• FreeAdvice has a new Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, effective May 25, 2018.
    By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our Terms of Service and use of cookies.

Speeding violation

Accident - Bankruptcy - Criminal Law / DUI - Business - Consumer - Employment - Family - Immigration - Real Estate - Tax - Traffic - Wills   Please click a topic or scroll down for more.

M

mellawson

Guest
My husband was pulled over for driving 30 miles over the posted limit of 45. He took the ticket without argueing with the officer because he was threatened with jail. However he was actually going 40mph. He and I both believe he was pulled over only because he is white and had two black passengers. Our only proof that he was not speeding is that the short period of time the officer followed him our car is not even capable of getting up to that speed (75mph) in that amount of time, and he was followed immediatly before by another cop and he u-turned and took off in the other direction. The whole event has a very strange tone to it, but we are worried about fighting it in court. My husband drives for a living and this would really affect our life if he found guilty by the judge. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Melissa
 


HomeGuru

Senior Member
I don't believe he was going only 40 mph. How many moving violations are on his record to date?
Hire an attorney as I do not believe you have given us the entire story of this incident and you sure have not provided history of the driver's traffic court record. Is he a flower child?
 
Last edited:
M

mellawson

Guest
Well, his friends call him Ms. Daisy (as in Driving Ms. Daisy) if that gives you any idea of how slow he drives. He has only had one previous ticket for failure to yeild and fought that one and won. As I stated before he drives for a living and is a very cautious and good driver. He has of course been stopped by police before but other than these two not ticketed, just warned or questioned. I hope this helps.
 
Last edited:
M

mellawson

Guest
Just asking for a little help.

I would really appreciate any advice you could give me. It seems as though with the response HomeGuru gave no one else wants to volunteer any additional help. I really don't understand why he would 'not believe' me. I have no reason to lie to complete strangers, whose opinions have absoloutly no bearing whatsoever on the judgement issued in my husband's case.

I don't consider myself stupid when it comes to the law, but wanted to know if anyone out there in cyberspace had dealt with a similiar situation, and if so how they had approached it. I hope you understand HomeGuru that when people come to this site they are not coming here simply to bask in your critisism, but rather to get advice. If all you needed from me was more information, then ask. I didn't see anyone else posting their entire driving record so I thought it unneccesary. If you or anyone else out there has any USEFULL information please post it. Thank you in advance.

Melissa


FYI
Driving Ms. Daisy is a movie!
 
D

DEW

Guest
i don't know what state you are in, but in my state (idaho) the police or courts only have to prove 1 mile over the posted speed limit to justify a $53 ticket or in your case 20 miles over for $108 ticket.

find out what the speeding statute reads in your area to see if the fine is based on actual miles over or like here just 1-19 miles over for the $53 or 20 or more over for the $108.

hopes this helps.
 

JETX

Senior Member
Re: Just asking for a little help.

mellawson said:
It seems as though with the response HomeGuru gave no one else wants to volunteer any additional help. I really don't understand why he would 'not believe' me.
I can't speak for others, but I agree with HomeGuru.... this one just doesn't seem 'right'.

First, you kind of 'caged' your words when it benefitted your story. You said, "pulled over for driving 30 miles over the posted limit of 45", that certainly sounds better than "he was ticketed for doing 75 in a 45 zone.

Second, it is hard for me to believe that your husband or the other three people (you included) didn't argue your heads off at at ticket being issued for 75 mph when you were only doing 40 mph as you claim. Even I know that there is a hellof a difference in the two.

Third, you try to inject a 'race card' into this clear traffic issue ("He and I both believe he was pulled over only because he is white and had two black passengers") without ANY support or hint of any further involvement of this issue during the citation.

Four, you give absolutely no clue as to why you "we are worried about fighting it in court". It implies that there is something missing.

Finally, in closing, I agree completely with your statement, "The whole event has a very strange tone to it".

I know, you are going to respond with how wrong I am and that I am not listening to your issues and all that... but the advice will remain the same as suggested by HomeGuru.... talk with an attorney in your area experienced in traffic court cases.
 
Last edited:
M

mellawson

Guest
First off, I came here for help, not to argue or to make my husbands case look like anything it is not. If I didn't make it clear I apologize. I wrote only the basics in my first post only because my wrist is fractured (making it difficult to type a lot), and because I thought the other details might confuse the main question. Let me just start over.

My husband was ticketed for driving 75 in a 45 zone (better?).

On the way home from basketball practice at our church he and two of his friends were catching a ride from him. They headed down a 4 lane road, the time was 1am. They noticed a police car following them, so my husband checked his speed, it was 40mph. He continued and the police car came up to my husband's car on the left, looked in the car for a moment and then passed him. The police car came to a red light, and my husband soon met up at that same light, when the light changed my husband went on, but he noticed the police car waited a moment, and then made a U-Turn in the opposite direction. Shortly after this, another police car began to follow my husband on that same road. As they both approached the next light the police car pulled into the lane to the right of my husband, both were turning lanes. As the light turned green my husband began to make his turn, and the police car illegally changed lanes in midturn to get back behind my husband and then after both cars were on the new road the police car flashed his lights and pulled my husband over. My husband rolled down his window, was asked for his license and proof of insurance. The officer asked him if he knew that he could go to jail for going 30 miles over the limit. My husband answered, that he did not know that. My husband does not take a threat of jail lightly so he cooperated. He was asked to step out of the car, and asked if he had any weapons or drugs in the car, he said no. The officer then asked if he could search the car, my husband said yes. The officer, after frisking my husband, searched our car, and frisked both passengers. He then began to ask my husband if he knew the passengers names, my husband told him their names. The officer then asked if he knew their last names, he did not. Both passengers were coworkers of mine and even I don't know their last names, but the officer made a very big deal out of this questioning over and over why my husband didn't know their last names. My husband maintained his composure, and answered honestly. The officer then gave him his ticket and went on his way.

If my husband had been speeding why had the first officer not pull him over. The period of time the second car had followed him which was less than a quarter of a mile, our car can't even get up to 75mph in that short amount of distance. We drive a 99 Kia Sephia. FYI all this is in the state of Georgia. The only reason we have not hired an attourney is because the cheapest one we can find is $600, and money is not something we have a lot of. Which is why I came to FREE advice.com. The reason we believe it to be race driven is because a friend of my husband's who is also a police officer told us that what the first officer did was called profiling by looking into the car and seeing a white man in his 20's and two black men in their 20's at that time of night you would be gaurunteed to be pulled over. That and he also said that because it was the end of the month that the police officer had to fill his quota. We don't KNOW any of this for certain, but we do KNOW that my husband doesn't speed. He, as I said before, drives for a living, and has an outstanding record in my opinion. I just want advice about how to approach the judge with all of this, because judges, from my understanding, are notorious for seeing a case like this and just pushing it through telling you to pay your fine and not really hearing you out. My husband and I are not aggresive people, and will have a hard enough time just asking the jusdge to hear our side of it. I hope now you see why I didn't go into all this before, because of the shear amount of information there is to be told, but now with this I hope you can help us. I really feel there is something here to show the judge the truth, but I'm not sure how to approach it, if you can offer any help I would really appreciate it, but please don't post unless you can offer something that will help me, no more of this go get a lawyer stuff. If you can't help then thank you for taking the time to read, but don't reply.

Thank you,
Melissa
 

I AM ALWAYS LIABLE

Senior Member
Statewide Coalition Announces Campaign
To End Racial Profiling in Georgia
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, July 7, 2000

ATLANTA, GA -- At a news conference this morning, the American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia and four other widely recognized civil rights groups announced a new anti-racial profiling initiative, which will include litigation, legislation, public education and activism.

Racial profiling is the practice by law enforcement agencies of stopping and searching vehicles driven by people of a particular race. The stops are often justified under the pretense of a minor violation.

"Racial profiling must end now," said Gerald Weber, Legal Director of the ACLU of Georgia. "This coalition will not rest until every root and branch of prejudice is unearthed."

Coalition members are the ACLU, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the Georgia Association of Black Elected Officials, the Georgia NAACP, and the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition.

William Baker, a prominent businessman and candidate for the Board of Commissioners for Truetlen County, believes that he was the victim of racial profiling when he was followed for 18 miles, stopped for "following too close," and had his entire car searched in Johnson County, Georgia.

Upon hearing Mr. Baker's story, coalition members decided to launch a full scale battle against racial profiling in Georgia, beginning with the legal defense of Mr. Baker on July 12th. Mr. Baker will be represented by Jack Martin, a cooperating attorney with the ACLU of Georgia.

"I, along with other civil rights leaders, am highly offended that this type of racial profiling continues to exist in Georgia and throughout our country," said State Representative Tyrone Brooks, President of the Georgia Association of Black Elected Officials.

According to a landmark ACLU report issued last year, thousands of innocent motorists on highways across the country are victims of racial profiling; these discriminatory police stops have reached epidemic proportions in recent years. This practice has been further fueled by the so-called war on drugs, which has given police a license to target people who they think fit a "drug courier" or "gang member" profile.

Others at the news conference included Joe Beasley, Regional Director, Southern Region, Rainbow/PUSH Coalition; the Reverend Fred Taylor, Director of Direct Actions and Crisis Intervention Committee with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.
 
M

mellawson

Guest
You hit the nail right on the head, thank you so much for this info.

Both of the passengers have already stated that they wish to be witnesses for my husband, we were worried they would be considered biased by the judge, hopefully with this we can open the judges eyes to what is still going on in our county.

Thank you again IAAL,

Melissa
 
Q

qadaq

Guest
Something else you might look into is finding out if the cop had an in- car camera turned on. If he was expecting a drug dealer and had one you can bet it was. He almost assuredly has a calibrated speedometer. I'm pretty sure your attorney can subpoena the tape. Even if it doesn't show his speedometer you can still use the tape to establish his speed and thereby yours.
 
M

mellawson

Guest
Thanks! How would I get the calibration records and other info without a lawyer? We also considered doing two other things I'd like a second opinion on.

1. Filing a complaint against the citing officer.
2. Demanding to face his accuser in court.

I don't really know the pro's and con's of doing these things so until I do we won't make a decision.

BTW the court date is Sept 18th. I will be sure to let you know how it goes.

Thanks again for all of your help.
 
Q

qadaq

Guest
I think you may have misunderstood me. You WANT his speedometer to be right, because it will show up on his camera. When we go through the entire stop and his speedometer never goes above 45 you can ask him why he thought your husband was doing 30 over. Also, if possible get the tape from the other cop's camera. Now you'll have to get somebody to figure out who that was, but I don' t think they can legally stonewall you on it. As for how to get this stuff I'm pretty sure you have to subpoena those records for your defense. I don't think you need an attorney to do this, but I don't know how to go about it. Is there a "friend of the court" or somebody you can go through maybe? Worst case scenario, just go to the courthouse (before your trial date, mind you) and ask how to subpoena records. There's a way to do this, you just have to learn what it is.

As for filing a complaint, I'd go for it. Searching everybody in your car to me is way out of line for a routine traffic stop. (30 over might not be a routine traffic stop, but 5 or 10 over certainly is.) I would also write letters to everybody you think might care and might be able to help, the ACLJ (American Center for Law and Justice) perhaps. Especially target elected officials. See if you can get the media in on it. Give everybody the entire story and make sure your facts are completely straight. Even an honest mistake can REALLY bite you.

As for seeing your accuser in court, if you take it to trial, I pretty certain you will. He's the main witness for the prosecution. For that matter, the other cop will probably be there as well. You can find out what witnesses the DA (or City Attorney, or whoever) is going call. I'm pretty sure you have the legal right to that. If you're going to be your own attorney, move and move fast. Be persistent. This is definitely a case of "do it right or not at all". If you can afford an attorney, I'd get one, but if not you should be able to do this yourself.
 
Last edited:

Find the Right Lawyer for Your Legal Issue!

Fast, Free, and Confidential
data-ad-format="auto">
Top