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Speed Trap Question

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arboksmom

Junior Member
What is the name of your state? New Jersey

Is an officer from one municipality allowed to use radar to monitor traffic in his municipality while being physically located within the borders of a neighboring town?

The officer is monitoring a county road from a parking lot in neighboring town. His municpality has a posted 25 mph speed limit. He was parked next to a 35mph speed limit sign within the neighboring town enforcing the 25mph speed limit on the portion of the road within his municipality. His location is approximately 1/8 mile outside the border of the his municipality.
 


You Are Guilty

Senior Member
What is the name of your state? New Jersey

Is an officer from one municipality allowed to use radar to monitor traffic in his municipality while being physically located within the borders of a neighboring town?

The officer is monitoring a county road from a parking lot in neighboring town. His municpality has a posted 25 mph speed limit. He was parked next to a 35mph speed limit sign within the neighboring town enforcing the 25mph speed limit on the portion of the road within his municipality. His location is approximately 1/8 mile outside the border of the his municipality.
He could be in the next town, in a coal mine, or on Mars - the question is whether you were speeding within your municipality.
 

BelizeBreeze

Senior Member
YAG...YAG...YAG you KNOW that's not the question.

The REAL question is "How can I get out of the ticket when I KNOW I was speeding but am too punk to admit it?" :D
 

You Are Guilty

Senior Member
YAG...YAG...YAG you KNOW that's not the question.

The REAL question is "How can I get out of the ticket when I KNOW I was speeding but am too punk to admit it?" :D
Well, I already posted the secret that lawyers use in an old thread, and I'm not re-typing all that again. If someone is that interested in learning it, they can search the forums themselves. :cool:
 

moburkes

Senior Member
Well, I already posted the secret that lawyers use in an old thread, and I'm not re-typing all that again. If someone is that interested in learning it, they can search the forums themselves. :cool:
I remember it. But, I'm not telling. SSSSshhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.:D
 

cepe10

Member
He could be in the next town, in a coal mine, or on Mars - the question is whether you were speeding within your municipality.
Could you please provide something to back up this statement of fact. I do not believe that a police officer could make a legitimate speed measurement in NJ from Mars with equipment on the IACP certified list or from within a coal mine for that matter.

If he measures between speed zones and there is not a NHTSA approved speed reduction sign from the MUTCD, or if he is measuring the vehicle while the vehicle is in the higher speed zone it is likewise not legitimate.
 
STATE of New Jersey, Plaintiff-Respondent and Cross-Appellant,
v.
Russell E. TROPEA, Defendant-Appellant and Cross-Respondent.
Supreme Court of New Jersey.
Argued Nov. 15, 1977.
Decided Oct. 31, 1978.
Norman L. Zlotnick, Wildwood, for defendant-appellant and cross-respondent (Perskie & Callinan, Wildwood, attorneys).

Ileana N. Saros, Deputy Atty. Gen., argued the cause for plaintiff-respondent and cross-appellant (William F. Hyland, Atty. [394 A.2d 356] Gen., attorney; Ileana Saros, of counsel and on the brief).

The opinion of the court was delivered by

CLIFFORD, J.

Defendant was convicted in Ocean City Municipal Court of operating his automobile at 44 miles per hour in a 25 mile-per-hour zone, in violation of N.J.S.A. 39:4-98. He appealed to the Cape May County Court where, after a trial De novo on the record below, the conviction was affirmed. The Appellate Division reversed on the ground that the State had failed to prove that the speed limit in the area of the alleged infraction was indeed 25 miles per hour. State v. Tropea, 142 N.J.Super. 288, 290, 361 A.2d 111 (1976). However, despite this crucial deficiency in the State's case, the Appellate Division held that defendant was not entitled to a dismissal of the charges but merely to a new trial on all issues. Hence, the case was remanded to the county court. Id.

We granted the defendant's petition for certification, 71 N.J. 502, 366 A.2d 657 (1976), and the State's cross-petition, 73 N.J. 50, 372 A.2d 315 (1977), to review the Appellate Division's determinations (a) that there was insufficient evidence presented to sustain the conviction, and (b) that there should be a remand for a new trial.

We first address the sufficiency-of-evidence question. The proofs demonstrated that on March 6, 1975, two police officers operating a speed radar unit issued defendant a summons charging him with speeding. Only one of these officers testified at the municipal court trial and he offered no direct testimony of the speed limit in the area where defendant was apprehended. At the conclusion of the State's case defendant moved for an acquittal on the ground, among others, that no evidence as to the speed limit had been introduced.

Page 312

The trial judge denied the motion. Defendant then testified that he was an experienced driver; that from the time he entered Ocean City, he was "trying to keep the car at twenty five miles per hour"; and that he estimated his speed to be twenty five miles per hour at the time of his encounter with the police officers. At the conclusion of his testimony defendant renewed his motion for acquittal, which was again denied. The trial judge then found him guilty.

At defendant's trial De novo before the county court, the State argued that proof of the speed limit could be inferred from defendant's insistence that he was travelling 25 miles per hour. In addition, the State urged that the court could take judicial notice that the 25 mile per hour speed limit in "residential areas" is mandated by statute, N.J.S.A. 39:4-98(b); that the area in question fits the statutory description of a "residence district," N.J.S.A. 39:1-1; and that "the speed zone throughout the city is classified and posted as 25 miles per hour." Although the county court gave no indication that it was taking judicial notice of the area or its alleged residential nature, it stated that defendant's effort to maintain a speed of 25 miles per hour was "indicative of his knowledge of the speed limit in the area" and found "from the record" that defendant had exceeded that limit.

As the Appellate Division observed, these proofs fell far short of discharging the State's obligation to establish the applicable speed limit. So insubstantial is the State's argument on this point that we need dwell on it only long enough to observe that there is nothing in defendant's assertion that he was making a conscious effort to maintain his speed at 25 miles per hour which in any way served to establish the speed limit. Furthermore, nothing in the record suggests that either the municipal court or county court judge took judicial notice or, indeed, any other kind

Page 313
 

You Are Guilty

Senior Member
If he measures between speed zones and there is not a NHTSA approved speed reduction sign from the MUTCD, or if he is measuring the vehicle while the vehicle is in the higher speed zone it is likewise not legitimate.
Well, if the officer does that, then the person isn't speeding, are they?

In the meantime...
hyperbole
hy·per·bo·le Pronunciation (h-pûrb-l)
n.
A figure of speech in which exaggeration is used for emphasis or effect, as in I could sleep for a year or This book weighs a ton.
 
YAG...YAG...YAG you KNOW that's not the question. The REAL question is "How can I get out of the ticket when I KNOW I was speeding but am too punk to admit it?" :D
Exactly, now that judicial notice has been taken that "everyone is speeding" by belizebreeze of the US supreme court citations can be handled on an automated basis to registered automobile owners and driver's license owners at a predetermined rate. This will allow our public servants more "coffee break time" while milking the tax payers.
 
W

WindyAruba

Guest
YAG...YAG...YAG you KNOW that's not the question. The REAL question is "How can I get out of the ticket when I KNOW I was speeding but am too punk to admit it?" :D
BelizeBreeze do you have anything solid to back this up? or are you just reinventing the legitimate question in order to hijack the thread? As a pretend lawyer if you don't know the answer feel free to remain silent. No one thinks you are funny:(
 

AHA

Senior Member
BelizeBreeze do you have anything solid to back this up? or are you just reinventing the legitimate question in order to hijack the thread? As a pretend lawyer if you don't know the answer feel free to remain silent. No one thinks you are funny:(
Responding to the OP's issue IS NOT hijacking!!!!!
 
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