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Bogus Speeding Ticket

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JOHNSIMS

Junior Member
What is the name of your state? TENNESSEE

I recently received a speeding ticket because I was in the vicinity of another car who was actually speeding. This car came up behind me at a high rate of speed, passed and continued to pull away. As we went over a hill, (one tenth on a mile away from the officers) I saw what looked like an accident. There were two officers wearing orange reflective vests. As I approached I could see one of the officers with a radar gun. The other officer motioned to the lady in the car who had just passed me, to pull over onto a side street. As I began to give the officer the "thumbs up" He pointed at me and motioned for me to pull over behind the lady. He wrote her a ticket then came back to my car. He said "I got you and Miss (unintelligible) at forty miles an hour on the dot"

There was no way that this lady who had just quickly closed in behind me, passed and continued to pull away, was going the same speed as me. (I wondered if the officer that motioned to me thought that the thumbs up was some other finger and just thought he would teach me a lesson).

Anyway, I was so upset by this that I Emailed the precinct to complain about what had happened. The lieutenant responded by telling me that the officer used laser and that it was "vehicle specific" and that their units are tested for accuracy periodically.

I did notice that on the ticket the officer checked "Radar" as the means used to measure my speed. There was no box for "Laser". Is this a technicality that I could use in my court hearing? I mean technically if the officer used "laser" and not "radar" as he checked, could he simply have hand written "Laser" ?

Other than the fact that I was about four car lengths behind the lady when my speed was being read giving the officer a bad angle to record my speed, are there ways of sucessfully arguing that the officer's Laser was defective?

Thanks,

John/ [email protected]What is the name of your state?
 


seniorjudge

Senior Member
JOHNSIMS said:
What is the name of your state? TENNESSEE

I recently received a speeding ticket because I was in the vicinity of another car who was actually speeding. This car came up behind me at a high rate of speed, passed and continued to pull away. As we went over a hill, (one tenth on a mile away from the officers) I saw what looked like an accident. There were two officers wearing orange reflective vests. As I approached I could see one of the officers with a radar gun. The other officer motioned to the lady in the car who had just passed me, to pull over onto a side street. As I began to give the officer the "thumbs up" He pointed at me and motioned for me to pull over behind the lady. He wrote her a ticket then came back to my car. He said "I got you and Miss (unintelligible) at forty miles an hour on the dot"

There was no way that this lady who had just quickly closed in behind me, passed and continued to pull away, was going the same speed as me. (I wondered if the officer that motioned to me thought that the thumbs up was some other finger and just thought he would teach me a lesson).

Anyway, I was so upset by this that I Emailed the precinct to complain about what had happened. The lieutenant responded by telling me that the officer used laser and that it was "vehicle specific" and that their units are tested for accuracy periodically.

I did notice that on the ticket the officer checked "Radar" as the means used to measure my speed. There was no box for "Laser". Is this a technicality that I could use in my court hearing? I mean technically if the officer used "laser" and not "radar" as he checked, could he simply have hand written "Laser" ?

Other than the fact that I was about four car lengths behind the lady when my speed was being read giving the officer a bad angle to record my speed, are there ways of sucessfully arguing that the officer's Laser was defective?

Thanks,

John/ [email protected]What is the name of your state?
Q: Is this a technicality that I could use in my court hearing?

A: No.




Standard answer

Here are some hints on appearing in court:

Dress professionally in clean clothes.

Do not wear message shirts.

Don't chew gum, smoke, or eat. (Smokers...pot or tobacco...literally stink. Remember that before you head for court.)

Bathe and wash your hair.

Do not bring small children or your friends.

Go to court beforehand some day before you actually have to go to watch how things go.

Speak politely and deferentially. If you argue or dispute something, do it professionally and without emotion.

Ask the court clerk who you talk to about a diversion (meaning you want to plead to a different, lesser charge), if applicable in your situation. Ask about traffic school and that the ticket not go on your record, if applicable. Ask also about getting a hardship driving permit, if applicable. Ask about drug court, if applicable.

From marbol:

“Judge...

You forgot the one thing that I've seen that seems to frizz up most judges these days:

If you have a cell phone, make DAMN SURE that it doesn't make ANY noise in the courtroom. This means when you are talking to the judge AND when you are simply sitting in the court room.

If you have a ‘vibrate’ position on your cell phone, MAKE sure the judge DOESN'T EVEN HEAR IT VIBRATE!

Turn it off or put it in silent mode where it flashes a LED if it rings. AND DON'T even DREAM about answering it if it rings.”

(Better yet, don’t carry your cell phone into the courtroom.)”


Here are five stories that criminal court judges hear the most (and I suggest you do not use them or variations of them):

1. I’ve been saved! (This is not religion specific; folks from all kinds of religious backgrounds use this one.)

2. My girlfriend/mother/sister/daughter/wife/ex-wife/niece/grandma/grand-daughter is pregnant/sick/dying/dead/crippled/crazy and needs my help.

3. I’ve got a job/military posting in [name a place five hundred miles away].

4. This is the first time I ever did this. (This conflicts with number 5 below, but that hasn’t stopped some defendants from using both.)

5. You’ve got the wrong guy. (A variation of this one is the phantom defendant story: “It wasn’t me driving, it was a hitchhiker I picked up. He wrecked the car, drug me behind the wheel then took off.” Or, another variation: “I was forced into it by a bad guy!”)

https://forum.freeadvice.com/showthread.php?p=854687#post854687

Public defender’s advice

http://newyork.craigslist.org/about/best/sfo/70300494.html


Other people may give you other advice; stand by.
 

sukharev

Member
If the ticket said radar (not lidar or laser), that's not the technicality.

You need to request laser calibration and test records, as well as officer's training record. Unless one of those documents is missing or does not conform to requirements of caselaw, your best bet is negotiating with prosecutor.
 
JOHNSIMS said:
What is the name of your state? TENNESSEE

I recently received a speeding ticket because I was in the vicinity of another car who was actually speeding. This car came up behind me at a high rate of speed, passed and continued to pull away. As we went over a hill, (one tenth on a mile away from the officers) I saw what looked like an accident. There were two officers wearing orange reflective vests. As I approached I could see one of the officers with a radar gun.
Didn't find anything in your tale to indicate you are claiming innocence of the charge. Speeding less-fast than a really bad speeder is not the same thing....and getting her slapped with doing 60 helps you not in the least. Still, if you are claiming innocence, that would mean the cop or his device messed up, and you will need to convince a judge that either of those two things happened....or obtain agreement from the cop that he pointed his gun at the wrong speeding object. Questioning the laser device and user is a good first step, as sukharev mentions. Otherwise you hope for mercy.

Know the feeling you express. Was once third car and comfortable in a long line of 50MPH traffic on a two-lane highway (speed limit 55), in rolling hills, when a dude in a Pontiac, like mine, sped past a bunch of us, just before a cop car met the caravan. By the time he turned around and caught up, three hills later, mine was the only tan Pontiac in sight. I got the ticket for a fellow already 10 miles ahead and probably still speeding. Neither I nor the three passengers in my car could convince the cop how horribly wrong he was, how justice, the constitution and all sacred things were trashed, right there beside a rural road. It hurts.
 

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