contesting red light traffic ticket in California

[cfrei0227]

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

I do not have a car, but was driving my boyfriend's car one day.*I miscalculated a yellow light and ran a red— of course, we got a ticket in the mail a few days later —for $500!! The ticket is in my boyfriend's name, but it is clearly a woman driving the vehicle. Everything I have looked up says that in the state of California, you are not required by law to name the driver to the police or the judge, if the driver in the picture is not you. All you are required to do is provide evidence that the driver is not you —*in this case, the driver is obviously not my boyfriend. He does not want to go in front of the judge because he thinks the judge is going to press him for the identity of the driver and find him guilty, which would lead to points in his license. So now he is going to just turn me in, which, from everything I have read, seems completely unnecessary. $500 is a lot of money, and I just don't have it. I can't seem to convince him that the ticket will most likely be dismissed and that he does not have to say anything except that the person in the picture is not him. He is concerned about perjury and points going to his license. The whole situation is causing an undue amount of stress in our relationship- help!

 

[Zigner]

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

I do not have a car, but was driving my boyfriend's car one day.*I miscalculated a yellow light and ran a red— of course, we got a ticket in the mail a few days later —for $500!! The ticket is in my boyfriend's name, but it is clearly a woman driving the vehicle. Everything I have looked up says that in the state of California, you are not required by law to name the driver to the police or the judge, if the driver in the picture is not you. All you are required to do is provide evidence that the driver is not you —*in this case, the driver is obviously not my boyfriend. He does not want to go in front of the judge because he thinks the judge is going to press him for the identity of the driver and find him guilty, which would lead to points in his license. So now he is going to just turn me in, which, from everything I have read, seems completely unnecessary. $500 is a lot of money, and I just don't have it. I can't seem to convince him that the ticket will most likely be dismissed and that he does not have to say anything except that the person in the picture is not him. He is concerned about perjury and points going to his license. The whole situation is causing an undue amount of stress in our relationship- help!

So, in a nutshell, YOU don't want to pay for YOUR bad driving...

 

[cfrei0227]

Honestly, I know that I screwed up, and would be ok with paying a fine, but $500 seems a little inflated.

 

[Zigner]

Honestly, I know that I screwed up, and would be ok with paying a fine, but $500 seems a little inflated.

Yeah - supposed to help folks not run the red


Your boyfriend can play this either way. It's not a legal question.

 

[cfrei0227]

I am not sure what you mean- that he can turn me in or contest it? I just can't seem to assure him that since he is not the driver, the judge cannot find him guilty and points cannot go on his license. I am sorry to bother you, but I really appreciate any help or advice you can give me. Honestly, I just don't have the money and I am not sure what to do.

 

[Zigner]

I am not sure what you mean- that he can turn me in or contest it? I just can't seem to assure him that since he is not the driver, the judge cannot find him guilty and points cannot go on his license. I am sorry to bother you, but I really appreciate any help or advice you can give me. Honestly, I just don't have the money and I am not sure what to do.

If a question starts with "Can the judge...", then the answer is usually "Yes"

ETA: He's going to have to pay it before seeing a judge anyway...

 

[I_Got_Banned]

There is no statute that says he must ID the driver... But obviously that hasn't worked to convince your hard headed BF. Take a look at this link and see if you can find anything to help you Fighting Your Ticket - Red Light Cameras in California (scroll down to #2 "It's Not Me"...)

 

[I_Got_Banned]

ETA: He's going to have to pay it before seeing a judge anyway...

Not necessarily Zigner... If he pleads "not guilty" at the arraignment, shows positive ID to the judge to support the fact that the picture doesn't match, and moved for a dismissal (assuming the judge finds that sufficient) then it should get dismissed right then and there.

 

[cfrei0227]

Thank you, ,I_Got_Banned! That is exactly as I understood it, at least from what I have read thus far. Thanks for the link, I showed him the same page a few days ago, but I think he is a little scared to go in front of the judge. namely what exactly he can say when the police office or judge asks him who was driving car. What can he say that will avoid perjury? "I do not wish to provide that information"?
any suggestions you might have would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you again for your help

 

[I_Got_Banned]

Thank you, ,I_Got_Banned! That is exactly as I understood it, at least from what I have read thus far. Thanks for the link, I showed him the same page a few days ago, but I think he is a little scared to go in front of the judge. namely what exactly he can say when the police office or judge asks him who was driving car. What can he say that will avoid perjury? "I do not wish to provide that information"?
any suggestions you might have would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you again for your help

For starters, the officer cannot ask questions of the defendant. The officer is merely a witness; he is not a party to the action. As for the judge, and although I have "heard" of cases where he/she might ask the defendant to ID the driver, the cases that I have "seen" (where the defendant provided a picture ID that does not match that on the citation) were outright dismissed without any further questioning by the judge.

He can simply say this: "This citation, and while it identifies me by name, shows a picture of a person who is OBVIOUSLY not me. Therefore, I am here to make a motion to dismiss this citation based on the fact that it was issued to the wrong person."

Also, with this being a clear gender mismatch case, he can then cite the San Diego case mentioned on that page that I linked and argue that the citation should not have been issued to begin with (assuming the picture clearly shows a female... (See "People v. Allen" San Diego Docs - Set # 3 - Illegal Red Light Cameras (make a copy of that case and present it to the judge).

Point is, he has to "want" to do this... if he simply drags his feet when he walks into court then chances are he'll bow down and turn you over... If on the other hand he goes to court wishing to argue that the citation was issued in error and that he is not obligated to do the police work on their behalf, then he will most likely prevail.

 

[cfrei0227]

Thank you so much for your time and advice!
Just one last thing- If the judge does happen to ask him if he knows the driver, can he simply say "I abstain from providing that information" ? or is there a more correct, safe way to say that?
again, thank you so much!

 

[I_Got_Banned]

Thank you so much for your time and advice!
Just one last thing- If the judge does happen to ask him if he knows the driver, can he simply say "I abstain from providing that information" ? or is there a more correct, safe way to say that?
again, thank you so much!

I wouldn't abstain and I wouldn't plead the 5th... If the judge does happen to ask him then he can simply say "with all due respect, your honor, and please correct me if I am wrong, but I am not aware of any vehicle code section that requires me to disclose who was driving."

 

[cfrei0227]

Thanks again—*you have been very helpful!

 

[Zigner]

Thanks again—*you have been very helpful!

You're welcome! One is glad to be of service.

 

[cfrei0227]

I_Got_Banned:

one last question for you: what are the chances, if any, that the judge would not dismiss the ticket, even though the offender in the picture is clearly a woman and the ticket is issued to a male driver, leaving him with a hefty fine and points on his license for something he did not do?