Plead to what is WRITTEN on ticket?

[Stuntman]

What is the name of your state? California

I have a situation where the Officer who pulled me over and sited me for a moving violation wrote down the location of the violation incorrectly.. he has it occuring on an Interstate Freeway that is at least 10 miles away from where I was, at a cross-street that doesn't actually ever even get to that Freeway.. when I appear in court and plead, am I pleading Guilty or Not Guilty to the ticket as it was handed to me, or am I pleading to the violation as the officer "should have" written the ticket?

[CdwJava]

Your first appearance is the arraignment. If you want to contest the cite, you are going to plead "not guilty".

Your plea is to the ofeense en toto. Essentially, did you, in fact, commit the offense at the location, date and approximate time in question?

If you want to plead out to get it behind you, you can always plead "no contest" (aka 'no lo contendre'). That essentially means that you do not want to contest the cite.

- Carl

[poppakeith]

Originally Posted by Stuntman

What is the name of your state? California

I have a situation where the Officer who pulled me over and sited me for a moving violation wrote down the location of the violation incorrectly.. he has it occuring on an Interstate Freeway that is at least 10 miles away from where I was, at a cross-street that doesn't actually ever even get to that Freeway.. when I appear in court and plead, am I pleading Guilty or Not Guilty to the ticket as it was handed to me, or am I pleading to the violation as the officer "should have" written the ticket?

If a violation was committed at the time stated on the citation, and ten miles away from where you were, you could not be "guilty" of the specific charge ....because "guilty" is a legal term that only a jury or judge can pronounce, when it is not true. Trouble is, you seem to have no means of proving you were 10 miles away at the time....because your signature is on the ticket, and the cop says you were at the location he wrote down. With a detail like that, the courts simply will not take the word of a citizen over that of the cop. On the other hand, if the citation states an intersection which does not exist, that may induce the judge to scratch his head and go your way. A lawyer could probably get that thing fixed for you.

What's to say the cop was not 10 miles away from where he was supposed to be at the time in question, or late getting to work, and wanted to establish a false recording of his location?

[CdwJava]

Originally Posted by poppakeith

What's to say the cop was not 10 miles away from where he was supposed to be at the time in question, or late getting to work, and wanted to establish a false recording of his location?

He was probably a CHP officer, and unless he was on a motorcycle he was not in a take home car.

Plus, they have shift briefings. He would already have been noted as late.

My guess is the officer erred and put the wrong freeway down. Depending on the timing and the judge the officer may well be allowed to amend the location. If he testifies as to the location on the citation and the location does not exist, then the judge will almost certainly rule with the defendant. However, if at trial the officer amends the location or testifies to the CORRECT location, the defendant may be toast because he will no longer likely have traffic school as an option.

- Carl

[janevmc]

While courts will often excuse minor errors on a ticket -- a misspelled name, a quibble over whether your Jag is ochre or orange -- if the officer cites the wrong statute on the ticket, or grossly misidentifies the highway or your make of car, you may to get your ticket dismissed, says Skrum. It’s often best to keep mum about the gaffe until you go to court, however, and reveal the mistake after the officer has recounted the wrong information.