Need help with motion to dismiss due to procedural error by officer - Pennsylvania

Officer paced me and pulled me over for speeding.
Everything on the ticket is correct and the speedometer has been calibrated in accordance to the law.
I was paced for .26xx miles and this is written on the ticket.
Excerpt from PA Vehicle Law:

"§ 3368. Speed timing devices.

(a) Speedometers authorized.--The rate of speed of any vehicle may be timed on any highway by a police officer using a motor vehicle equipped with a speedometer. In ascertaining the speed of a vehicle by the use of a speedometer, the speed shall be timed for a distance of not less than three-tenths of a mile."

As you can see the officer did not time me for enough distance as required by the law.
I need help and some pointers on putting together a motion to dismiss and if applicable a summary trial. The municipality where this happened has a separate traffic court, just in case that matters. I have not entered a plea yet and I still have a few days to do it.
Do I need to submit my motion before I enter my plea, after or at the court hearing? If I have to enter it at the court hearing is it a good idea to let them know in advance of my intention to submit this motion?
I appreciate any help.

Q: Do I need to submit my motion before I enter my plea, after or at the court hearing?

A: Do it now. The prosecutor will then amend the ticket. If you want to wait till after the trial starts and then ask, then you will be using it as an affirmative defense. Maybe the court will dismiss it and maybe not.


Q: If I have to enter it at the court hearing is it a good idea to let them know in advance of my intention to submit this motion?

A: Yes.


Q: I need help and some pointers on putting together a motion to dismiss and if applicable a summary trial.

A: Hire a lawyer to help you with that.

seniorjudge said:

A: Do it now. The prosecutor will then amend the ticket.

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WADR, what basis does the prosecutor have to tamper with the evidence?

Zigner said:

WADR, what basis does the prosecutor have to tamper with the evidence?

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There may be some other charge that the prosecutor would file.

I was certainly not suggesting that prosecutors or cops ever tamper with evidence!

seniorjudge said:

There may be some other charge that the prosecutor would file.

I was certainly not suggesting that prosecutors or cops ever tamper with evidence!

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Gotcha

We all know that they would not tweak the evidence! However, they may rewrite the ticket for basic speed or, if you get off on this one, they will probably wait for an opportunity to nab you again. Pay now or pay later.

I would plead not guilty and keep quiet until your hearing. They will need to prove you were speeding if you do and their evidence is the ticket. At the hearing, after the prosecutor makes their case, you can point out the applicable law as your defense and claim that you were not speeding. I believe the Court will have to dismiss it if, and only if, you were not too far over the limit. If you were doing 60 in a 35, however, I don't think that the few hundred feet short on the timing will make much difference. Mathematically it would be difficult to impossible for you to accelerate / decelerate the difference in your speed and the speed limit in that short distance.

Most odometers read in tenths; however, they may have special timers in the cars for this purpose. At 60 Mph the car is traveling ~ 88’?sec so the police needed to time you about 2 extra seconds. I doubt that would have made much, if any, difference in your speed.

Rexlan said:

We all know that they would not tweak the evidence! However, they may rewrite the ticket for basic speed or, if you get off on this one, they will probably wait for an opportunity to nab you again. Pay now or pay later.

I would plead not guilty and keep quiet until your hearing. They will need to prove you were speeding if you do and their evidence is the ticket. At the hearing, after the prosecutor makes their case, you can point out the applicable law as your defense and claim that you were not speeding. I believe the Court will have to dismiss it if, and only if, you were not too far over the limit. If you were doing 60 in a 35, however, I don't think that the few hundred feet short on the timing will make much difference. Mathematically it would be difficult to impossible for you to accelerate / decelerate the difference in your speed and the speed limit in that short distance.

Most odometers read in tenths; however, they may have special timers in the cars for this purpose. At 60 Mph the car is traveling ~ 88’?sec so the police needed to time you about 2 extra seconds. I doubt that would have made much, if any, difference in your speed.

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You just confused me a little bit. Are you saying that the application of the law changes with the severity of the violation?

I would plead not guilty and keep quiet until your hearing.

Rexlan’s advice makes very good sense. If the officer catches the error before the trial begin and you are “in jeopardy”, he’ll simply tell the court that he recognized that he made a “scrivener’s error” (typo) when writing the citation and ask permission to correct it to, say, .36 or .46. Maybe he inadvertently reversed the numbers and paced you for .62. The court will allow it, you’ll be re-arraigned on the spot and things will move on. I see it all the time – date, time, color of car etc. etc. And, in the officer’s defense, it’s not unreasonable. You’re on traffic enforcement writing citations for a full shift. Maybe it happens at night and you’re running plates before exiting your vehicle. Stuff happens.

The officer will testify first and, if he says he paced for a mile and the citation says .26, then there’s a problem. And, by the way, if the ticket’s righteous and you found a loophole, slow down. They put themselves at risk every time they make a stop. It’s not done for a quota, and being able to slide doesn’t mean you didn’t violate.