How I won my hearing

[LBE]

I posted about my case earlier [URL=http://forum.freeadvice.com/showthread.php?t=275951]here[/URL]. It's rather long so the short story is this:
An off duty detective saw a similar vehicle to mine drive by his house twice at 65-70 and called it in. He did not get the plates or any unique way of identifying the vehicle according to his filed report. Another officer pulled me over about a block away 20 minutes after the vehicle was called in. The officer wrote the ticket based on the off-duty detectives claims that my vehicle was the one he saw. The ticket was for a road I had never driven on that night.

My hearing was today and I thought I should mention that I won. I also thought I'd mention a few things that I thought helped me alot.

Firstly, I think my appearance helped. I made sure to dress nicely and act as calmly and respectfully as possible. I was quite nervous but covered it up mostly. I figured that if I didn't look nervous at all I would seem overconfident, and if I looked too nervous I'd look guilty. So, I tried to act how I feel, nervous to be in court, but pretty sure that if the system works the way it is supposed to, things would be sorted out, the truth revealed, and I would be victorious.

Secondly, it was incredibly helpfull to have copies of the two officer's written reports beforehand. As I understand it, after any ticket is given, an officer must write a written narrative of the event describing why he gave the citation. This is part of the "paper work" required by them to issue a citation. I'm not sure if this is true everywhere, but it is in MA. These reports are considered public record and are available to almost anyone who asks. I simply went to the police station in town, payed 1 dollar for each report as a copying fee, and got the reports. Having these reports was like seeing the other teams playbook before a big game. Because the date of a hearing is so long after the date of the citation, and the fact that the police can sometimes be lazy, both officer's simply read their written narratives in court as their testimonies. I sat there with the two copies in front of me, knowing what they'd say before they did. It was great.

Thirdly, I wrote a statement before the hearing. After I got the ticket, I went home and wrote down everything that happened that night. I used what I wrote there, and the two reports of the officers to write a statement for the hearing. Simply the process of writing this allowed me to better design my argument and collect my points. Furthermore, The two officers reports allowed me to address every point they would make during the hearing. Knowing what they would say beforehand, and taking the time to perfectly create an argument against it, made things alot easier. I think the statement also gave me the appearence of being an organized individual who takes the court system and their time seriously. The judge seemed almost impressed by it. What's more, the statement allowed me to present a clear and concise argument despite the anxiety of being in a courtroom. When I first contested the ticket, the court magistrate interrupted me frequently. He didn't allow me to say much of anything. During this hearing, having a written statement allowed me to say everything I wanted without getting interrupted.

Taking these steps allowed me to win the case without any argument whatsoever. The Judge listened to the officer's read their reports, listened to me read my statement, and immediately dismissed the case. I highly reccomend other people take the same steps I did.






In case anyone is wondering more specifically what happened in the hearing:

I was right in suspecting that the detective had no idea what car he saw. At the hearing he changed his story to say that he identified the car as a Mazda MX6. In his report he wrote RX6. There is no such thing as an RX6, but I drive an RX8. I recognized this oppurtunity and when I got my chance to "ask him some questions" I asked him to state again the name of the vehicle he saw. He said again it was a MX6. When it was my turn to speak, I made sure to mention that an MX6 is a four door sedan and looks completely different from my registered 2 door car.

I then read my statement and point by point, I picked away at their reports and created an argument for what actually happened. Firstly, I referanced their reports as evidence of the 20 minute time between the report of the speeder, and me passing through the area. Then, I recalled the full context what was said when I was pulled over. This showed the extent to which my statements had been twisted when taken out of context in the officer's filed reports. I then pointed out that it was unreasonable to issue me a citation based so heavily on false and unintended implications of my statements. I also stated that if the officer's had properly identified the vehicle they saw with a driver description or license plate number, they would have issued the ticket to the correct party. I concluded by saying that they were unjustified in giving me a citation without any substantial evidence that I was the person observed speeding, and that this had resulted in the ticket being given to the wrong person.

The judge seemed impressed by my argument. Several people in courtroom were too. The officers looked quite dejected by the time I finished. While I was reading, the judge looked over at them very sternly several times. He immediately dismissed the case.

What a great story. Good for you! That really gives me the incentive to research how to get my ticket reduced also. Thanks for the inspiration. ^^