Error on failure to stop - MO

[teckc]

Kansas City, MO - I received a ticket for failure to stop at a red light last month. As I remember it, the light was still yellow when I entered the intersection (and I had two passengers in my car who also remembered it that way.) The officer did not turn on his lights until we were about half a mile away (after a turn and one complete stop at another red light) and I pulled over immediately when he did. At that point, I had no idea why he pulled me over. He told me that blew right through a red light at 39th and Broadway and wrote me a ticket. I didn't see it until the next day because its barely legible, but the officer wrote on the ticket that the violation occured at Wesport Rd & Mill St., which is where he actually pulled me over.

My court date is 12/3, and one of my passengers is coming with me as a witness. I don't have much hope of winning, though. Is there anything else I can do to bolster my case?

[The Occultist]

Your biased witness will mean nothing to the court. If the judge is actually willing to listen to your friend, your friend's testimony won't be taken with much weight.

Did the light turn red while you were in the intersection? If the light turned yellow before you entered the intersection (which is what you said happened), that could be enough itself to convict you, and the state's case would be even stronger if the officer observed the light turn red before you were out of the intersection. This all depends, of course, on how your laws on this are written. What is the statute number you were charged with?

[FlyingRon]

Missouri law says you may not enter the intersection on red.
It says that the yellow is just a warning that the green is going away.

[The Occultist]

Originally Posted by FlyingRon

Missouri law says you may not enter the intersection on red.
It says that the yellow is just a warning that the green is going away.

Fair enough.

[JIMinCA]

Originally Posted by teckc

Kansas City, MO - I received a ticket for failure to stop at a red light last month. As I remember it, the light was still yellow when I entered the intersection (and I had two passengers in my car who also remembered it that way.) The officer did not turn on his lights until we were about half a mile away (after a turn and one complete stop at another red light) and I pulled over immediately when he did. At that point, I had no idea why he pulled me over. He told me that blew right through a red light at 39th and Broadway and wrote me a ticket. I didn't see it until the next day because its barely legible, but the officer wrote on the ticket that the violation occured at Wesport Rd & Mill St., which is where he actually pulled me over.

My court date is 12/3, and one of my passengers is coming with me as a witness. I don't have much hope of winning, though. Is there anything else I can do to bolster my case?

Well, according to what you are saying, you were charged with running a redlight at 39th and Broadway, not at the intersection you are thinking of. Is there actually a red light at 39th and Broadway? If so, are you sure that you went through on a green? Can your witnesses testify to that?

In other words, don't even concern yourself with the light that you slipped through on yellow. You are not charged with that. You should only defend yourself against the charge that is facing you... which is running the redlighe at 39th and Broadway.

[teckc]

No, it was the light at 39th & Broadway that I remember being yellow (I know I slowed way down, but I decided that I wasn't going to be able to stop without running halfway out into the intersection, so I hit the gas.) There was no issue at Westport & Mill, which is the location he wrote on the ticket.