What is the name of your state? California
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I was driving on SB I-280 (San Mateo County, SF Bay Area, CA) when the CHP ground officer (arresting officer) pulled me over for speeding. He said that CHP aircraft determined that I was going 92mph in a 65mph zone, although he wrote me up for 85mph. The CHP ground officer did not independently determine my speed from the ground (i.e., no radar, no pacing, etc).
I wrote a Trial By Declaration for my defense but I later found out that the judge ruled in favor of the CHP Officer. So I had set a Trial de Novo as the next step. However, I went to the Court and requested a copy of the declarations that officer(s) wrote and turns out, only the CHP ground officer wrote the declaration. There was no declaration from the CHP air officer. In the ground officer’s statement, he concurred that my speed was determined by aircraft, and did not mention that he assessed my speed independently from the ground. In the TR-235 form, the officer declared that “the offense(s) were not commited in my presence”. One thing I noticed in the officer's declaration was that "...I wasn't going 90 but maybe 80", which I did not recall saying. I believe I verbally told the officer that I might have been going fast (hoping that the CHP officer would just give me a warning if I was cooperative), but that in itself is open to many interpretations.
Therefore, I believe that this case should be dismissed even before we reach the Trial de Novo, since the air officer did not respond, nor will he ever respond within the 25 day deadline from the day I first submitted my declaration. If my assessment is correct, is there anything I could do between now and my Trial de Novo to the get the case dismissed? I was wondering why the judge did not catch that the first time when the judge reviewed our declarations.
Also, the Court Clerk mentioned that only the officer on the citation (which is only the ground officer in this case) will be subpeonaed for the Trial de Novo. I understand that for the Trial de Novo, both the ground and air officers need to appear as well.
Please advise if my assessment that the Trial-by-Declaration should be dismissed is correct. Do I have a strong case for dismissal? Thank you in advance.
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I was driving on SB I-280 (San Mateo County, SF Bay Area, CA) when the CHP ground officer (arresting officer) pulled me over for speeding. He said that CHP aircraft determined that I was going 92mph in a 65mph zone, although he wrote me up for 85mph. The CHP ground officer did not independently determine my speed from the ground (i.e., no radar, no pacing, etc).
I wrote a Trial By Declaration for my defense but I later found out that the judge ruled in favor of the CHP Officer. So I had set a Trial de Novo as the next step. However, I went to the Court and requested a copy of the declarations that officer(s) wrote and turns out, only the CHP ground officer wrote the declaration. There was no declaration from the CHP air officer. In the ground officer’s statement, he concurred that my speed was determined by aircraft, and did not mention that he assessed my speed independently from the ground. In the TR-235 form, the officer declared that “the offense(s) were not commited in my presence”. One thing I noticed in the officer's declaration was that "...I wasn't going 90 but maybe 80", which I did not recall saying. I believe I verbally told the officer that I might have been going fast (hoping that the CHP officer would just give me a warning if I was cooperative), but that in itself is open to many interpretations.
Therefore, I believe that this case should be dismissed even before we reach the Trial de Novo, since the air officer did not respond, nor will he ever respond within the 25 day deadline from the day I first submitted my declaration. If my assessment is correct, is there anything I could do between now and my Trial de Novo to the get the case dismissed? I was wondering why the judge did not catch that the first time when the judge reviewed our declarations.
Also, the Court Clerk mentioned that only the officer on the citation (which is only the ground officer in this case) will be subpeonaed for the Trial de Novo. I understand that for the Trial de Novo, both the ground and air officers need to appear as well.
Please advise if my assessment that the Trial-by-Declaration should be dismissed is correct. Do I have a strong case for dismissal? Thank you in advance.
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