Blank Traffic Ticket

Hi, I live in the state of Texas. I received a speeding ticket last Friday (70 mph in a 60). The officer wrote the ticket in his car, and came back for me to sign it. I signed it, and what I did not know was that the carbon copy of the ticket was not underneath. Instead, he had already torn off the carbon copy (before I signed it) and slipped it back to me with my license. The problem is, the carbon copy is blank. It appears the officer did not press hard enough for the pen to get through to the carbon, so I have a blank citation. The officer knew this, because he hand-wrote only the speed on my copy of the citation. This is the only thing that is legible on my copy. My signature is not on my copy, since it was not attached to the original when I signed it. Also, there is a space at the bottom for the officer to sign, where it says, "I attest that the defendant has received a duplicate citation". I can almost make out a signature, however I did not receive a duplicate; I received an illegible, blank copy. Do you think I have a case to get it dismissed, as I don’t know what he wrote on his copy of the ticket? Do I need to get a lawyer, or will this be an easy enough case that I could appear myself and define the word “duplicate”?

Thanks,

Luke

Good try but your theory, in my opinion, is not going to work. You can just go to the court and get a copy of the original that has been filed with the court. At most the officer may have failed to follow procedure, and it would be merely an administrative mistake.

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Mark B. Replogle