Kevin K

This is my follow-up to my bad ticket story that I posted back on September 9. It was the unmarked cop SUV with non-uniformed cop rapidly approaching, then tailing, then riding parallel, then cutting back over and then chasing for a while without lights when I accelerated away from him, all of which led to a ticket for 115 mph. It would be a five point violation here in Maryland and a $530 fine.

The post received over 120 replies and I got some good advice for avoiding the mistakes I made and on how to handle the impending court case. That thread now been moved to the OT forum.

The wheels of justice finally spun and my case was heard yesterday in the District Court of Maryland.

One area of advice taken - I did hire an attorney and this helped given the gravity of the offense.

I plead "not guilty" and thus the cop (who unfortunately did show up despite two continuances), my wife and I were sworn in.

Cop's story was not at all in sync with what had transpired. I can either give him the benefit of the doubt and assume that he simply didn't recall the facts from four months ago or else he had no problem whatsoever lying under oath. I'm shading toward the latter.

Cop testifies that he was in full uniform and that he observed a "silver Porsche convertible at a speed of approximately 65-70 mph in the 55 mph zone. He testified that he approached and pulled parallel so that we could see his sleeve insignia and thus slow down. As he pulled up along side of us, we took off at a very high rate of speed and he fell into full pursuit. When his Tahoe's speedometer read 115 mph (its maximum), the Porsche was still rapidly accelerating and pulling away from him. At this point, he turned on his lights."

As predicted, his version of the story was very different from ours especially about the uniform, how long he rode parallel, his tailing distance, etc.

Now the good part about having the lawyer. When asked, the cop had no speedometer calibration certificate and could not state when or even if a calibration was done because in his words, "he was not in a vehicle normally used for traffic."

Lawyer makes a motion first for acquittal and when that was denied, another motion made was granted. This motion was granted because the state cannot prove the actual speed; thus the violation is reduced from 115 mph to 74 mph and goes from 5 points down to 2 points.

Next, we go through the mitigating circumstances. I tell about my wife and I getting spooked about this guy who was NOT in uniform riding along side of us for a while after approaching very rapidly, etc, etc. Cop interrupts to state that he never came up along side of us. This contradicts his earlier testimony that he pulled along side so that we could see his sleeve insignia.

Judge says he believes that i was going the stated speed but given the state's problem in proving the speed and given my clean record and my voluntarily completing the on-line defensive driving course (National Highway Safety), he reduces the speed down again from 74 to 64 mph (down to 1 point) and cuts the fine in half.

So final disposition is a one point ticket for doing 64 in a 55 mph zone and a $265 fine. The one point is below the threshold where it would affect my insurance rates, so it is a good outcome.

I could appeal it and get the cop's activity logs showing he was not in uniform, what he did that day, etc. and he may not show up for Circuit Court knowing that he didn't have the calibration documents. Lawyer suggests that I just let it go and don't spend the time or the money or risk getting a new judge who may rule differently. So, I'll let it go at that.

Summary:

1. Had I yielded the left lane to this guy on this two lane stretch of I-270, he likely would have whizzed on by and this whole incident would not have happened. Doing 65 -70 mph on that stretch of highway is easily within the flow of traffic. Especially when in the Porsche, I will not use the left lane except for passing.

2. If I'm ever stopped by a plain clothes cop, I will discreetly snap a cell phone picture to show that he was not in uniform.

3. The cop will lie or (not get the facts straight), so count on that.

4. For a big offense, lawyer (especially one who knows the judges) is very helpful.

5. The car can get up to 115 mph+ in very short order (and can outrun a Chevy Tahoe for whatever that's worth) with no problem whatsoever.

6. The on-line defensive driving course does help you look good with the judge (and gets me an insurance discount with GEICO).


Anyway, thanks for all your advice, empathy and suggestions - even the criticisms were worthwhile.

Have a healthy, safe and happy holiday. Be careful driving.

Kevin K

Landmule

I'm glad things worked out for you. I have a close friend that is both an attorney and an aggressive driver - much of what you describe is familiar to me from stories he's told.

savyboy

Wow, thanks for the effort to post. Good stuff here for us to consider and be aware of.

Glad to hear it worked out better than worse. Best of luck in the future!

fast1

There's a lot of lessons learned from your post. The biggest thing you had going for you is your clean record. In the couple of court appearances that I had, the very first thing the judge checked was my driving record.

I would expect there will almost always be significant differances between the testimonies of the police and the ticketed person. The judge has to decide who is more believable, absent concrete proof, and a clean record tips the balance in your favor. In my cases I was ticketed for going 20 MPH over the posted limit, and in both cases I was given PBV and fined court costs, which at that time were around $15.

If someone were trailing me in the suspicious manner that you describe, I would immediately make a 911 call. There have been too many reports in my area of people pretending to be cops pulling over unsuspecting drivers, and then robbing them or worse.

NA011

Kevin,
Thank you for the update & I think we all learned a lesson here.

Jlangmd

You're not kidding. I have set my limit alarms for 150km/h which is the speed at which we risk vehicle seizure here in Ontario while highway driving, and I have heard the beep when accelerating in 3rd gear onto the highway. A moment's inattention and that speedometer just flies up.

cole328

dude...that's not a bad outcome that's a great outcome ur lucky!! change the title of your post

mdrums

How much did the lawyer cost?

Congrat's on the outcome!

Crazy Canuck

A long time ago an officer set me up to admit to a speeding infraction.

He told me he caught me on STATIONARY RADAR. Now, I know I was going a LOT faster so I didn't admit to anything. Anyway, he comes back and said he was going to opposite direction but it looked like I was moving.

Right then and there I learned to shut my mouth and not to admit to anything.

Cops lie and they have selective memories. Not all, but the bad ones ruin it for all of them.

rmillnj

In the last couple of years I have had two different situations where I was pulled over and told an out and out lie by a cop. In both cases I politely stood my ground and told them that what they were saying was impossible.

The one cop told me he had got me on radar going 65 in a 50 when he came at me head on. Only problem was I had a radar detector that never went off until he turned around and pulled behind me. I know when I saw him I was not gointg 65 but just over 55. I told him the radar detector never went off and I knew exactly what my speed was and it was not 65. After checking my license out he came back and just said be careful pulling out. Not even a mention about a warning or anything else.

The other cop was a bit tougher. I passed him doing under 60 on a road marked for 50 but I was with the flow of traffic. He was out of the car writing a ticket on someone else. I think the Fabspeed exhaust made him think I was going faster. Anyway about a mile later he pulls me over and sayes he had timed me. Only problem with that story was that after passing him, I had to stop for a traffice light and then never go back to speed because the divided highway went down to 2 lanes and through a circle and then there was another traffic light. The speed limit on all of those roads is only 45 and I was in a line of traffic moving at that speed.

He wanted to know if I knew what the speed limit was on the divided road and how fast I was really going. I told him I knew the speed limit since I drive that road every day but I would only say I thought I was doing the speed limit. He tried to tell me he paced me doing 65, but I told him that was impossible since I had to stop for the light before he probably even got back in his car.

In the end he gave me a warning. I think he was on a power trip and just wanted to lord it over someone with a Porsche. I guess what saved me was a clean driving record. I imagine if I had had a ticket or two, I would have gotten the ticket despite the fact there was no way he could have paced me.

Jon70

Congratulations on the outcome. The lesson learned here (besides not speeding of course) is that getting a lawyer is key. If this happened in Virginia (my state), you likely would have fared far worse.

Edgy01

From personal experience I know that cops DO LIE under oath and think nothing about doing it. We have a Gestapo state out there. It's good to see that in your case the judge had to wake up to the inconsistent testimony. I would think someone some day will develop a small black box that we can plug into your cars to prove in court what speed we were really doing as opposed to the testimony of some cop with a hard-on for Porsche drivers.

Ray S

Thanks for the update. Sounds like a pretty good outcome.

MUSSBERGER

Well done

Eric - Plug Guy

Damn lucky man. Count your blessings, and good decision making.