What is the name of your state? Florida
I could not believe what happened at trial. I received a failure to stop at a stop sign ticket a few months ago and decided to not pay the fine, but rather request a hearing. I did so because I was truly innocent. The officer assumed I ran the stop sign because he saw me pause in the middle of the intersection and look to the left, where he was parked. I only did so, not because I had failed to stop, but because I am a driver and my GPS changed the direction for me to turn as soon as I entered the intersection. It had been telling me to proceed straight, but then suddenly indicated a right turn, and then immediately changed to indicate a left turn. The aberrant behavior of the GPS is what made me pause and took each way after entering the intersection. My " trail " was by Zoom. I had prepared for trial. I had discovered prior to trial the stop sign had been moved closer to the intersection after I was ticketed as it had been apparently not been positioned in the correct spot initially. I had two witnesses who were willing to testify that they knew the sign was moved closer to the intersection a week or so after I was ticketed. I also was aware that the police were doing a ticketing operation because I saw one officer who had detained a car a few yards up the road. and I also saw the other officer lying in wait to catch someone run the stop sign. My trial was held by Zoom. I never got to tell the judge my side, in effect, my defense because she started interrupting me continually with assumptions, berating me by telling me I was " not a very good cameraman" as I attempted to live stream from the exact spot that I received the ticket. Told me that my camera work was making her nauseous, and then cut me off again as I attempted to tell what happened. She then told me my defense was that I stopped at the sign, that I should have said that in the first place, she would take the case under advisement, and then when I asked" may I say something" She said no and ended the Zoom meeting. Her conduct was outrageous, to say the least. Then I researched and found out that she described herself as "Judge Judy" of Traffic Court. Needless to say, I looked online days later and see that she found me guilty and fined me. I want to appeal.. She literally prevented me from presenting my defense, never even allowed me to state about my witnesses, made comments to belittle and intimidate me, and continually interrupted me not to clarify what I was stating, but rather to make a personal comment such as I was not a good cameraman, or that my filing was making her nauseous, or tell me I should have opened by saying I stopped at the stop sign. Please note. I never told her I stopped at the stop sign. I had stopped on the side of the exit from the apartment complex to set my GPS. I never got to state that I then actually stopped again, and this time at the stop sign. What recourse do I have. I really think that the hearing officer is abusing people at hearing in an effort to put together some footage to pitch to a tv show as the new Judge Judy.
I could not believe what happened at trial. I received a failure to stop at a stop sign ticket a few months ago and decided to not pay the fine, but rather request a hearing. I did so because I was truly innocent. The officer assumed I ran the stop sign because he saw me pause in the middle of the intersection and look to the left, where he was parked. I only did so, not because I had failed to stop, but because I am a driver and my GPS changed the direction for me to turn as soon as I entered the intersection. It had been telling me to proceed straight, but then suddenly indicated a right turn, and then immediately changed to indicate a left turn. The aberrant behavior of the GPS is what made me pause and took each way after entering the intersection. My " trail " was by Zoom. I had prepared for trial. I had discovered prior to trial the stop sign had been moved closer to the intersection after I was ticketed as it had been apparently not been positioned in the correct spot initially. I had two witnesses who were willing to testify that they knew the sign was moved closer to the intersection a week or so after I was ticketed. I also was aware that the police were doing a ticketing operation because I saw one officer who had detained a car a few yards up the road. and I also saw the other officer lying in wait to catch someone run the stop sign. My trial was held by Zoom. I never got to tell the judge my side, in effect, my defense because she started interrupting me continually with assumptions, berating me by telling me I was " not a very good cameraman" as I attempted to live stream from the exact spot that I received the ticket. Told me that my camera work was making her nauseous, and then cut me off again as I attempted to tell what happened. She then told me my defense was that I stopped at the sign, that I should have said that in the first place, she would take the case under advisement, and then when I asked" may I say something" She said no and ended the Zoom meeting. Her conduct was outrageous, to say the least. Then I researched and found out that she described herself as "Judge Judy" of Traffic Court. Needless to say, I looked online days later and see that she found me guilty and fined me. I want to appeal.. She literally prevented me from presenting my defense, never even allowed me to state about my witnesses, made comments to belittle and intimidate me, and continually interrupted me not to clarify what I was stating, but rather to make a personal comment such as I was not a good cameraman, or that my filing was making her nauseous, or tell me I should have opened by saying I stopped at the stop sign. Please note. I never told her I stopped at the stop sign. I had stopped on the side of the exit from the apartment complex to set my GPS. I never got to state that I then actually stopped again, and this time at the stop sign. What recourse do I have. I really think that the hearing officer is abusing people at hearing in an effort to put together some footage to pitch to a tv show as the new Judge Judy.