officer advised plea

my friend (a west point cadet) was home for the weekend in pa. he was pulled over in a very small township for speeding via a speedtrap. it was a saturday night 1:30am. upon receiving the ticket from the officer, the officer said to him and I quote,"now just plead guilty, send the fine ( $150.00 plus 4 points) to the magistrates office and don't make me come looking for you because you are in the military". can he do that? is that a violation of his civil rights? luckily, my friend had a friend in the car with him who also heard what the officer said. What should he do?

[HomeGuru]

Either follow the officer's orders or hire an attorney and dispute the charges.

Thanks but I was expecting a better reply than that. It still didn't answer my question regarding my friends civil rights. Aren't you presumed innocent until proven guilty? That officer was not an attorney. How can he tell my friend how to plead?

[racer72]

The officers comments do not come close to violating anyone civil rights. The officer gave an opinion most likely based on his experience. And what should he do? Pay the fine or hire an attorney to contest the ticket. But don't use the officers comments as an excuse unless you all want to get laughed out of the court room.

Experienced or not, that officer is not at all justified in telling my friend to plead guilty. Only the judge (magistrate) can decide after hearing all the facts, if my friend is guilty or not. And if he is "judging from experience", he should know better than to tell someone to plead guilty, I do not agree with you at all. He didn't offer an opinion, he told him to plead guilty,send in the money and don't make me come looking for you cause you are in the military. No I think you are wrong.

[racer72]

Tell it to the judge then. They always enjoy a good laugh. I spend quite a bit of time in traffic court helping people such as your friend and I have never heard comments made by the citing officer as a valid reason to dismiss the ticket. Your friend will get his 30 seconds to tell the judge his story. If he starts crying about the officers comments and civil rights, the judge is going to ask him what does that have to do with the speeding ticket. Of course, it doesn't. The real question is, was he speeding? If he was, pay the ticket and get on with his life. If your friend really feels that his civil rights were violated, he needs to see a lawyer and file a suit against the officer in a superior or federal court. But the officers comment will be a non issue in traffic court.

thanks racer, for some reason your last comment totally made me see the light! one thing(speeding ticket) doesn't have anything to do with the other(officers comments). my friend is guilty of speeding.