juvenile court law?

[pancakekiller]

I was recently pulled over for 30 in a 25 mph school zone in Fairfax County, Virginia. At the time I was 17, and at the time of my trial I was 17. During the trial, the officer said I was going 35-40 mph, even though he didn't use radar and paced me for around 10 feet while I was trying to pass another car (which everyone else was passing, as it was doing 20). For those not familiar with the area, Fairfax County, especially where I live, is extremely congested. It's difficult to impossible for one car to go significantly faster than the majority of cars around it. When I brought this up in trial, the officer said I was a student, and thus should be more familiar with the school zones than a regular driver. However, I have never attended the school I was in front of, and I don't live in the district for this school. The cop went on to say that it was an "arbitrary case." The judge rolled his eyes and said that yes, it "[was] a trivial offense and ticket" but still gave it to me. Both in court and at my car (I have a witness for the latter) I was told if I was 18, I wouldn't have gotten the ticket. I'm appealling (for the appeal I'll be 18), and it's going to circuit court. There, can I bring up all the stuff about my age and the nonsense that the juvenile court judge said about there being no need to pass a car going 5 miles below the speed limit, that I should get the ticket because I'm a student, the ticket being trivial, etc?
Also, this may be a rehashed question here (and I'm sorry if it is!) but does anybody know if VA allows you to get the officer's notes before the trial?What is the name of your state?

 

[seniorjudge]

I was recently pulled over for 30 in a 25 mph school zone in Fairfax County, Virginia. At the time I was 17, and at the time of my trial I was 17. During the trial, the officer said I was going 35-40 mph, even though he didn't use radar and paced me for around 10 feet while I was trying to pass another car (which everyone else was passing, as it was doing 20). For those not familiar with the area, Fairfax County, especially where I live, is extremely congested. It's difficult to impossible for one car to go significantly faster than the majority of cars around it. When I brought this up in trial, the officer said I was a student, and thus should be more familiar with the school zones than a regular driver. However, I have never attended the school I was in front of, and I don't live in the district for this school. The cop went on to say that it was an "arbitrary case." The judge rolled his eyes and said that yes, it "[was] a trivial offense and ticket" but still gave it to me. Both in court and at my car (I have a witness for the latter) I was told if I was 18, I wouldn't have gotten the ticket. I'm appealling (for the appeal I'll be 18), and it's going to circuit court. There, can I bring up all the stuff about my age and the nonsense that the juvenile court judge said about there being no need to pass a car going 5 miles below the speed limit, that I should get the ticket because I'm a student, the ticket being trivial, etc?
Also, this may be a rehashed question here (and I'm sorry if it is!) but does anybody know if VA allows you to get the officer's notes before the trial?What is the name of your state?

Q: There, can I bring up all the stuff about my age and the nonsense that the juvenile court judge said about there being no need to pass a car going 5 miles below the speed limit, that I should get the ticket because I'm a student, the ticket being trivial, etc?

A: Yes, but when the prosecutor objects on relevancy grounds, don't be surprised when the judge sustains the prosecutor's objection. (That means the judge won't hear this stuff, which is not evidence and doesn't mean anything anyway.)

 

[pancakekiller]

A: Yes, but when the prosecutor objects on relevancy grounds, don't be surprised when the judge sustains the prosecutor's objection. (That means the judge won't hear this stuff, which is not evidence and doesn't mean anything anyway.)

What about everything the officer said about it being a trivial ticket and how he only gave it to me because I wasn't 18?

 

[sukharev]

"he didn't use radar and paced me for around 10 feet"

You do realize that pacing for 10 feet is nonsense? If he did say this, you should definitely contest based on lack of proper foundation, not the silly age stuff. Drop the attitude, do it like an adult, and defend yourself by questioning prosecutor's evidence (or lack of thereof). Do time/distance calculation, to prove that officer could not possibly deterime 5 mph difference in your speed. Also, although it may be late, see if you can get the speedometer calibration for your car. It may be a couple miles off. There are a bunch of books in the library on how to defend yourself in speeding ticket trials, as well as good semi-free online resources (like tipmra). Browse this forum for more cases from VA, too.

Also, if you have time, request police car maintenance and speedometer calibration records, to show that his speed estimate could be off by a couple miles also (just because it was not calibrated). If you get those records, you may have a case to present. I don't know what the appeal would look like in your situation, it is possible that they would not allow you to present any new evidense, but it's worth a shot. Good luck.

 

[pancakekiller]

Thanks for everything you said that was useful...but why the bs about "drop the attitude and do it like an adult"? Have you ever been to juvenile traffic court? There isn't really any questioning, and the judge kept interrupting me every time I tried to ask the officer a question--and with 4 years of student congress and a couple of awards behind me, I'm going to guess I sound pretty good, and not like a bratty kid. Thanks for having the same assumptions as the judge.
Anyway, I brought up the 10 feet thing. The judge rolled his eyes at that, too. Juvenile traffic court is garbage.