Radar Gun Calibration in Georgia GA

What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state? Georgia GA

A year ago I was issued a citation for doing 61 in a 35. A that time the officer said I had the right to ask him to calibrate his radar gun so I said sure. He came back to my car and said it checked out OK. I paid the ticket and went on with life.

Recently I was issued a citation for doing 54 in the same 35. The officer never mentioned radar gun calibration.

Is there actually a law in GA that says I have the right to have the radar gun calibrated at the traffic stop? Or was the first officer yanking my chain?

I have asked for a bench trial rather than pay the fine this time. Can I fight it on the calibration grounds?

The officer will say there are two bases for me giving the ticket: my expert opinion that the offender was speeding and doing 54/35 AND the radar which says the same thing.

So, you must overcome both of those pieces of evidence.

Let's say you can prove that the radar was wrong.

Now, what evidence do you have to prove that you were, in fact, NOT speeding?

seniorjudge said:

Now, what evidence do you have to prove that you were, in fact, NOT speeding?

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They have to prove you were speeding...you don't have to proove you weren't speeding. What evidence could anyone ever have that they weren't speeding?

Zeez said:

They have to prove you were speeding...you don't have to proove you weren't speeding. What evidence could anyone ever have that they weren't speeding?

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You need to re-read my post.

AFTER the government has presented its evidence (hoping it has proved its case beyond a reasonable doubt), if you want to present a defense to speeding, then the ONLY defense is that you were not speeding.

"...What evidence could anyone ever have that they weren't speeding?..."

Good question. I've never seen anybody able to present such evidence.

defense?

Could your defense be that the government did not prove its case beyond a resonable doubt because the alleged speedee was not advised that they had the right to have the radar gun calibrated? That calls into question the validity of the radar reading.

Also, is that a law in GA that you do have the right to have the radar gun calibrated at the point of the stop?

Could your defense be that the government did not prove its case beyond a resonable doubt because the alleged speedee was not advised that they had the right to have the radar gun calibrated? That calls into question the validity of the radar reading.

No. Read my "two bases" post in this thread.


Also, is that a law in GA that you do have the right to have the radar gun calibrated at the point of the stop?

I do not know.

Zeez said:

They have to prove you were speeding...you don't have to proove you weren't speeding. What evidence could anyone ever have that they weren't speeding?

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Your ignorance of how traffic court works is showing. The prosecution is going to present the officer's incident report as evidence. This evidence will state that as a highly trained traffic enforcement officer, he used his training and the tools supplied by the state and believes that the defendant was in violation of state laws. The judge, who is most likely on a first name basis with the officer, will accept this evidence as fact. It is then the defendants job to convince the judge that he was not in violation of the law, hence, not speeding. And the only proven defense is to prove he was not speeding. There are of course other methods such as procedural errors that can get tickets dismissed without proving he was not speeding, this usually requires teh services of an experienced traffic court attorney.


And there are no states that require the officer to prove the radar gun is calibrated at the time of the stop. The courtroom is the place to present and argue the merits of a citation, not the side of the road.

And there are no states that require the officer to prove the radar gun is calibrated at the time of the stop. The courtroom is the place to present and argue the merits of a citation, not the side of the road.

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Sorry but Georgia does have a law where you can request the officer to show you that the unit is calibrated. He does not have to show you the reading but he does have to do the calibration if and only if you request it at the time of the stop. The officer is not required to advise you of the existance of such a provision.

Rather than a trial, which you will probably lose, see if they will agree to reduce it to a 14mph ticket which will not be posted to your record.

That sounds like good advice..

How do I go about requesting that? Do I send a letter to the officer before the trial or wait until the trial and just beg the judge.

Thanks

any advice on this?

How do I go about requesting that? Do I send a letter to the officer before the trial or wait until the trial and just beg the judge.

thanks for anybody's help.

do discovery and request copy when radar was calibrated last time.

I asked and they said it was a myth (cop said would not let me see)

dodgeviper22 said:

I asked and they said it was a myth (cop said would not let me see)

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you have a right to see what evidence they have against you prior to trial begining(seeing the judge i this case)

see this
http://www.denverda.org/html_website/denver_da/district_court_unit discovery page pro se.html

I recognize this is an old post but, for those surfing around:

<<<Sorry but Georgia does have a law where you can request the officer to show you that the unit is calibrated.>>>

Partly correct abnd Partly incorrect. That law only applies to Radar and not to Laser and does not apply at all to the Georgia State patrol. All other Georgia Law enforcement officers (county, city,college) do have to "offer" to you the right to request the radar device be calibrated. This is undoubtedly why one officer offered and one didnt. One was probably a state trooper, and the other probably wasn't. Even then the ones required to do so much check that box on the ticket, which is not on a State troopers version of the ticket.

Ken Waters