fighting 2 vehicle infractions

[lj1101]

What is the name of your state? California

Hello, i have recently received 2 citations for similar things, and by the same officer... my first one was a 2815 VC "Failure to stop for a school crossing guard" which was unreasonable because of the fact that when i was crossing the crosswalk there was nobody there, my assumption is that the guard pulled the stop sign while i was already crossing. i have yet to go to court, but about 2 days later the same officer pulled me over in the same place and cited me for 21951 VC for failure to stop at the crosswalk while someone is crossing... and at the same time 12500 "driving without a license" now all i can say is that i am guilty of driving without a license (but i do, however have a driving permit)... i have an appointment to go to DMV to take the driving test, but i've been having trouble doing that. so this is what i'm asking: the officer is always in the same place as i've been observing in the past week, and he seems to always stop someone in the exact same spot, i can only see that he is racially profiling since everyone he stops are the same ethnicity. my guess is that he gave me different violations so that ill have different things to pay for... also, the officer seems to be in a street in which it is hard to spot him, is it lawful for an officer to be in this position? i see it as lazyness... he might be needed elsewhere but he is just sitting there waiting for things to happen in front of him.... i am going to fight this case but i would like to know what i should do. any help is appreciated. Thanks

 

[CdwJava]

i have yet to go to court, but about 2 days later the same officer pulled me over in the same place and cited me for 21951 VC for failure to stop at the crosswalk while someone is crossing... and at the same time 12500 "driving without a license" now all i can say is that i am guilty of driving without a license (but i do, however have a driving permit)... i have an appointment to go to DMV to take the driving test, but i've been having trouble doing that.

Okay ... that's a misdemeanor crime. You CAN NOT DRIVE!

You are lucky you didn't get cited for that two days earlier!

Did you get your car towed? The officer could have towed it for 30 days!

so this is what i'm asking: the officer is always in the same place as i've been observing in the past week, and he seems to always stop someone in the exact same spot, i can only see that he is racially profiling since everyone he stops are the same ethnicity.

Purely anecdotal. Do you have anything else to show that he is stopping only minorities? It may be that the people committing the violation happen to be of your ethnicity. Perhaps your ethnicity is a majority in your area.

i used to work a barrio in a southern California agency and 8 out of 10 people I stopped were Hispanic - it was just the odds.

my guess is that he gave me different violations so that ill have different things to pay for... also, the officer seems to be in a street in which it is hard to spot him, is it lawful for an officer to be in this position?

Of course it is. The officer does not need to have a neon sign advertising his position.

i see it as lazyness...

I see it as proactive enforcement. As a side note, schools often call the police requesting officers when students are coming and going for just this sort of thing. My officers loiter by our schools when they get out for just this kind of thing - crosswalks, double parking, illegal turns, no seatbelts/car seats, and illegal U-Turns.

he might be needed elsewhere but he is just sitting there waiting for things to happen in front of him....

He has a radio in the car. if they need him, they will call him. It is also possible the officer is a traffic officer or a school officer.

What are you going to fight? Certainly not the 12500 - you did not have a license. However, since it is ostensibly a correctable violation, you might be able to get a pass on that one if you get a valid license by the time you go to court.

The crosswalk violation MIGHT be defensible, depending on what the officer or a witness has to say.

- Carl

 

[lj1101]

thank you for your response, now i know i can't fight the 12500 violation since it is true, however i can get my license before i go to court. The officer did not tow my vehicle, and he is a regular officer on a motorcycle... right after he stopped me he stopped someone else, now, if the officer wouldn't have stopped me, he wouldn't have known that i didn't have a license, can i argue that? or maybe argue that he stopped me because he already knew that i didn't have a license and therefore stopped me to correct his error?

I see it as proactive enforcement. As a side note, schools often call the police requesting officers when students are coming and going for just this sort of thing. My officers loiter by our schools when they get out for just this kind of thing - crosswalks, double parking, illegal turns, no seatbelts/car seats, and illegal U-Turns.

yes, i agree that safety around schools is important, however this location doesn't have a school right next to it, it's a couple of blocks away, and this officer is in the same position every single day

 

[CdwJava]

thank you for your response, now i know i can't fight the 12500 violation since it is true, however i can get my license before i go to court.

That may well help.

The officer did not tow my vehicle, and he is a regular officer on a motorcycle...

That means he is a traffic officer ... you are really lucky he did NOT tow your car. He could have, and in most agencies he might be required to.

right after he stopped me he stopped someone else, now, if the officer wouldn't have stopped me, he wouldn't have known that i didn't have a license, can i argue that?

Sure. The hard part is getting the court to toss out the crosswalk violation is invalid. Sorry, that's just not likely to happen unless the officer admits he could not see you or the crosswalk, or he admits the violation did not occur.

or maybe argue that he stopped me because he already knew that i didn't have a license and therefore stopped me to correct his error?

Bad one. if he KNEW you did not have a valid license, THAT would be good cause for the stop even if you did not do anything else wrong.

yes, i agree that safety around schools is important, however this location doesn't have a school right next to it, it's a couple of blocks away, and this officer is in the same position every single day

I have an officer regularly at a spot a couple blocks from an elementary school every afternoon as well ... same idea - safety for the kids.

- Carl