WhatWhenWhere
Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Pennsylvania
Hello all,
I was returning home and was at the intersection just before my street/home address. I was coming from the west, towards the east, on "B Street" and stopped at the stop sign at intersection of "B Street" and "A Street." I looked left and right at the intersection. To my left on the north side of the intersection, on "A Street", a bus was stopped. There were no lights on (NONE), the bar was not out, the stop sign was not out and no students were unloading. I looked to my right and there was no one. I waited several minutes (3 to 5 minutes) and several cars, including one behind me, started to honk. With the lights off, the crossing guard out of sight, and my house about 100 feet away I decided to cross the intersection. This was on a Friday.
On the following Tuesday a police officer arrived at my house. He interviewed my father. My mother was in the room and was a witness to the conversation. He said that the crossing guard reported my vehicle. When told by my parents that I was upstairs asleep and offered to wake me for an interview the officer said that it wasn't necessary. I was not there but according to the two eye witnesses, my parents, the officer said, "Don't worry. Nothing will come of this."
My father, being bi-polar and very aggressive, yelled at the crossing guard that afternoon. The following day, Wednesday, I received two tickets in the mail. The incident report (which I had to pay for) has this time information:
Reported: (Tuesday. Date retracted for my anonymity) 09:53
Received: 09:53
Dispatched: 09:53
Arrived: 09:55
Cleared: 10:45
Status: CLOSED/CLEARED
Disposition: CLEARED BY ARREST
So I have no way of knowing if his actions are responsible for me getting the ticket but I wonder how it could be cleared at 10:45 but not mailed until the following day (Wednesday)? I also wonder why it says "CLEARED BY ARREST" when no arrest occurred.
Charges:
Meeting/Overtaking a School Bus
75 § 3345 §§ A
Obedience to Authorized Persons Directing Traffic
75 § 3102
I have a feeling that if my dad hadn't yelled at the crossing guard I would not have gotten these tickets but that is a moot point.
This particular crossing guard has history with almost everyone on my street. I live on a one way street with parking on one side. This crossing guard frequently stands in the middle of the street at the start of "East B Street", my street. Myself, my father, my mother and other neighbors (We interviewed them.) have frequently experienced coming upon her when trying to turn onto our street. That also means that my father, mother, neighbors and I have all yelled at her for her hazardous position. (Neighbors have confirmed yelling at her.)
My plan for court is to, despite not being guilty, pleading to the "Obedience to Authorized Persons Directing Traffic" if they will drop the "Overtaking a School Bus" charge.
If they do not allow this to happen, then I will proceed to court and I will not testify on my behalf. I instead plan to question the crossing guard and bus driver. I'm not sure of what I should ask them besides if they are able to identify the car and driver. I also plan on calling my parents as witnesses to the officer's statement of, "Don't worry. Nothing will come of this." Yes a police officer gets more respect but I have two witnesses and the fact that he did not interview me.
What I also have is photographic proof of the crossing guard standing in the middle of my street. I have photos from several angles over several days, including one of her standing with an umbrella in hand during a rainy day. I have a photo of where she stands when preforming her duties. That is to say, I have a picture of her holding up her sign and standing in the middle of the street. This picture is important because it shows that with her in that position I would have had to run over her to cross the street.
Another interesting thing I've noticed is that on the "Summary Trial Notice" the date next to the magistrates' signature is almost a month before the ticket was issued and it is a rubber stamp signature. I'm not sure if that has any bearing on the case but it does bother me that the trial was apparently approved a month before the actual incident took place.
Questions:
Can I use the evidence of the crossing guard standing in a hazardous position and offer an alternate theory as to why this was reported? That is to say, can I submit that the crossing guard filed a report because we are not on friendly terms and that this is a vindictive act on her behalf?
Can I object to the officer's statements from the crossing guard and bus driver as hearsay?
Can I object to any of them reading from a written statement?
Does the fact that the officer said nothing would come of this have any validity in court? What about the fact that I was never interviewed?
Is not testifying on my behalf a good idea? I say yes, mainly because the crossing guard and bus driver both lied in their statements. Both claim the bus was in the process of unloading students and that the red lights were on when they were not. If I admit in court that I crossed the intersection, despite the fact that the bus was stopped without lights on and the crossing guard was derelict in her duty, I feel my testimony will only hurt me. The witnesses lied in their report to the police and I'm sure that they will lie in court.
Can I get the bus video, assuming they have one? If yes, how do I go about doing that?
P.S. My five year old nephew was in the car but I'm not about to call him as a witness.
Hello all,
I was returning home and was at the intersection just before my street/home address. I was coming from the west, towards the east, on "B Street" and stopped at the stop sign at intersection of "B Street" and "A Street." I looked left and right at the intersection. To my left on the north side of the intersection, on "A Street", a bus was stopped. There were no lights on (NONE), the bar was not out, the stop sign was not out and no students were unloading. I looked to my right and there was no one. I waited several minutes (3 to 5 minutes) and several cars, including one behind me, started to honk. With the lights off, the crossing guard out of sight, and my house about 100 feet away I decided to cross the intersection. This was on a Friday.
On the following Tuesday a police officer arrived at my house. He interviewed my father. My mother was in the room and was a witness to the conversation. He said that the crossing guard reported my vehicle. When told by my parents that I was upstairs asleep and offered to wake me for an interview the officer said that it wasn't necessary. I was not there but according to the two eye witnesses, my parents, the officer said, "Don't worry. Nothing will come of this."
My father, being bi-polar and very aggressive, yelled at the crossing guard that afternoon. The following day, Wednesday, I received two tickets in the mail. The incident report (which I had to pay for) has this time information:
Reported: (Tuesday. Date retracted for my anonymity) 09:53
Received: 09:53
Dispatched: 09:53
Arrived: 09:55
Cleared: 10:45
Status: CLOSED/CLEARED
Disposition: CLEARED BY ARREST
So I have no way of knowing if his actions are responsible for me getting the ticket but I wonder how it could be cleared at 10:45 but not mailed until the following day (Wednesday)? I also wonder why it says "CLEARED BY ARREST" when no arrest occurred.
Charges:
Meeting/Overtaking a School Bus
75 § 3345 §§ A
Obedience to Authorized Persons Directing Traffic
75 § 3102
I have a feeling that if my dad hadn't yelled at the crossing guard I would not have gotten these tickets but that is a moot point.
This particular crossing guard has history with almost everyone on my street. I live on a one way street with parking on one side. This crossing guard frequently stands in the middle of the street at the start of "East B Street", my street. Myself, my father, my mother and other neighbors (We interviewed them.) have frequently experienced coming upon her when trying to turn onto our street. That also means that my father, mother, neighbors and I have all yelled at her for her hazardous position. (Neighbors have confirmed yelling at her.)
My plan for court is to, despite not being guilty, pleading to the "Obedience to Authorized Persons Directing Traffic" if they will drop the "Overtaking a School Bus" charge.
If they do not allow this to happen, then I will proceed to court and I will not testify on my behalf. I instead plan to question the crossing guard and bus driver. I'm not sure of what I should ask them besides if they are able to identify the car and driver. I also plan on calling my parents as witnesses to the officer's statement of, "Don't worry. Nothing will come of this." Yes a police officer gets more respect but I have two witnesses and the fact that he did not interview me.
What I also have is photographic proof of the crossing guard standing in the middle of my street. I have photos from several angles over several days, including one of her standing with an umbrella in hand during a rainy day. I have a photo of where she stands when preforming her duties. That is to say, I have a picture of her holding up her sign and standing in the middle of the street. This picture is important because it shows that with her in that position I would have had to run over her to cross the street.
Another interesting thing I've noticed is that on the "Summary Trial Notice" the date next to the magistrates' signature is almost a month before the ticket was issued and it is a rubber stamp signature. I'm not sure if that has any bearing on the case but it does bother me that the trial was apparently approved a month before the actual incident took place.
Questions:
Can I use the evidence of the crossing guard standing in a hazardous position and offer an alternate theory as to why this was reported? That is to say, can I submit that the crossing guard filed a report because we are not on friendly terms and that this is a vindictive act on her behalf?
Can I object to the officer's statements from the crossing guard and bus driver as hearsay?
Can I object to any of them reading from a written statement?
Does the fact that the officer said nothing would come of this have any validity in court? What about the fact that I was never interviewed?
Is not testifying on my behalf a good idea? I say yes, mainly because the crossing guard and bus driver both lied in their statements. Both claim the bus was in the process of unloading students and that the red lights were on when they were not. If I admit in court that I crossed the intersection, despite the fact that the bus was stopped without lights on and the crossing guard was derelict in her duty, I feel my testimony will only hurt me. The witnesses lied in their report to the police and I'm sure that they will lie in court.
Can I get the bus video, assuming they have one? If yes, how do I go about doing that?
P.S. My five year old nephew was in the car but I'm not about to call him as a witness.
Last edited: