Speeding ticket with errors

[hello_man]

What is the name of your state? Washington

My wife got a speed ticket for going on 43 in a speed limit of 25. The officer was going in the opposite direction and as soon as he crossed my wife's car, he turned and stopped her. He asked her if she knows what's the speed limit and before she could say anything he said its 25 and she was going at 43.

Later we found the following.

1. the speed limit was actually 35. There is some additional lane work going and there was a sign with says that on a particular day there will be 1 lane and speed limit will be 25. We think the officer incorrectly assumed that the speed limit was 25, where everywhere it was posted as 35.

2. The officer properly didn't measure the speed at which my wife was going. He just assumed she was going fast and stopped her.

3. On the ticker, he initialy wrote 35 as the speed limit and then overwrote 25. Similarly the speed she was oging was initially 42 and then he made in 43.

Base don the above, does it looks like the ticket can be voided based on the above errors.

thanks for the help'

 

[Zigner]

What is the name of your state? Washington

My wife got a speed ticket for going on 43 in a speed limit of 25. The officer was going in the opposite direction and as soon as he crossed my wife's car, he turned and stopped her. He asked her if she knows what's the speed limit and before she could say anything he said its 25 and she was going at 43.

Later we found the following.

1. the speed limit was actually 35. There is some additional lane work going and there was a sign with says that on a particular day there will be 1 lane and speed limit will be 25. We think the officer incorrectly assumed that the speed limit was 25, where everywhere it was posted as 35.

2. The officer properly didn't measure the speed at which my wife was going. He just assumed she was going fast and stopped her.

3. On the ticker, he initialy wrote 35 as the speed limit and then overwrote 25. Similarly the speed she was oging was initially 42 and then he made in 43.

Base don the above, does it looks like the ticket can be voided based on the above errors.

thanks for the help'

Your wife's defense would be that she was not going over the speed limit. In your entire post, you never said that

 

[lwpat]

In WA the officer does not appear at the hearing. You can plead not guilty and have pictures and testimony as to the actual speed limit. The judge can dismiss or find her guilty of 43 in a 35.

 

[hello_man]

I was reading further and I found that when an officer issue a ticket, he is upposed to fill information including his name on the ticket. On my wife's ticket, the name of the officer was not present. Can this invalidate the ticket?

We are planning to contest and then request discovery of evidence and also planning to subpeona the officer. Does it sound like a good idea.

OPur defense would be -

1. Incorrect speed limit posted on the ticket - 35 vs 25.
2. Errors on ticket, so many overwriting implies officer was not sure of what is the speed limit in the area and waht speed my wife was going. Additionally the officer didn't mentioned his name on the ticket as required by law (mentioning rule # etc).
3. More over as the officer was going in the opposite lane, he probably didn't measure the actual speed by SMD or has possibility of errors.

We will appretiate feedback on the above defense.

Question - Is it better to not request presence of officer or should we request him to be present?

thanks

 

[racer72]

1. Not relevent, she was still exceeding the speed limit. You can get a speed survey from the entity that sets the speed limit for that stretch of road, this is the best method of proving the set speed limit.

2. The overwriting is again not relevent. If the ticket supplies other identification of the officer, such as a badge number, it is legal.

3. What method was used to determine her speed, this will be on the ticket. The two way radars used on many police cars have proven to be very accurate and courts will accept the use of the radar as de facto evidence, this means the courts accepts the reading as fact unless you can prove there were errors in the use of the radar.

Based on your post and from what I have seen, if you wife has a clean driving record she can ask for a deferral from prosecution. She will still have to pay the fine but if she keeps her nose clean for one year, the ticket goes away. Get another ticket though and both can hit her driving record (and insurance company) at the same time.

 

[The Occultist]

More over as the officer was going in the opposite lane, he probably didn't measure the actual speed by SMD or has possibility of errors.

Nice try, but technology has vastly improved over the last decade alone. The radar guns, at least all that I've seen, compensate for the speed at which the officer is driving his car, and uses that to ACCURATELY determine the speed of the object at which the gun is pointed.

I've still yet to see anything that says your wife wasn't speeding. 43 mph, whether in a 25 zone or a 35 zone, is still speeding!