Wife lost fix it ticket and officer made mistake

[desperate23]

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

My wife got a tinted window ticket November 2008. We went and had the tint removed within 5 days. They next day we could not find the ticket. We called the court clerk to ask for a duplicate. They told us at that the ticket was not yet in the system and to wait about 20 days or so. We continued to call at least once a week for nearly 8 months. Yet they kept telling us its not in the system.

End of June 2009 we had to return the vehicle as the lease was over. The dealer gave us a check list noting no issues with the vehicle. Around end of August we received a letter noting the ticket is now in the system as the officer had written the wrong violation code and that what caused the delay.

We called the clerk to let them know we returned the vehicle. And they tell us there is nothing they can do and we have to see the judge.

My question is will my wife be in trouble for losing the ticket.? After all had the officer not written the wrong code and it took 10 months to hit the system, we would have been able to get the duplicate or at least get it done before we returned the vehicle.

Thank you and GOD bless.

[FlyingRon]

She's not in trouble for losing the ticket. She's in trouble for operating an illegally equipped vehicle and must pay the fine for that.

[I_Got_Banned]

1. No, she won't be in trouble for losing the ticket.

2. As for the late filing, they have a full year for them to file it in the system so the 8 months will not get her out of it.

3. a. You didn't mention whether she's received an amendment correcting the violation code or not. If she did, then the citation becomes valid. At that point, she would have to get the the citation signed off by the Sheriff or the CHP certifying that the correction was made. But with no car, she won't be able to get the citation signed off so she might be stuck paying the full fine (instead of just the $25 administrative fee for the correction).

3. b. If she didn't get an amendment, then she can appear in court, plead not guilty to the wrong charge, and when trial comes she can attempt to prove that she was not guilty of the violation stated on the citation.

It might be of great help to her if she were to request a copy of the citation from the court as that may help her get things sorted out. Once she did that, she needs to check and see if the violation is marked as "correctable" or "non-correctable".

It might also help if you would post what violation she was cited for (the code for the wrong one) and whether she's received an amendment or not.

BTW, the dealer checklist will not serve as proper proof of correction that the violation was corrected.

[desperate23]

Hello "I got banned"

Thank you...

The code the officer wrote is: 26780 (should have been 26708) and they did send us a correction/amendment 8 month later after returning the car..

We are not trying to get out of the fine. We tried and called every week to pay our due..

We dont want to blame the officer although he was also at fault...we just want to pay our fine and go home.

We are just concerned since we dont have the car and the ticket was lost that my wife my get in trouble--may be jail??

How will the judge handle the car being returned..we have dealer docs to prove that??

thanks again

[I_Got_Banned]

Originally Posted by desperate23

The code the officer wrote is: 26780 (should have been 26708) and they did send us a correction/amendment 8 month later after returning the car..

Well, then the citation is still valid.

Originally Posted by desperate23

We are just concerned since we dont have the car and the ticket was lost that my wife my get in trouble--may be jail??

There is absolutely no way she will go to jail for losing the ticket. The worst that can happen is she'll have to pay the fine in full instead of just the correction fee but even then, her losing the ticket (and assuming this matter is handled in a timely manner) has no affect on the outcome.

Originally Posted by desperate23

How will the judge handle the car being returned..we have dealer docs to prove that??

It is difficult to say. The law requires that the correction be made and the ticket signed off. She made the correction (did you get a receipt from the tint shop that removed the tint? That might help) but the ticket was not signed off. So its up to the judge to decide to dismiss it (and only pay the $25) or order that the full fine (approximately $163) be paid.

When she appears in court before the judge, have her explain the situation, and see what the judge will decide. There won't be any jail time.

Again, the dealer docs are not valid proof that the tint was removed. The requirement is that the citation be signed off by either the Sheriff or the CHP, otherwise the full fine amount is required. Still, only the judge can tell you what he/she can do.

Originally Posted by desperate23

thanks again

No problem. Good luck!

[desperate23]

Thank you for your replies. We are OK with paying anything we feel we owe. We figured since the officer made the mistake, thus not allowing us a chance for a copy....Yes I know we lost the ticket as well...so two mistakes here...

No we don't have a receipt from the tint place as they remove it for free (part of the deal when they put it on)...

But the dealer lease return sheet sheet shows a break down of the vehicles condition and it cited no issues. Had their been a tint they would have had us remove it or noted it and charge us I believe..

Anyways our biggest fear was jail and you answered that. Thank you so much