22348b Exceeding 100mph Written Declaration HELP!!!!

[caponespe]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? CALIFORNIA

I need to mail back my Trail by Written Declaration this week. I have been researching online and found NOTHING at all on this kind of a ticket and the best defense to make. Here are my case facts:

Driving late at night (approx 11pm) up to Mammoth Mountain from LA. Got pulled over just south of Bishop by CHP. Says he radar'ed me at 102mph which I was not going. I didn't say anything at all to him. He handed me the ticket and told me to slow down. I want to try to either get this dismissed. What is the best defense to take?

DOES ANYONE HAVE A SAMPLE THAT DEALS WITH THIS (EXCEEDING 100mph) AND NOT BASIC SPEED LAW? Found hundreds of those.

TICKET INFO:
Approx speed: 102
Max speed: 65
Location: US395
Beat 3
Area 825

 

[I_Got_Banned]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? CALIFORNIA

I need to mail back my Trail by Written Declaration this week. I have been researching online and found NOTHING at all on this kind of a ticket and the best defense to make. Here are my case facts:

Driving late at night (approx 11pm) up to Mammoth Mountain from LA. Got pulled over just south of Bishop by CHP. Says he radar'ed me at 102mph which I was not going. I didn't say anything at all to him. He handed me the ticket and told me to slow down. I want to try to either get this dismissed. What is the best defense to take?

DOES ANYONE HAVE A SAMPLE THAT DEALS WITH THIS (EXCEEDING 100mph) AND NOT BASIC SPEED LAW? Found hundreds of those.

TICKET INFO:
Approx speed: 102
Max speed: 65
Location: US395
Beat 3
Area 825

I am not aware of any "samples" however, there are a few threads on this forum (search for "22348(b)") that you might want to read.

Let me ask you this though, have you requested the TBD and received the forms from the court or are you just assuming that you qualify for a TBD and you are preparing accordingly? Reason I ask is that, as far as I know, some courts will require a mandatory court appearance for this type of citation!

 

[caponespe]

I am not aware of any "samples" however, there are a few threads on this forum (search for "22348(b)") that you might want to read.

Let me ask you this though, have you requested the TBD and received the forms from the court or are you just assuming that you qualify for a TBD and you are preparing accordingly? Reason I ask is that, as far as I know, some courts will require a mandatory court appearance for this type of citation!

Thanks for the feedback. I already requested and received the forms. This court is 4 hours from my home. I do not plan on taking this to a trial. This was my only option I was told or to hire a local lawyer (cost 4x more then the $825 ticket).

 

[freedomminute]

Since this was radar (at least that’s what the officer told you), your only likely defense is whether the radar unit was functioning properly and accurately measured your speed. The kind of defense you would mount may depend on what type of radar it was, where the officer was in relation to you, whether the officer was moving at the time, whether the unit was calibrated recently and correctly, what the weather conditions were, etc. You’d have to find something that casts a doubt on the unit’s accuracy or suggests operator error, not an easy task. Since it was late at night in a fairly rural area, I’m going to assume there were no other vehicles near you that you could claim the officer picked up on radar and mistakenly attributed to you, so that eliminates a common defense for this type of violation.

This infraction carries a hefty fine, two points and the possibility of a 30 day license suspension. I wonder if it might be worth your while to take the day and appear in court. If nothing else, you might be able to get the charge reduced to simple speeding under 100 MPH (you were charged with being only 2 MPH over and that could be margin of error).

You could do the TBD and when you lose (which you most likely will unless the officer doesn’t respond with his declaration or you come up with some irrefutable evidence of your innocence) you still have the option to request a trial de novo and appear for a new trial in-person. At least you will then have the benefit of the officer’s written testimony from the TBD to guide you in your possible defense for your new trial. Also, you could always make the defense of an inaccurate radar reading in your TBD and hope the hearing officer is feeling generous and reduces you to speeding under 100.

To find out what the officer might testify to, do a discovery request on his notes, radar log, etc. if you have time before your TBD is due. And good luck.

 

[Zigner]

Also, you could always make the defense of an inaccurate radar reading in your TBD and hope the hearing officer is feeling generous and reduces you to speeding under 100.

Just stop already -

What violation could our OP be convicted of in the TBD process if not that which he was charged with?

 

[freedomminute]

Just stop already -

What violation could our OP be convicted of in the TBD process if not that which he was charged with?

How about 22348a? And I don't think it's appropriate for you to tell me to stop doing anything, especially when my posts are on topic and relevant. You may not like what I have written and you don't have to agree with it, but you're not the moderator here.

 

[Zigner]

How about 22348a? And I don't think it's appropriate for you to tell me to stop doing anything, especially when my posts are on topic and relevant. You may not like what I have written and you don't have to agree with it, but you're not the moderator here.

Oh, I see - the charge can be arbitrarily changed with no notice to the defendant. Got it.

I'm not a mod - but newbies who come along and post bogus info don't last that long...

 

[freedomminute]

Oh, I see - the charge can be arbitrarily changed with no notice to the defendant. Got it.

I'm not a mod - but newbies who come along and post bogus info don't last that long...

Where anywhere in my post did I say anything even remotely like "with no notice to the defendant"?

And have you never heard of a court adjusting a charge to a lesser infraction? Happens all the time. Drivers are charged with going 16 - 25 over the limit and the judge reduces it down to 1 - 15 over the limit. Not arbitrarily, but as an incentive or to give the defendant the benefit of the doubt as to his actual speed. And I didn't say it would happen, just that it was possible.

My point to the OP (which you obviously disagree with) is that it couldn't hurt to make the argument in his TBD that while he might have been exceeding the 65 mph limit, he was not going over 100 mph and since the charge was 102 mph, it was possible that that the radar unit was slightly off. He'd have to find statistics as to the accuracy of radar, margin of error, etc if such statistics exists. Again, I'm not saying he will prevail in this, just that the person reviewing the case might rule that he was guilty of exceeding 65 but not 100. And why might they rule that way? Perhaps to make it more likely that the defendant will just pay the fine (realizing he got a break) and not ask for a trial de novo which would use up valuable court resources. And what does he have to lose by trying? He's pretty much screwed right now. He was looking for any help in preparing his TBD and I offered an opinion. I'm not sure why you have a problem with that.

As to your issues with my posts here, you are free to disagree if you wish but I don't think how new a poster is says anything about how correct or incorrect their information or opinion is. And I'm not all that new, I've been checking out these forums on and off for a while now but don't post unless I have something useful to add. As to how useful my post was to the OP, how about we let him decide for himself?

 

[Zigner]

Where anywhere in my post did I say anything even remotely like "with no notice to the defendant"?

And have you never heard of a court adjusting a charge to a lesser infraction? Happens all the time. Drivers are charged with going 16 - 25 over the limit and the judge reduces it down to 1 - 15 over the limit. Not arbitrarily, but as an incentive or to give the defendant the benefit of the doubt as to his actual speed. And I didn't say it would happen, just that it was possible.

My point to the OP (which you obviously disagree with) is that it couldn't hurt to make the argument in his TBD that while he might have been exceeding the 65 mph limit, he was not going over 100 mph and since the charge was 102 mph, it was possible that that the radar unit was slightly off. He'd have to find statistics as to the accuracy of radar, margin of error, etc if such statistics exists. Again, I'm not saying he will prevail in this, just that the person reviewing the case might rule that he was guilty of exceeding 65 but not 100. And why might they rule that way? Perhaps to make it more likely that the defendant will just pay the fine (realizing he got a break) and not ask for a trial de novo which would use up valuable court resources. And what does he have to lose by trying? He's pretty much screwed right now. He was looking for any help in preparing his TBD and I offered an opinion. I'm not sure why you have a problem with that.

As to your issues with my posts here, you are free to disagree if you wish but I don't think how new a poster is says anything about how correct or incorrect their information or opinion is. And I'm not all that new, I've been checking out these forums on and off for a while now but don't post unless I have something useful to add. As to how useful my post was to the OP, how about we let him decide for himself?

I see - so you say our OP should admit to breaking the law, just not THAT law...

Your information is dangerous to the OP and THAT is why you need to stop.

 

[caponespe]

I see - so you say our OP should admit to breaking the law, just not THAT law...

Your information is dangerous to the OP and THAT is why you need to stop.

Zigner,

Do you have some advice? What would be my best defense?

 

[freedomminute]

I see - so you say our OP should admit to breaking the law, just not THAT law...

Your information is dangerous to the OP and THAT is why you need to stop.

I didn't say the OP should admit his guilt. I was responding to you, not giving him the wording of his statement. How about this? Maybe you should concentrate more on offering useful advice to people who post here rather than going around picking online fights with everyone and telling everybody how wrong they are. I’m done with this particular conversation.

 

[Zigner]

I didn't say the OP should admit his guilt.

Now you're just a plain liar:

My point to the OP (which you obviously disagree with) is that it couldn't hurt to make the argument in his TBD that while he might have been exceeding the 65 mph limit...

Again, just stop.

OP - you would be well advised to ignore anything freedomminute has to say...

 

[JIMinCA]

caponespe,

For once, Zigner is telling an OP the right thing. You will NOT be charged with a "lesser infraction" at court. The officer would have to ammend the charge before your arraignment. At that time, you would have to change strategies.

Just send in the TBWD and say "I am not guilty". You are going to lose in all liklihood. I think it is the consensus of most people that if the cop sends in a statement, you will lose a TBWD. You are going to have to go to court on this. However, after you lose the TBWD, you can ask the court for the officer's statement. Additionally, you should be doing a discovery request asking the DA for the calibration records. Inyo county is the only county I know of where the DA will actually provide you with discovery.

Do the TBWD, get the discovery request going and let's see where that takes us.

 

[caponespe]

Extension on my TBD

I emailed the court yesterday asking for an extension from the 4/14 due date for my TBD so I may file for Discovery as advised.

I SENT:
To the Court,
I would like to ask the procedure for extending the due date of my Trial By Written Declaration. It is noted as 4/14/2010 on TR-205 I received from the Court. The reason being I am seeking discovery and haven't received it yet. Please grant me an extension.

THEY REPLIED:
Response to my email:
Please be more specific in your request for an extension with respect to discovery for your trial by declaration as such a request may be considered.

ANY ADVICE?

 

[JIMinCA]

Don't email the court. Call them. Have you done your arraignment yet? If so, you don't need the discovery for the TBWD as it really isn't going to help you. The discovery will be for your Trial De Novo.