MO Speeding ticket 80/55

What is the name of your state? Missouri, Camden County

I got a speeding ticket Saturday night. It was on Hwy 5 northbound. The cop caught me coming out of a downhill straight. The ticket is $210 + 2 points. I have Progressive insurance, who AFAIK adjusts rates for any moving violation, points or not.

I have nothing on my record. It was a dumb mistake.

Does MO have a calibration law? If so, can anyone point me to calibration case law in MO that I can cite?

Do I need to request a hearing separate from the court date if I want to ask for traffic school or community service etc, or wait until the court date? If I want to ask for mercy from the judge, what should my plea be (Aside from appearing clean cut)? Does MO allow me to call the DA's office and ask for a deal myself?

Because it is 25 over, I am required to appear with or without a lawyer. I'm just not sure what a lawyer could possibly do for me in this case that I couldn't do myself. Any opinions?

I have heard that Progressive will drop you because of a 20+ ticket but that may depend on the state. An attorney may be able to get you traffic school and the ticket not be reported. Just depends on what usually hapens in that particular court.

runderwo said:

What is the name of your state? Missouri, Camden County

I got a speeding ticket Saturday night. It was on Hwy 5 northbound. The cop caught me coming out of a downhill straight. The ticket is $210 + 2 points. I have Progressive insurance, who AFAIK adjusts rates for any moving violation, points or not.

I have nothing on my record. It was a dumb mistake.

Does MO have a calibration law? If so, can anyone point me to calibration case law in MO that I can cite?

Do I need to request a hearing separate from the court date if I want to ask for traffic school or community service etc, or wait until the court date? If I want to ask for mercy from the judge, what should my plea be (Aside from appearing clean cut)? Does MO allow me to call the DA's office and ask for a deal myself?

Because it is 25 over, I am required to appear with or without a lawyer. I'm just not sure what a lawyer could possibly do for me in this case that I couldn't do myself. Any opinions?

Click to expand...

MO does have arequirement for the calibration. the leo will most likely ignore such and you have to bring it to the attention of the court.

email me at [email protected]d I can send you the case law.

Our views in this respect are strengthened by a comparison between the apparent operational procedures employed in the instant case and those recommended by Dr. Kopper. All that appears from the evidence here is that Officer Hoffman parked his police car, flipped the switch which activated the unit, and immediately began to check the speed of approaching motor vehicles. Dr. Kopper recommends: (1) That the set be allowed to warm up for a period of five to ten minutes before being put to work; (2) That the dial then be checked to be certain that it reads zero; and that the set be adjusted accordingly if it does not; (3) that since diathermy machines, swinging signs, swaying trees, and other outside sources can give false readings, that the meter be examined and watched for such indications; (4) that the accuracy be checked by the run-through test, both before and after the period of observation of traffic, by having a car with a calibrated speedometer run through the zone twice, once at the maximum legal rate of speed, and once at a speed 10 or 15 miles per hour greater; and (5), that if the difference between the speedometer reading and the radar meter reading is greater than 2 miles per hour, (due to the engineering tolerance inherent in the radar set) that a further check and any necessary adjustment be made. One court has gone so far as to adopt the substance of Dr. Kopper's recommendations as a requirement for conviction. People v. Sachs, 1 Misc.2d 148, 147 N.Y.S.2d 801, 809. It would appear from State v. Graham, supra, that the state highway patrol makes both the run-through test and the tuning fork test at the site where traffic is to be checked.

runderwo said:

I'm just not sure what a lawyer could possibly do for me in this case that I couldn't do myself. Any opinions?

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A lawyer, especially one from the same area, will know what that court wants to hear, and will have better odds of getting better deals made.

I realized I did something dumb when I was pulled over. The cop almost gave me a free pass. He tried to give me a ticket for expired tags in addition to the speeding. I argued with him for 30 seconds to check his glasses. He tore up that ticket. I should have let him give it to me. Then I could have claimed later that he must have pulled over the wrong car, or maybe is also incapable of reading the radar readout.

So far I can't find a lawyer that will go to bat for me (tried 3 in that area via email), so maybe I am in deep sh*t.

cepe10 said:

MO does have arequirement for the calibration. the leo will most likely ignore such and you have to bring it to the attention of the court.

email me at [email protected]d I can send you the case law.

Click to expand...

This address doesn't seem to work...

Anyway, can the calibration defense cover 25 over, or is it really for smaller variations (like 5-10 over)? Can a radar really misread that much over?

it's more like holding the state to it's burden to prove beyond reasonable doubt. the charge is a very specific speed. the proper foundation for the evidence has to be presented else there is no evidence period. if the gun cannot be proven to be accurate then the charge should be dismissed for lack of credible evidence. the leo is going to have no direct knowledge of the tuning fork calibration - a lab has to do it so he has to have the tuning fork calibratrion. read the case law - it is very clear for MO...

[email protected]