Charged with something not a crime!?

[zohyeahz]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

This happened in New Jersey.

I was at Walgreens with a friend who got a parking ticket for parking in a Handicapped zone. The officer asked me which car was mine, and I pointed to MY car, which was parked in a regular place. He told me to get in the car. I got in the car and he came over and told me to spit out my candy (I was chewing caramels.) Afraid to get a littering ticket, I finished the candy and swallowed. This made him mad and he wrote me a ticket for "improper parking" because my car was parked crooked in the parking spot (I had a tire over the line.)

Here is the NJ Status on "Improper Parking" that I was charged with:

N.J.S.A. 39:4-138 - Places where parking prohibited; exceptions; moving vehicle not under one's control into prohibited area.

Except when necessary to avoid conflict with other traffic or in compliance with the directions of a traffic or police officer or traffic sign or signal, no operator of a vehicle shall stand or park the vehicle in any of the following places:

Within an intersection;
On a crosswalk;
Between a safety zone and the adjacent curb or within at least 20 feet of a point on the curb immediately opposite the end of a safety zone;
In front of a public or private driveway;
Within 25 feet of the nearest crosswalk or side line of a street or intersecting highway, except at alleys;
On a sidewalk;
In any appropriately marked "No Parking" space established pursuant to the duly promulgated regulations of the Commissioner of Transportation;
Within 50 feet of a "stop" sign;
Within 10 feet of a fire hydrant;
Within 50 feet of the nearest rail of a railroad crossing;
Within 20 feet of the driveway entrance to any fire station and on the side of a street opposite the entrance to any fire station within 75 feet of said entrance, when properly signposted;
Alongside or opposite any street excavation or obstruction when stopping, standing, or parking would obstruct traffic, when properly signposted;
On the roadway side of any vehicle stopped or parked at the edge or curb of a street;
Upon any bridge or other elevated structure upon a highway, or within a highway tunnel or underpass, or on the immediate approaches thereto except where space for parking is provided;
In any space on public or private property appropriately marked for vehicles for the physically handicapped pursuant to P.L.1977, c.202 (C.39:4-197.5), P.L.1975, c.217 (C.52:27D-119 et seq.) or any other applicable law unless the vehicle is authorized by law to be parked therein and a handicapped person is either the driver or a passenger in that vehicle. State, county or municipal law enforcement officers or parking enforcement authority officers shall enforce the parking restrictions on spaces appropriately marked for vehicles for the physically handicapped on both public and private property.
No person shall move a vehicle not lawfully under his control into any such prohibited area or away from a curb such distance as is unlawful.

Amended 1948,c.342,s.2; 1951,c.23,s.77; 1981,c.20,s.1; 1989,c.201,s.1.

This law doesn't even cover parking on private property except for handicapped spaces, which I was not parked in.

HELP!?

[I_Got_Banned]

Originally Posted by zohyeahz

This law doesn't even cover parking on private property except for handicapped spaces, which I was not parked in.

HELP!?

So as far as you're concerned, and unless you're parked in a space designated as handicapped parking, you could -if you choose to- park in a way to block the entrance to the parking lot and you would not be in violation?

[You Are Guilty]

I fail to see the problem. If you're not guilty of "improper parking", you do what everyone else who is not guilty of an offense does, you plead "not guilty".

[patstew]

I think we're getting a rose-tinted version of the story, with parts omitted.