Legal Stop or not.

[Notsofast!]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? I was recently driving in NY and had a state trooper in an old K9 unit truck driving in the slow lane. He continued to drive 60-70 speeding up and slowing down. Traffic continued to follow the same pattern of driving. While he was going 60, I proceded to pass his vehicle. After passing, he pulled me over. The officer was dressed in street clothing, did not introduce himself as an officer, and did not say why I was pulled over. He just took my info and went to his truck. After several minutes, he came back and gave me a ticket for doing 72 in a 65. My questions are, can an officer whom appears to be off duty give you a ticket and is his "Pacing" my vehicle with an old truck while he was obstructing the flow of traffic be legal? To make matters worse, the Judge I am to go before is a attorney I fired from a case several years ago. I'm I toast or what?

[The Occultist]

If you know the judge, you may submit a motion for mistrial due to the potential conflict of interest, and the judge will likely agree and move your case to a different judge. If not, that may be grounds for an appeal later on.

Officers tend to know what they are and are not allowed to do, which includes pulling you over out of uniform. Would an officer waste his time giving a citation when it wasn't legal? I confess I do not actually know the legality here, so hopefully a more informed poster will offer his insight, but you may also wish to sit down with a local traffic attorney to see what they may have to offer.

The whole uniform thing aside, and officer's actions will not get you off the hook. If you feel the officer was acting/driving inappropriately, you may issue a personnel complaint against the officer with his agency. Do keep in mind, however, that this complaint will have no bearing on the charges you may be facing.

[tranquility]

In theory, any citizen can make such a stop and arrest. (aka ticket) It would be chaos if we did, but I don't think there is a legal loophole here.

[You Are Guilty]

Undercover officers are permitted to issue citations.

His truck will still need to have a properly calibrated speedo if he's going to use "pacing" as his proof. It's up to you to ask for proof of same before the trial - the police won't provide it without a demand for that info.

And if you have a (poor) prior relationship with the judge then you must request a "recusal" and state your reasons. Even if the judge doesn't remove himself from the case, if you don't make the request, you lose that ground for an appeal.