ticket by off duty cop

[airforcessg]

In NC I received a ticket for speeding when I passed an off duty cop in his private vehicle with no radar. As I was driving down the interstate a State Trooper got on the highway. Once I saw him I slowed immediately. He pulled me over because the off duty cop radio'ed him to pull me over. As the two of them where talking behind my car, the on duty trooper gave me a ticket for the off duty cop. He said he knows it sounds funny but that the off duty cop is the one who will show up for court. Can this ticket be legitimate?
Scott

 

[You Are Guilty]

If the off duty officer appears for court, it sure is.

 

[airforcessg]

What does that mean?

What does the off duty cop have to base my speed on? Does he have a case?

 

[HomeGuru]

What does the off duty cop have to base my speed on? Does he have a case?

**A: search pacing.

 

[efflandt]

There could be some question about the accuracy of his speedometer if it was not calibrated. But you did not say how fast you were going, which may have been beyond any reasonable error, and he could always have his speedometer checked.

If he happened to have a GPS, that is accurate to a fraction of a mile per hour (even the old one I have from 1995 is accurate to 0.1 knot which is less than 0.1 mph).

 

[Jim_bo]

There could be some question about the accuracy of his speedometer if it was not calibrated. But you did not say how fast you were going, which may have been beyond any reasonable error, and he could always have his speedometer checked.

If he happened to have a GPS, that is accurate to a fraction of a mile per hour (even the old one I have from 1995 is accurate to 0.1 knot which is less than 0.1 mph).

A GPS would only be assumed to be accurate without a certified calibtation.

I'm not sure, but I think both cops would need to be there as you would likely want to cross examine the cop who wrote the ticket.

 

[airforcessg]

Off duty cop

You all make it sound like I need a lawyer for this one. Is that true or do I have a good chance of having this dropped. The speed was 95 in a 65. Also, would the off duty cop also be breaking the law if he was pacing me in a POV

 

[Maestro64]

Actual both would have to show.

Yes, it is legal, an officer can hand out tickets to anyone based on another person's word, it does not have to be an off duty officer either, it can be an every day citizen.

However, both people must show in court the citing officer and the person making the accusation. The problem is many time when courts schedules hearings they are not aware there is another person involve so that person is not notified. So it will be up to the citing officer to remember the circumstance behind the ticket and try and arrange for that persons to show up at court. Instead of working around one officers schedule which he gets paid to show up in court, they will have to work around another officer's schedule which will not get paid to show up.

If I was you and the off duty officer showed up in court with his uniformation I would argue prejudusce against you since he was acting as citizen at the time not an officer of the court.

Also, which officers name is on the ticket the citing officer or the one who made the complaint.

Besides researching pacing, oall visual estimated since you could easily get the pacing evidence thrown out, the officer could always fall back to a visual estimate.

 

[airforcessg]

What do you think

I will have to check the ticket to see who signed it. Are you saying that the on duty cop will be summoned and he will have to let the off duty cop know when to appear for court. The on duty cop told me that the off duty cop would not be able to show up for the first date, but that he would be there for the next one. It sounds like I should just show up for the first one and see if either show. If neither or just one show up and another date to appear is given, then I will determine if I need a lawyer or not.