87

Just a thought.