erroneous traffic citation

[pepperdog]

What is the name of your state? Washington

I received a notice from the DMV that my driving privileges were going to be suspended due to failure to respond to a speeding ticket. I was never issued a ticket and was nowhere near the area they said the incident occurred. I asked them to send me a copy of the citation and I was sure that it would have an incorrect signature or other faulty information which would prove my innocence. Instead, it had all of my correct information (driver's license number, license plate, description of car, description of me, etc.) I was in class at the time they say this was happening in a completely different city. Does anyone know how this could happen?

[justalayman]

Was your signature on the ticket?

[racer72]

I'm voting for selective amnesia.

[justalayman]

I donl;t know. If the OP comes back and says the signature was there and appeared to be his, I'm betting on the evil twin defense.

[pepperdog]

when I got the copy of the citation, the signature was blank. I called the court and asked about it and they said that they changed the law a couple of months ago and you don't have to sign for a ticket. Now I don't have a clue how to prove my innocence. I don't have an evil twin and my car was sitting in the parking lot of my school all day.

[justalayman]

Well figure out exactly where you were at the time the ticket was written. Have that professor give an affidavit and present it to the court when you go to fight the ticket.

Since you were in class at the time the ticket was written it should be a slam dunk.


Just by chance, were you pulled over and given a ticket 1 day either side of the day the ticket states?

[pepperdog]

I received a speeding ticket a month before this and it was dismissed because the officer's notes didn't match the comments at all that he had made on the citation (wrong street, wrong speed limit, different speeds, etc.) The judge threw it out after less than a minute. Could this
have anything to do with it?

[justalayman]

I wouldn't think so but if they were that screwed up then, maybe they haven't come back to earth yet.

If you did not recieve a ticket around the date on the ticket (a couple days one way or the other) I would simply fight it as posted earlier. If you did recieve a ticket around that time, I would suggest the police made a mistake on the date of the ticket. If he has record (call in to station, personal duty notes) the courts may be able to accept the mistaken date and still charge you. If there is actually no record, fight it.

[poppakeith]

Originally Posted by Curt581

Three possibilities:

You allowed someone to drive your car. That person got stopped for speeding and gave the cop your name and info.

You were the one stopped.

You have an evil twin.

Did you purposly avoid entering the more obvious possibility: Evil cop?

[Pugilist]

If you have a cellphone that you're using all the time (like so many people do), why not check your call records.

If the records show no calls at the time of the violation, that bolsters your argument that you were in class.

Or, the records might show calls, but originating from a distance from the place of the alleged violation.

To find out what the officer wrote in his notes on the back of the cite (maybe he described the driver), do a Discovery. The procedure for doing that is described in Fight Your Ticket, a book, by David Brown, available at your library.

Pug

[LSCAP]

I guess it wasn't the same officer, otherwise you would have stated that.

[LSCAP]

I can and have requested a complete listing of my cell phone bill. In each case they showed the area- read that town or city- the call was made from and phone number and town 0r city it was received. Remember roaming charges. One of my phones is restricted to local, and roaming charges are extra.

Agreed, not much good if in the same calling town or city.

It also depends on the type of service that is on the phone. I believe they - might?- keep a record of approximate locations though probably only for govt access.

My son, trying to find a particular shop, called the phone service for directions to **** location. With out getting a chance to say where he was, ( he really didn’t know) he was told, go a head one more block, and turn right. Its about halfway down the street on the left side. ( some kind of Map service from Nextel)

So I doubt it would hurt to call the phone company and find out whatever they can tell the OP if anything.

And I repeat, was it the same officer as the one who was embarrassed in court with a sloppy ticket?

A few years ago, an ex-brother-in-law driving a bright blue car, with bright white interior, happened to cut off an off duty officer, in his own car but in uniform.

A few weeks later he discovered he’d been given two parking tickets. The officer had described the car as White with blue interior. He showed a picture of his car and the tickets were dismissed.
Some judges will give you a break. Eh sometimes.

[poppakeith]

Originally Posted by Curt581

I thought that was sort of a 'given'.
Why would a cop pull someone's information to give them a ticket in this situation, when it's reasonably easy for her to prove she was somewhere else at the time?
Why not give give a false ticket to someone who WAS there?
Since nobody ever gets a ticket they actually deserve, isn't EVERY citation issued falsely?

All good questions, Curt, the first two being unanswerable except by misbehaving cops involved, but the last one is a bit silly. The vast majority of tickets issued are deserved. Partly because of that fact, the ones not deserved and bogus tickets tend be presumed deserved as well.....recepient presumed guilty. Forums like this are intended to help sort out the two different kinds of tickets.

[cepe10]

Originally Posted by poppakeith

All good questions, Curt, the first two being unanswerable except by misbehaving cops involved, but the last one is a bit silly. The vast majority of tickets issued are deserved. Partly because of that fact, the ones not deserved and bogus tickets tend be presumed deserved as well.....recepient presumed guilty. Forums like this are intended to help sort out the two different kinds of tickets.

I agree with you PK - and since most legitimate tickets go uncontested (along with quite a few illegitimate one) I would assume that on this forum the majorty of the OP's do have some merit in questioning how appropriate the crime they are charged with is. The other obvious is that there is not a lot of consequence for issuing false citations or not following proper procedure - that seems to lead to general lack of care...other than meeting the "performance goal" that is

[poppakeith]

Originally Posted by cepe10

The other obvious is that there is not a lot of consequence for issuing false citations or not following proper procedure - that seems to lead to general lack of care...other than meeting the "performance goal" that is

Actually, there are consequences, but getting them brought to bear is a really difficult process, and costly. Most problematical element is that cops, being human and posessing power, are always on the froghairs of corruptability....a few falling over that edge. In traffic matters, however, it is dang near impossible to illustrate it when a cop pulls a bit of power abuse, in that the bulk of citations are based upon judgement and observation. There is almost never actual proof that somebody was traveling above the speed limit; no proof when they were not. What the cop says carries all the weight....and he knows it. We must rely upon the conscience in our police. Most have it, and/or are not motivated to cheat. Those who are short on conscience, go on power trips, or like to toy with other people's lives get off scot free.