Traffic Ticket Help!!!!!

[blessedldy]

I was issued a traffic ticket in md and was willing to pay until I noticed that the officer failed to wright the correct information. The ticket was the wrong year of my car and the incorrect zip code to my address. How do I dispute this when I go to court?

 

[Zigner]

I was issued a traffic ticket in md and was willing to pay until I noticed that the officer failed to wright the correct information. The ticket was the wrong year of my car and the incorrect zip code to my address. How do I dispute this when I go to court?

Those are not material defects - they won't get you out of the ticket.

 

[Jim_bo]

Those are not material defects - they won't get you out of the ticket.

You say that as if you know what the heck you are talking about. So, just what IS a material defect? I have seen dozens of people come here and ask similar questions and you have NEVER conceded that they had a legitimate legal strategy.

 

[CdwJava]

I was issued a traffic ticket in md and was willing to pay until I noticed that the officer failed to wright the correct information. The ticket was the wrong year of my car and the incorrect zip code to my address. How do I dispute this when I go to court?

You can bring this up to the court, but these are not likely to result in a dismissal as the citation is about YOUR actions and not the year of the car or your residential zip code. Do these issues somehow render doubt as to your guilt?

- Carl

 

[Jim_bo]

You can bring this up to the court, but these are not likely to result in a dismissal as the citation is about YOUR actions and not the year of the car or your residential zip code. Do these issues somehow render doubt as to your guilt?

- Carl

That is not the point. The point is: can the prosecution meet his burden of establishing a prima facie case? The basics of that are identifying the person being charged, the location of the offense, the time of the offense and what the offense is. Granted, his ticket errors are kinda thin, but I routinely see this questioned asked and then the OP gets bombarded with, "that doesn't mean you're not guilty!" It seems that the majority of posters on this site have lost the perspective that in this country, we enjoy a presumption of innocence and it is the burden of the prosecution to prove our guilt. Your comments suggest that you have lost just such perspective.

 

[CdwJava]

That is not the point. The point is: can the prosecution meet his burden of establishing a prima facie case? The basics of that are identifying the person being charged, the location of the offense, the time of the offense and what the offense is. Granted, his ticket errors are kinda thin, but I routinely see this questioned asked and then the OP gets bombarded with, "that doesn't mean you're not guilty!" It seems that the majority of posters on this site have lost the perspective that in this country, we enjoy a presumption of innocence and it is the burden of the prosecution to prove our guilt. Your comments suggest that you have lost just such perspective.

Jim, I answered the question ... here is what was asked:

"The ticket was the wrong year of my car and the incorrect zip code to my address. How do I dispute this when I go to court?"

I suppose could have provided a verbatim script of how to bring up these discrepancies to the court, but ... why? It seems pretty simple.

Far too many people seem to be under the misperception that some minor error on the face of the citation will result in a citation - that is blatantly untrue.

No part of the state's case will require EITHER of those pieces of information, so the state will never have to bring it up.

Since the poster neglected to mention what he was cited for, where he was cited, or anything at all to indicate that this was even a moving citation, just how much info can be provided? Perhaps this was a parking ticket and posted in the wrong thread!

If you want to spend a lot of time going through the possible hypotheticals, go right ahead. But since I know the Vehicle Code to be a very voluminous tome, I am not going to start at the beginning and offer up possible avenues of defense through the very end. You are certainly welcome to try.

So, Jim, just how would you suggest the OP defend himself from this mystery offense?

- Carl

 

[Jim_bo]

Jim, I answered the question ... here is what was asked:

"The ticket was the wrong year of my car and the incorrect zip code to my address. How do I dispute this when I go to court?"

That wasn't what I was refering to... I was refering to your comment of:

Do these issues somehow render doubt as to your guilt?

It is a matter of perspective. A state biased person would ask if evidence could prove the defendant was not guilty. A public biased person would ask if the state could make a prima facie case considering the lack of evidence.

Far too many people seem to be under the misperception that some minor error on the face of the citation will result in a citation - that is blatantly untrue.

The only thing that is blatantly untrue is the presumption that traffic court in CA will actually follow the law.

No part of the state's case will require EITHER of those pieces of information, so the state will never have to bring it up.

That's quite wrong... it is introduced as the complaint. Just because the cop doesn't testify to it, doesn't mean it is not part of the prosecution's prima facie case.

Since the poster neglected to mention what he was cited for, where he was cited, or anything at all to indicate that this was even a moving citation, just how much info can be provided? Perhaps this was a parking ticket and posted in the wrong thread!

This we agree on.

If you want to spend a lot of time going through the possible hypotheticals, go right ahead. But since I know the Vehicle Code to be a very voluminous tome, I am not going to start at the beginning and offer up possible avenues of defense through the very end. You are certainly welcome to try.

My comments were not so much about this particular case, but about the perspective that many here think a defendant must prove his innocence rather than the prosecution must prove his guilt.

So, Jim, just how would you suggest the OP defend himself from this mystery offense?

- Carl

You've said it well... he hasn't provided any information of substance to recommend any defense. So, while we wait, this is an interesting sidebar.



By the way... I notice your tone getting to be increasingly bitter. My respect for you has always been that you can hold a passionate debate without getting emotional. Don't blow my image of you!

 

[CdwJava]

Hardly bitter, Jim. But, there is no way to post any advice since there is no mention of the nature of the violation. Plus, absent a violation that involves a zip code or the year, make and model of the car, the year of the car and the zip code of the OP are not going to be elements of the offense. As such, those two items do nothing to determine guilt, and by themselves do nothing to establish reasonable doubt. (Not to mention that much of the time we get this information from the driver or from other documents - either of which could be incorrect.)

Now, maybe the OP's state of MD demands perfection in the citations - I don't know. I cannot find any links to indicate that the state requires such perfection, but I cannot guarantee that such absolute perfection is not required. Though, in our state of CA, the year of a car and the zip code of the defendant are not going to be part of the elements of any offense. the ONLY place it might even be an issue would be if the officer testified that he saw a "1993 Chevy Caprice ..." when it was, in fact, a 1995 ... even then, it's not likely to be an issue unless the officer testified to a number of such matters. This is why I always run with my first impression: "I observed a blue Chevrolet sedan ..." or some such thing. Since I cannot testify as to eyeballing the year, make and model of every car, I don't tend to testify to those things unless I add the caveat "... later determined to be a 1995 Chevrolet Caprice."

Until the OP posts the violation for which he (or she) was cited, we have no idea what suggestions might be made for a defense. However, as I have no idea of the traffic system in MD I may have little to add anyway. But, I think it is safe to say that zip codes and the year of the vehicle will be irrelevant t the offense or a defense. It might be an issue for a faulty complaint justifying a demurrer, but even that would be a stretch.

- Carl

 

[disneykid52]

i guess you could even get a ticket and the cop could write murder as the offense and you would not have a chance of getting out of it

 

[CdwJava]

i guess you could even get a ticket and the cop could write murder as the offense and you would not have a chance of getting out of it

What???

- Carl

 

[Jim_bo]

Carl,

I think you and I agree on much more than the casual observer would believe. But, just out of curiosity.... how hard is it to copy a guy's address off of a license?

 

[disneykid52]

Carl,

I think you and I agree on much more than the casual observer would believe. But, just out of curiosity.... how hard is it to copy a guy's address off of a license?

pretty hard if he's wearing coke bottle glasses

 

[CdwJava]

Carl,

I think you and I agree on much more than the casual observer would believe. But, just out of curiosity.... how hard is it to copy a guy's address off of a license?

That depends on the license, the size of the type, and whether it is correct. If at night, and if you are old like me, it can be a tough thing to read that small type. And if you live in a jurisdiction with multiple zip codes it is not all that difficult to put the wrong zip code down. And, of course, if the license is misprinted, or you just copied it down from registration which had the wrong zip code, or if there was no license, or it was provided verbally and incorrectly ... there are a great number of reasons why it could have been down incorrectly. It could also have been a braid fade by the officer.

But, in the long run, it is almost certainly going to be irrelevant to the violation unless he was cited for a code that has to do with addresses and zip codes.

And, I agree, I think that we DO agree by and large about most things. I simply lack the passion you have for these issues.

- Carl

 

[CdwJava]

pretty hard if he's wearing coke bottle glasses

If he needs such glasses, and he doesn't have them, then it would be impossible.

- Carl

 

[>Charlotte<]

what???l

10-96/5150