Officer no show in court?!?!?

What is the name of your state?VA

I was simply curious.... How often do cases/tickets get dropped because of an officers failure to show up on the court date?

Or in other words:

How often do officers not show up for court dates regarding tickets (running a red light, specifically)

Thanks alot everybody

The odds of an officer not showing for court is about the same as the odds of an officer observing you run a red light.

thanks

thanks for your reply, any body else have other experiences?

You can increase the odds of the cop not showing up by obtaining several continuances, always citing investigation or legal research -- which is true, BTW. Eventually, you'll have to go to court but if it's several months or even more than a year after the offense, your chances are much better.

James Young said:

You can increase the odds of the cop not showing up by obtaining several continuances, always citing investigation or legal research -- which is true, BTW. Eventually, you'll have to go to court but if it's several months or even more than a year after the offense, your chances are much better.

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I wish more people would do that ... we can use the overtime out here. Two hours minimum at time and a half per appearance! And out in 5 minutes! Woo-hoo!

- Carl

Of course that won't work in Washington state. Citing officers do not automatically attend court for citations of $750 or less, the must be subpeonaed. The attending prosecuting attorney represents the officer's interests. Many folks don't realize this till the day they show up in court. Most judges have been lenient and have granted contiuances.

CdwJava writes:

I wish more people would do that ... we can use the overtime out here. Two hours minimum at time and a half per appearance! And out in 5 minutes! Woo-hoo!

The continuances I was writing about would occur well before the actual court date and the officer would be notified not to show up or – far more likely – would be there for the dozen other cases on the docket. The advantage of multiple continuances is to (1) put as much chronological distance between the alleged offense and your court date as possible so that the officer, if he even shows up, won’t remember the incident and will rely solely on his notes (which you will have gotten during discovery) and (2) increase the likelihood of the LEO being on another assignment and not show at all. A final possible advantage is that most judges are more reluctant to penalize an offense that is more than a year old.

Racer72 writes:

Of course that won't work in Washington state. Citing officers do not automatically attend court for citations of $750 or less. . .

That just rapes the fundamental right to face one’s accuser. When the prosecuting attorney begins to cite what the officer said or to present his notes, does the term "hearsay" not just leap out at you? And hows does one cross-examine an absent witness. Sounds to me like they're just more interested in getting as many cases as possible through the system while expending the least amount of energy and resources. In other words, Yes! It's all about the money.

The attending prosecuting attorney represents the officer's interests.

Whoa!! All along we have been told that LEOs do not have an interest in the case, that they are neutral and therefore have no reason to lie under oath. No, this comes along and it seems that they all of a sudden have “interests.” Further, those “interests” are not represented by an independent agent but by the opponent of the defendant. Does the word “bias” come immediately to mind?

James Young said:

The continuances I was writing about would occur well before the actual court date and the officer would be notified not to show up or – far more likely – would be there for the dozen other cases on the docket.

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Ah, if only the courts were that organized. Ours isn't.

But, the courts often get miffed at people that play these games, too. They also read the books that cite this as a delaying tactic.

And since I have never seen it used - even by attorneys, it doesn't appear to be one that has gotten legs, so to speak.

But, hey - go ahead and try it. Ain't no skin off my nose ... and in my county it just means almost certain overtime.

- Carl

i guess it depends on many things. here in las cruces,nm, the city police got a bad rap in the press a couple of months ago for not showing up in court.
my first ticket was dismissed cuz the deputy didnt show up. i fully expect my second case to get dismissed as i just found out last week the the deputy was activated in the military and, as we speak, is in Iraq. i seroiusly doubt the DA will be able to get him here by january 13.

bhazzard said:

What is the name of your state?VA

I was simply curious.... How often do cases/tickets get dropped because of an officers failure to show up on the court date?

Or in other words:

How often do officers not show up for court dates regarding tickets (running a red light, specifically)

Thanks alot everybody

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It happens a lot in Indiana, though it depends on the county. Cops don't show up and the cases get dismissed. If you continue it several times that increases your odds they won't show up. And if you can get the hearing scheduled between Christmas and New Years that helps.

Perusing the other posts, I can't imagine that a prosecuting attorney would be allowed to testify as to what an absent police officer would have testified. You never know though.

racer72 said:

Of course that won't work in Washington state. Citing officers do not automatically attend court for citations of $750 or less, the must be subpeonaed. The attending prosecuting attorney represents the officer's interests. Many folks don't realize this till the day they show up in court. Most judges have been lenient and have granted contiuances.

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How could a prosecuting attorney introduce evidence regarding what the officer's testimony would be?

I suppose it depends on the nature of the hearing. Each state has different laws in this regard, in some states traffic citations may not be sunject to all the same rules ... and may even be civil as opposed to criminal issues.

In CA an uninvolved officer can testify for another officer at a preliminary hearing, so I suppose there could be similar rules in some states for traffic offenses as well.

- Carl

My Money Is On Him Appearing

In the VA jurisdictions that I have been to court in, the court dates on the tickets are usually when the officer is scheduled to be in court. So if an officer writes say 10 speeding tickets on a shift, odds are that every person that got a summons from that particular officer would be scheduled to appear on the same day in court. The same thing would apply to continuances as well, as I have witnessed the judge ask the officer when his next scheduled date to be in court is, and then the clerk schedules the continuance accordingly. I know judges frown on officers not showing up for court, because the judges feel that the officer is wasting everybody's time and also it would mean dismissing all the cases for all the summons' the officer wrote up for the people who actually showed up to contest their tickets that day (no fines to levy). So I would say that the chances of an officer not showing up to court here in VA are slim because more than likely you are not the only case that they are there for. AND if you are gonna play the 'continuing' game, you'd better give the judge a continuance motion worth granting. Hope this helps...

EZ2CYIO said:

In the VA jurisdictions that I have been to court in, the court dates on the tickets are usually when the officer is scheduled to be in court. So if an officer writes say 10 speeding tickets on a shift, odds are that every person that got a summons from that particular officer would be scheduled to appear on the same day in court. The same thing would apply to continuances as well, as I have witnessed the judge ask the officer when his next scheduled date to be in court is, and then the clerk schedules the continuance accordingly. I know judges frown on officers not showing up for court, because the judges feel that the officer is wasting everybody's time and also it would mean dismissing all the cases for all the summons' the officer wrote up for the people who actually showed up to contest their tickets that day (no fines to levy). So I would say that the chances of an officer not showing up to court here in VA are slim because more than likely you are not the only case that they are there for. AND if you are gonna play the 'continuing' game, you'd better give the judge a continuance motion worth granting. Hope this helps...

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Interesting point. Today, I spent 3.5 hours in Traffic Court C in General District court in Virginia Beach, and I got a good idea about how the continuances work and a lot of hings related to it. Basically, anyone that wanted a continuance got a day that their officer could definitely make -- becuase he was there making sure it worked for him. For me -- my officer didn't show, and the judge decided she was going to make my life worth less -- and continued the case (13 mph the limit, that's it) until Marh 15, 2005 without any input on my part. No dismissal, no realization of the fact that I lost more money not going to work than the ticket was worth, not even an ounch of care -- just a new continuance.

Yes, I'm pissed. It happened today. Too bad the police officer will have zero repercussions as far as I can tell. Those *******s.

Got some insight here? Let me know =\